Vancouver Stealth were defeated by the Calgary Roughnecks by 14-10 on Saturday night inside the Langley Events Centre.
The Langley-based lacrosse team saw it as a comeback in the making that fell a bit short.
For the third straight game this season Vancouver tallied the first goal of the game, after that, Calgary carved up the scoresheet.
The Roughnecks led 6-3 after the first, then 9-5 at the half and 13-6 after three.
The Stealth woke up in the fourth and were ready to make a comeback. Corey Small led the charge with a goal on a penalty shot early in the final frame, less than a minute later he added another. Joel McCready scored his third of the season and Rhys Duch potted one late in the game but time ran out on the comeback.
Duch added to his league leading stats scoring two goals and five assists, Corey Small netted four goals, Joel McCready had four points while Logan Schuss and Jordan Durston both tallied three points.
Goalie Tye Belanger made his Stealth debut recording 39 minutes of action. He came into the game in relief of Tyler Richards who allowed eight goals in 20 minutes of play. Although Belanger took the loss, this night will be remembered by one play.
“I was anticipating a shot because the clock was winding down, but they passed it backdoor, luckily I got my stick on it and I was told I made a highlight reel save,” Belanger said.
“We were in a bit of a hole by the time I got into the game, but my position was to get in there and give them a chance. We had a late push but came up a bit short but it was nice to see the guys fight that hard in the fourth.”
Even with the loss, Vancouver continues to sit atop the West sharing the division lead with the Colorado Mammoth. The Stealth travel to Buffalo to take on the Bandits on Saturday, Jan. 21.
Vancouver is looking to improve its home record on Jan. 28, when the Georgia Swarm visit the Langley Events Centre. Tickets are available at the box office at 604-882-8800, Ticket Rocket.co, or by emailing support@TicketRocket.co.