By: Laurence Heinen – 16.02.25
The Roughnecks bounced back in a big way Sunday on WestJet Field by downing the Las Vegas Desert Dogs 21-8 in front of 9,662 boisterous fans at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Dane Dobbie led the way for the Roughnecks (6-4) with a sock trick (six goals) and four assists, while Haiden Dickson fired five goals and added a helper.
Captain Jesse King had another strong outing with a hat trick and seven assists, while Tyler Pace scored twice and set up nine others. Brayden Mayea chipped in with two goals and two assists, while Curtis Dickson, Brayden Mayea, Tanner Cook and
Justin Inacio (with his first NLL goal) also scored.
Goalie Cam MacLeod stopped 30 shots fired his way to backstop the Riggers to victory, while back-up netminder Gowah
Abrams played the last seven minutes of the game and made four saves.
Haiden Dickson started things off by bouncing a shot past Las Vegas goalie Justin Geddie at 1:49 of the first quarter.
Inacio then made it 2-0 for the Riggers just five seconds later. After winning the faceoff, Inacio ran into the offensive zone before whipping a shot past Geddie.
After Mayea scored to answer a Las Vegas goal, King tallied a power-play marker to put the ’Necks up 4-1.
The visitors then cut the lead in half before King and Haiden Dickson rounded out the scoring in the opening frame.
The Desert Dogs opened the scoring in the second quarter before the ’Necks reeled off four straight goals – one by each of the
Dicksons, Curtis and Haiden, and a pair from Dobbie – to take a commanding 10-3 lead into the halftime intermission.
Dobbie’s first goal was a behind-the-back beauty that totally fooled the Desert Dogs’ defenders as well as Geddie.
Dobbie kept his roll going in the third quarter with three more goals, while Pace also found the back of the net behind new goalie Landon Kells, who split time in the Las Vegas net with Geddie.
The Riggers didn’t let up in the final frame as they outscored the Dogs 6-2 as Haiden Dickson (with two more), Cook, Pace, Dobbie, Mayea and King did the damage.
COACH’S COMMENT
“I liked everything. I loved our energy. I loved our leadership. I loved our offence. Our defence got playing like we can when we’re winning games and (goalie Cam MacLeod) was really good. There just wasn’t really anything not to like. It’s hats off to the players, because it was a tough loss Friday. They took care of their bodies, they refocused and then they come out here and do that. This is the players leading the way. We’ve got a great leadership group. Just everything was clicking, so it was nice.”
“J.I. (Inacio) was really good today. We weren’t the best in the (faceoff) dot on Friday night, so we knew we had to get better. It’s one of our keys. When it’s going, we’re playing really well, so it got going early for us and hats off to our ball team, just a great job for us. For him to score his first goal and then obviously he took a dirty hit and he stood up for himself. He had a hell of game.”
NEXT UP:
The Roughnecks wrap up their three-game homestand next Saturday (7 p.m.) when they host the Rochester Knighthawks for the Rodeo Party at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Riggers then hits the road, travelling to Colorado in week 14 and Buffalo in week 15.
STAT PACK:
Dane Dobbie: 6g, 4a
Haiden Dickson: 5g, 1a
Jesse King: 3g, 7a
Tyler Pace: 2g, 9a
Brayden Mayea: 2g, 2a
Curtis Dickson: 1g, 5a
Tanner Cook: 1g, 4a
Justin Inacio: 1g, 20-for-32 on faceoffs
Ethan Ticehurst: 1a
Eli Salama: 1a
Jack Follows: 1a
Robert Hudson: 1a
Cam MacLeod: 30 saves
SAY WHAT:
“With a double-header weekend, a loss on Friday, we all were really motivated to come in focused and ready to go. I think we did just that. It feels good. We’ve let down the home fans a few times this season, so it’s nice to give them a win at home.” – Justin Inacio
“It was my first one. It’s been a long time coming. I think I’ve been 0-for-7 this year on shots. I finally put one in. It’s the same shot I was actually doing all warmup. I was just practising that one shot and it worked out. Just keep it going – hopefully that’s not my last.” – Inacio on his first NLL goal.
