By: Riley Pollock – 17.12.24
When the weather started changing for the Roughnecks in the fourth quarter, it was Dane Dobbie making it rain.
The Roughnecks veteran had no points going into the final frame Saturday in Albany with his team trailing 8-5. The Firewolves would score another off the opening faceoff to make it 9-5.
That’s when Dobbie decided to take the game over and make history.
The 38-year-old lefty scored eight straight goals, including the overtime winner, to give the Roughnecks a 13-12 victory and move them to 2-0 on the season.
Along the way, he set multiple records, including most goals in a single quarter (seven).
It seemed like everything Dobbie shot went in the net late in the win. He talked about what was going on, on the bench during his hot streak.
“It was coaches and players talking,” he said. “The way the offence kind of operates is to find the hot stick. Curtis (Dickson) had it early, he was scoring goals early and got us going. In the fourth it felt like every time it touched my stick it was going in.”
Riggers head coach Josh Sanderson was blown away postgame when told about the record Dobbie had just set.
“Did he really have seven in the fourth,” questioned Sanderson. “Hard work pays off. He’s putting the work in, he’s leading us on and off the floor with our leaders and I just can’t say enough good things about Dane, that’s just who he is.”
Dobbie, always humble when talking about himself, tried to downplay the momentous achievement.
“It doesn’t really mean anything to me,” he said. “I guess I can look back on it at the end of the day but scoring goals is part of my job. You’re not going to score that many in a quarter, it will probably never happen for me again. I had the stick and I’m glad I was able to do it and we were able to get the two points.”
Dobbie now leads the league in goals with 13 after potting five in his return to the Roughnecks in their season-opening win in Halifax.
“Sometimes (the net) felt big in the fourth,” he explained. “The first three-quarters I was questioning my game but in the fourth, I was able to pull away and (our) defence shut the door there and we were able to get two points which is the key thing.”
The Roughnecks escaped perhaps their toughest back-to-back travel weekend’s of the season with a 2-0 record and will now be home Dec. 28 for the home opener against Vancouver TICKETS.
Dobbie says it was huge to be able to come back in Albany and steal the two points from a team that made it to the NLL Final last year.
“That’s two in a row in the east,” said Dobbie. “That’s a tough way to start the year so we are happy with where we are right now. We’re going to have a good Christmas but not get complacent and be ready for Vancouver now at home.”
