CALGARY, AB – Shawn Evans had a game to remember to lead the Calgary Roughnecks to a 14-9 win over the Colorado Mammoth on Saturday.
Through two quarters, Evans recorded points on all eight of Calgary’s goals as he scored once and set up seven others to help put the Riggers up 8-4.
The 10-year National Lacrosse League veteran went on to finish the game with a hat trick and nine assists to lead the ’Necks to victory in front of 9,871 exuberant fans at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
“Our backs were against the wall,” said Evans, who tied his own club record for most assists in a single game. “We needed to win the game. The guys knew what we had on the line and we came out and we played hard and we played tough. Our offence stepped up. We had a good game.”
With the win, the Roughnecks (4-10) avenged a 9-8 overtime setback the suffered to the Mammoth (8-6) one night earlier at the Pepsi Centre in Denver.
Daryl Veltman scored four goals and added two assists for the Riggers, while Jeff Shattler had a hat trick and two helpers. Curtis Dickson counted two goals and four helpers, while Sean Pollock (1g, 2a), Scott Carnegie (1g) and Dane Dobbie (2a) also got in on the action.
“Both assets of our game were very good,” said assistant coach Bruce Codd. “Our offence had a bit of a tough night last night and tonight we rebounded really well. The big thing was we moved the ball. The ball wasn’t in one guys stick for very long. We swung the ball back and forth and you saw the results of it. We had a lot of guys that had big games.”
Starting his second game in as many nights, Calgary goalie Frankie Scigliano stopped 25 of 34 shots to record his third win, all at the ’Dome, of the season.
“Defensively, I thought we were very strong,” said Codd. “They got a couple goals off the faceoff and one or two on the power play. We were sound all night in that department too. The last line of defence, Frankie, was very solid again tonight.”
Adam Jones scored five times for the Mammoth, while Bob Snider had a pair of goals. John Grant Jr., and Eli McLaughlin also scored, while rookie forward Jeremy Noble chipped in with four assists. Mammoth goalie Alex Buque finished the game with 39 saves.
Jones opened the scoring with a power-play goal for the Mammoth at 2:52 of the first quarter when he fired a long-range shot to the top corner in behind Scigliano.
Pollock then took a pass from Evans before snapping a shot past Buque for his first goal against his former team at 4:57. Pollock and Evans then teamed up to set up Veltman for a diving goal to put the ’Necks up 2-1.
Jones tied things up 59 seconds later before Shattler put the Riggers back up by one 26 seconds after that.
The Mammoth jumped in front 4-3 on goals by Jones and McLaughlin 52 seconds apart before Veltman converted a feed from Evans with 9.9 seconds left in the opening frame.
Evans set up his fifth consecutive goal for the Riggers at 2:33 of the second with a no-look, behind-the-back pass to Dickson, who snapped a low shot past Buque.
Evans then scored at the 10-minute mark of the second before setting up a power-play goal by Veltman and an even-strength marker by Shattler to give the Riggers an 8-4 lead heading into the half-time intermission.
Shattler, Veltman and Dickson scored for Calgary in the third quarter, while Grant, Jones and Snider replied for the Mammoth.
Evans added two more goals to complete his hat trick in the fourth quarter, while Jones and Snider scored for the Mammoth before Carnegie added an empty netter to seal the victory for Calgary.
Next up, the Roughnecks will play a home-and-home series against the Edmonton Rush starting next Friday at the Saddledome (7:30 p.m.) before the two teams make their way to the Capital City for a rematch at Rexall Place one night later (7 p.m.).
“We’ve just got to be ready and play our game and be ready for next Friday,” said Evans.
