The holiday season brought plenty of goals as the Calgary Roughnecks staged a thrilling comeback to defeat the Halifax Thunderbirds in their 2024-2025 National Lacrosse League (NLL) home opener at the Scotiabank Centre. The game, filled with momentum swings, kept fans on the edge of their seats until the final buzzer.
Halifax came out firing, quickly establishing a dominant 5-1 lead with just three minutes remaining in the first quarter. However, Calgary found two late goals to close the gap to 5-3, keeping themselves within striking distance. The second quarter saw Halifax go on a five-goal run, building what seemed to be an
insurmountable seven-goal lead. Yet, Dane Dobbie stepped up as the catalyst for Calgary’s resurgence, igniting a scoring spree that would reshape the game.
The Roughnecks responded with four goals before halftime and added three more to open the third quarter, tying the game at 11. Despite back-and-forth action, Halifax managed to regain a slim three-goal advantage heading into the final quarter. However, Curtis Dickson led Calgary’s final charge, spearheading a decisive five goal run that secured an 18-17 victory for the Roughnecks.
Key Performers
● Roughnecks:
○ Jesse King had a monumental 10-point performance (2 goals, 8 assists), while veterans Dane Dobbie and Curtis Dickson each contributed five goals and four assists in their nine-point nights.
● Thunderbirds:
○ Randy Staats (1 goal, 8 assists) and Clarke Petterson (2 goals, 7 assists) each tallied nine points. Thomas Hoggarth, Dawson Theedle, and Jason Knox provided crucial scoring support but fell just short of
securing a win.
Looking Ahead
Next week, the Roughnecks head to Albany, NY, to face the Albany FireWolves, who are riding high after their own victory over the Toronto Rock. Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds will travel to SaskTel Centre to take on the Saskatchewan Rush, who opened their season with an overtime win against the FireWolves.
Caden Balint is a graduate of La Salle Institute in Troy, NY and Merrimack College in North Andover, MA and has been in love with sports forever. Whether it is watching, playing, writing, sports have always been a passion. Getting the chance to start his dream of sports journalism with Stream Punk is just the start of a long journey. In his spare time Caden enjoys playing hockey, spending time with his loved ones and playing video games but you will soon get to know him a lot more!