Laurence Heinen
The Roughnecks rode an early scoring barrage to a 14-7 road victory over the Rochester Knighthawks on Sunday afternoon.
Tanner Cook led the way with five goals and three assists at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester as the Roughnecks (3-9) snapped their two-game losing streak. Cook’s eight-point effort helped him surpass the 300-point plateau in his NLL career.
Aden Walsh had a stellar game in net as he made 50 saves.
Brayden Mayea and Haiden Dickson contributed to the win with hat-tricks, Tyler Pace had a goal to go with five assists, while Noah Manning scored once and set up three others.
🧱 BRICK WALSH
Walshy made 50 saves tying a career-high! 💪 pic.twitter.com/1gX11pP2tn
— Calgary Roughnecks (@NLLRoughnecks) March 8, 2026
THE NUMBERS:
Tanner Cook – 8 pts (4G, 3A)
Tyler Pace – 6 pts (1G, 5A)
Brayden Mayea – 5 pts (3G, 2A), 11 loose balls
Aden Walsh – 50/57 saves
Jeremy Thompson opened the scoring for Rochester with a breakaway goal at 3:18 of the first quarter.
Just 47 seconds later, Dickson whipped an overhand shot past starting Rochester goalie Ryland Hartley to start a seven-goal run for the Riggers.
That’s his spot‼️ pic.twitter.com/zezzYOBvXT
— Calgary Roughnecks (@NLLRoughnecks) March 8, 2026
Cook cut around a defender and bounced a shot through Hartley’s legs at 6:19 before Pace deposited a high shot into the net at 10:44.
Mayea scored his first goal of the game 26 seconds later before adding another with 6.3 seconds remaining in the opening frame to put Calgary up 5-1.
Cook took a pass from Pace and fired a sidearm shot past Hartley for a powerplay goal at 2:23 of the second quarter.
Mayea then completed his hat-trick at 4:04 with a highlight-reel shorthanded goal. He cut towards the crease and then leaped through the air before flicking a behind-the-back shot past Riley Hutchcraft, who had replaced Hartley in between the pipes.
Another day, another Brayden Mayea masterclass 😮💨@SportsCenter #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/RD2E3ohLfD
— Calgary Roughnecks (@NLLRoughnecks) March 8, 2026
After scoring his hat-trick goal at 11:19, Cook added another with 61 seconds remaining in the first half to extend Calgary’s lead to 9-3.
Riley Loewen and Dickson scored the first two goals of the third quarter before the Knighthawks rallied with three straight to pull within five goals at 11-6.
Calgary then outscored Rochester 3-1 in the final frame as Manning, Dickson and Cook did the damage to wrap up the impressive triumph.
NEXT UP:
The Roughnecks are back at home on Saturday, March 14 (7 p.m.) to host a St. Patrick’s Day Party in the Rough House while they take on the Ottawa Black Bears for the second time this season.
