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National Lacrosse League fans are drawn to the sport for various reasons.

Some watch for the eye-catching goals. Others are more interested in the extra-curricular activities. There was something for everybody this weekend.

Dane Dobbie may be sporting new colors these days, but the longtime Calgary Roughneck still looked mighty comfortable playing in the Scotiabank Saddledome. A seven-goal performance against his old squad helped push him to 900 career points and propelled the San Diego Seals to a 17-12 victory.

Albany was the place to take in some fisticuffs, as a scuffle between the FireWolves and Toronto Rock resulted in over 70 penalty minutes. The main event was a goalie fight between Rochester’s Rylan Hartley and Albany’s Ethan Woods.

Overall, it was another week of intrigue featuring two one-goal games and a comeback victory.

SPOILING THE PARTY

Albany watched an NLL game in the capital region for the first time since the Attack left in the early 2000s. Yet the Rochester Knighthawks made sure the new FireWolves fans didn’t have much to celebrate.

The K-Hawks never trailed thanks largely to the work of Holden Cattoni in a dominant 16-7 road victory Saturday night. Cattoni finished with nine points on four goals and five assists, while Turner Evans, Shawn Evans and Ryan Smith each had five points.

Just as impressive as the offensive contributions was the play in goal from Rylan Hartley and Joel Watson.

Hartley in particular will be relied upon more than initially expected after Rochester announced this week that top free agent signee Evan Kirk will be unavailable for the rest of the season due to a work commitment. Hartley made 32 saves before the fight, while Watson made 10 more in his stead.

Meanwhile, Saskatchewan was able to finally pick up its first win of the season while ending Vancouver’s attempt to move to 3-0 for the first time since 2010. A 6-0 second quarter helped the Rush take a lead they did not relinquish in a 10-9 triumph.

Vancouver got a pair of late goals from Keegan Bal to cut the deficit to one, but the Rush held on to secure Jeff McComb’s first victory as a head coach.

“We needed this one badly,” Saskatchewan’s Mark Matthews said. “We lost two one-goal games, they were 2-0, so this was a good one to get.”

Bal had six points, while Mitch Jones was close behind with five.

SLOW BUT STEADY

The Colorado Mammoth didn’t score their first goal against Panther City Friday night until five minutes into the second quarter. Their defense kept things quiet on the other end, too, allowing the Mammoth offense time to find a groove.

A 5-1 run stretching from second and third quarters helped Colorado erase an early 3-0 deficit, while Zed Williams put the Mammoth up for good in the fourth in an 8-7 win. Ryan Lee had five points for the Mammoth, who forced Panther City to continue its search for the first win in franchise history.

Sam LeClair also had a hat trick for Colorado in his first career NLL game.

“I was definitely nervous, but all of the older guys made me feel comfortable and helped calm me down before the game, LeClair said postgame. “I knew I was going to get the call eventually; balls were falling and the older guys just told me to keep shooting, so I did.”

BATTLE AT THE X

Arguably the top two faceoff specialists in the history of the sport battled indoors for the first time this weekend when Toronto’s TD Ierlan made his NLL debut against Philadelphia’s Trevor Baptiste. The slight edge went to Baptiste, who won 13 draws to Ierlan’s 11.

Elsewhere on the field, Dan Dawson and Rob Hellyer each totaled six points in Toronto’s 12-9 come-from-behind victory. The Rock went on a 7-1 run to erase an early 4-1 Wing advantage.

Toronto’s Tom Schreiber was out due to COVID-19 protocols, moving Challen Rogers into more of an offensive role. Rogers helped make up for the absence with two goals and two assists.

NOTEWORTHY

Philadelphia goalie Zach Higgins left the game against the Rock after a ball made it through his mask on a shot. … San Diego activated Austin Staats, who missed the start of the season with knee issues. He notched three points against Calgary. Wes Berg nearly matched Dane Dobbie’s nine points with eight of his own. … Tony Malcom, who had the first goal for the Albany FireWolves since the franchise’s move, also scored the team’s first home goal. … Toronto’s Nick Rose moved into sole possession of seventh on the all-time goalie wins list, passing Dallas Eliuk. … The Rock wore their new black and yellow uniforms, which follow the colors of Hamilton’s other sports teams, for the first time. … The NLL announced Sports Interaction as the new league betting partner in Canada.

UP NEXT
ALL TIMES EASTERN

Thursday, Dec. 30

— Hamilton at Calgary, 9:30 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 31

— New York at Colorado, 8 p.m.

— San Diego at Saskatchewan, 9:30 p.m.