NLL Week 15: Roughnecks Win in Banditland
The story of the NLL in week 14 was unquestionably the dominant win by the Calgary Roughnecks in Buffalo. With new goaltender Nick Rose in tow, Calgary won 17-11, the widest margin of defeat for Buffalo since April 1, 2023.
Meanwhile San Diego stayed hot, Toronto won in their first game of the post trade era, and Albany dished a major blow to the Philadelphia Wings and their playoff hopes.
Check out the full recap below!
San Diego Seals 13 – Vancouver Warriors 11
San Diego’s rally continued with a victory over the Warriors which was revenge for their loss in Vancouver earlier this year.
Rob Hellyer had a season-high 9 points on 2 goals and 7 assists to lead the way for the Seals, while Wes Berg had 4 goals and 3 assists. Chris Origlieri was sharp in net for the Seals as well, making 44 saves.
Ryan Martel had 3 goals and 2 assists to lead the Warriors, who also got 2 goals from rookie Jonathan Peshko and another goal from defender Owen Grant.
Stat of the Game: The 9 points were the most for Hellyer since January 27th, 2024 when he had a goal and 8 helpers for the Vegas Desert Dogs against the Panther City Lacrosse Club. His career high is 12 points, which he accomplished three times.
Attendance: 4,154
Rochester Knighthawks 21 – Vegas Desert Dogs 13
The Knighthawks completed the season sweep of the Desert Dogs with the 21-13 victory at Lee’s Family Forum. Connor Fields (6 goals), Ryan Smith (4 goals) and Graydon Hogg (4 goals) all had big nights, while Ryan Lanchbury had 2 goals and 7 assists.
Casey Jackson and Adam Poitras each had 2 goals and 5 assists to lead the Desert Dogs.
Stat of the Game: Friday night marked the third sock trick of his career for Connor Fields.
Attendance: 5,012
Toronto Rock 15 – Halifax Thunderbirds 12
Toronto handed the Thunderbirds their first loss since January 18th, winning their first game since trading franchise stalwarts Nick Rose, Mitch De Snoo, and Chris Corbeil.
Josh Dawick had 3 goals and 2 assists while Corey Small scored 4 times to lead Toronto, while goaltender Troy Holowchuk picked up his first career win.
Clarke Petterson (2 goals, 4 assists) and Thomas Hoggarth (3 goals, 2 assists) led the scoring for Halifax.
Stat of the Game: Holowchuk has dressed for 51 games and appeared in 29, but Friday marked his first career start.
Attendance: 9,892
Saskatchewan Rush 8 – Georgia Swarm 7
The Rush showed that they can win multiple ways, winning a tight low-scoring affair against the Swarm in Duluth.
Ryan Keenan, Brock Haley, Clark Walter and Jake Boudreau each had 3 points as part of a balanced attack for the Rush, while Bryan Cole and Lyle Thompson had 4 points each.
Stat of the Game: With the loss, Georgia fell into a three-way tie with the Halifax Thunderbirds and Colorado Mammoth for third place.
Attendance: 6,521
Calgary Roughnecks 17 – Buffalo Bandits 11
Jesse King had 10 points and Curtis Dickson had 6 goals to lead Calgary over the Bandits in front of 19,070 fans in Banditland. It was the second home loss of the season for the Bandits.
Tyler Pace added 7 assists and Brayden Mayea scored 3 goals and 3 assists for the Roughnecks, while Justin Inacio won 69% of the faceoffs against Connor Farrell.
Josh Byrne had 5 pointds and Dhane Smith added 4 of his own to lead the Bandits.
Stat of the Game: Now up to 39 goals, Dickson is leading the league, not bad for a player in his 14th season. His career high was 61 with Calgary in 2016.
Attendance: 19,070
Albany Firewolves 12 – Philadelphia Wings 10
Albany won their second game in three tries, and still has some playoff life after their win against the Wings.
Alex Simmons had 4 goals and 3 assists in one of his best efforts of the season, along with 3 goals and 2 assists from new acquisition Kyle Jackson.
Joe Resetarits had a goal and 4 assists while Mitch Jones added a goal and 4 assists for the Wings.
Stat of the Game: The Wings have lost five straight and sit outside the playoffs as of today.
Attendance: 8,324
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