ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- It took the greatest quarter of individual play in National Lacrosse League history for the Albany FireWolves to be bested at MVP Arena Saturday night.
Calgary Roughnecks forward Dane Dobbie scored seven goals in the fourth quarter - an NLL record - to force overtime, and ultimately netted the game-winner 50 seconds into OT, handing the FireWolves a gut-wrenching, 13-12 defeat in a game they never trailed.
Albany falls to 1-2 on the season, and has already dropped two overtime games. The 'Wolves lost to Saskatchewan in their season/home opener, 10-9, back on Nov. 30.
The FireWolves were led offensively on Saturday by Ethan Walker and Tye Kurtz, who each had three goals and three assists on the night. Sam Firth posted a four-point outing (1g, 3a), Dyson Williams produced 3 points (2g, 1a), John Piatelli contributed two goals and Will Johansen rounded out the scoring with one goal. Alex Simmons dished out a career-high six assists and Eric Fannell had five.
The game began with a torrent of scoring, as Kurtz recorded the first goal of the night not even a minute-and-a-half into the action. Calgary answered less than a minute later to knot the score at one, but the FireWolves scored two in a row - one from Piatelli and one from Kurtz - to retake a 3-1 lead. The Roughnecks responded with a goal, and the FireWolves again answered with two goals of their own, as Walker went back-to-back to extend the lead to 5-2.
The second quarter started out with Calgary getting one back on a power-play to draw within two. Soon after, Dyson Williams let a rocket go from up top that found the back of the net. That goal sent hundreds of teddy bears flying on to the MVP Arena turf as part of the FireWolves holiday Teddy Bear Toss. The bears will be donated to St. Catherine’s Center for Children to be distributed to local kids for the holidays.
The Roughnecks got that goal back with 3:14 remaining in the second quarter, and the first half ended with Albany still maintaining a 6-4 edge.
In the third quarter, the teams battled for the advantage. The FireWolves got back on the board after over seven minutes of scoreless play, as Firth connected to make it 7-4. Calgary converted on another power-play a few minutes later to keep the score close at 7-5, but Walker countered with a hat-trick clinching score, extending the margin back to three.
The final quarter was one of the most chaotic and exciting in FireWolves history. Albany started the quarter on the penalty kill, but Johansen streaked down the floor to score a short-handed goal with just nine seconds coming off the clock.
The Roughnecks came back to convert their fourth power-play goal - the first of Dobbie's seven goals for the quarter - to draw back within three at 9-6. The FireWolves again returned fire, though, as Piatelli would send a quick stick shot in that gave his team a 10-6 advantage.
But then Dobbie went into takeover mode, scoring four consecutive goals to tie the game at 10. Kurtz and Dobbie traded goals; then Williams and Dobbie, until the game was tied at 12 with just 49 seconds remaining.
The FireWolves had an opportunity to win in regulation, but the Calgary defense made a stop, forcing overtime, where Dobbie would score his eighth goal of the night to secure the Roughnecks the win.
The FireWolves will have a bye week before returning to action on the road against Halifax on Saturday, December 28 at 6 pm ET at the Scotiabank Centre. The game will be available to watch on ESPN+, TSN+, NLL+ and locally on MY4.
The FireWolves next home game will be Saturday, January 4 at 7 pm at MVP Arena against the Las Vegas Desert Dogs for Tucker Out Lymphoma Night which honors the life of Tucker Williams who passed away from Burkitt’s Lymphoma in 2014. Las Vegas head coach Shawn Williams is the father of Tucker and FireWolves player Dyson Williams is Tucker’s brother.
