Roughnecks strike oil in Langley

The Vancouver Stealth lost their third straight game to the Calgary Roughnecks Friday evening on home turf.

The Roughnecks stormed out of the gates scoring eight unanswered goals to silence the Stealth crowd and chase the Stealth’s starting goaltender, Tyler Richards.

The Stealth were able to get a few goals of their own in the second quarter but Calgary’s Mike Poulin stopped the rest making 21 saves on 23 shots in the first half.

At the end of the first half the Roughnecks had a commanding 8-2 lead and were outshooting the Stealth 26-23.

In the second half the Stealth started to find a little bit of a groove offensively, as Lewis Ratcliff completed the hat trick scoring two of his three goals in the second half. Ratcliff finished with six points (3+3) on the night and was named the game’s third star.

The 8-0 hole proved to be too much for the Stealth to overcome. The Stealth remain winless against their division rivals this season, with one more meeting left next month.

The team hosts the Buffalo Bandits this Saturday which will be the first visit to the LEC of NLL legend John Tavares. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre.

The March 29 game is also a chance to check out the league’s Lacrosse Fights Cancer campaign. The Stealth are auctioning off game-worn jerseys.

To bid or find out more about the campaign, go to http://www.stealthlax.com/lacrossefightscancer.

To kick off the team’s cancer campaign, the Stealth hosted two mini-camps this past weekend.

Current Stealth stars Cliff Smith, Matt Beers, Tyler Richards, Matt Roik and Captain Kyle Sorensen were on hand to guide minor lacrosse players through fundamental drill.

More than 25 minor lacrosse players were on hand to learn. Stealth players walked the athletes through a series of drills, focussing on the fundamentals like foot work, body position and defensive posture.

Funds from the mini-camps will also go to the Canadian Cancer Society and their ongoing battle against all cancers and baby Chloe Dietrich, a family friend of Stealth player, Cliff Smith.

Stealth Owner, Denise Watkins, has been a long time promoter of the fight against cancer, after having dealt with the disease in her family for many years,

“My mom is a 30 year breast cancer survivor and my sister is an eight year breast cancer survivor so obviously for the women’s health side of things it makes it a very big thing for our family personally. And it puts me in a very high risk category,” said Stealth Owner, Denise Watkins.

“So that brings it a little closer to home, as you may imagine.”

At this Saturday’s Vancouver Stealth home game the team is putting on their annual Lacrosse Fights Cancer Night to raise awareness and funds for the Canadian Cancer Society. The team will be sporting limited edition pink and grey jerseys that fans have the opportunity to bid on, with all proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society.

Along with the funds raised from the weekend, Watkins has donated an additional $2600 and the Stealth players have also contributed $400 towards the fight against cancer, as the entire Stealth Organization continues to be avid promoters of cancer awareness and the major importance of early detection,

“My husband and father are also prostate cancer survivors, so for me the importance is in early detection,” said Watkins.

“Cancer can be treatable and is survivable. A number of people don’t get their checkups, don’t get their PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) tests, or their mammograms, and by the time they’ve found it, it’s already significantly farther along and harder to treat.”

“Every aspect of fighting this disease is important. From promoting screenings, improving the tests we have, finding better treatments, all of those things can help make cancer more survivable.”

Watkins admits there are numerous other diseases and that no one disease is more important than the other, but when something like cancer affects your family the way it affected her own family, it’s not surprising to hear her speak so strongly about it,

“There’s just something about cancer, like when people get diagnosed with cancer, it’s the big ‘C’. It’s harder to deal with for some reason than other diseases,” said Watkins.

“Because there are so many forms of cancer that are really so easily treatable I think that’s why the focus needs to be on awareness. People have to better understand the disease and the benefits of screening. They’re not painful, there not difficult, and not overly expensive. If you get them done you significantly improve your chances of surviving.”

The Stealth organization has already raised a total of $7600 including Watkins contribution and the hope is that even more will be raised throughout the weekend.

The Stealth hit the turf against the Buffalo Bandits at 7PM PST at the LEC. Come out and show your support for the Stealth’s drive to the playoffs and the fight against cancer.

For more information on the limited edition game worn jersey auction visit www.StealthLAX.com/LacrosseFightsCancer.