Tracey Kelusky scored four goals and dished out five assists, leading the Calgary Roughnecks to a 14-9 win Saturday afternoon over the Ottawa Rebel at the Ottawa Civic Centre.

The teams played a tight game in the first quarter, not taking too many chances. Calgary controlled the offensive play for much of the period, getting a power play goal and a shorthanded goal from Tracey Kelusky and an even-strength tally from Kaleb Toth before Kevin Howard finally scored for the Rebel.

Calgary outscored Ottawa, 2-1, in the second quarter, with Roughneck goals from Kelusky and Tyson Leies and a Rebel strike from Stephen Evans. Ottawa's defense played very well in this quarter, including a great check by Jason Clark at about the three-minute mark, giving him a great scoring chance on Roughnecks goaltender Curtis Palidwor. Later, Bruce Codd gained possession beside his own goal, saw a teammate leaving the bench and hit him with a pass in full stride, sending him on another great scoring chance that Palidwor had to be sharp to stop. At intermission, Calgary led, 5-2.

The Ottawa offense pulled up their socks in the third quarter, scoring five goals. Lindsay Plunkett, who was closely covered in the first half, discarded his trademark long black socks during the intermission period and proceeded to score two goals the rest of the way, including a critical score in this quarter.

Calgary controlled the fourth quarter, scoring four goals to Ottawa's two. Toth sent many of the Rebel fans to the doors with his third goal of the game with 2:25 left in the game, making the score 13-9, then Kyle Goundrey finished the scoring on an empty net goal with 46 seconds remaining.

Calgary played a very balanced game, playing ball control and keeping Ottawa's young, inexperienced offense where they could not get great scoring chances. Palidwor seemed to be unbeatable on low shots, where the Rebel players often were forced to shoot, and Ottawa managed to get a high shot, the ball seemed to find Palidwor's stick or belly pad. At the other end, Ottawa played very well, forcing Calgary to earn every one of their goals.

The announced attendance was 3,642. Ottawa fans are going to have to support the Rebel better than that -- those who were at the game were very quiet. I met some Rock fans who stopped off on their way home from Albany, and they were amazed at how quiet the Rebel fans were. People were looking at them strangely whenever they cheered a good play. It actually pains me to say this, but the loudest the Rebel fans were during the game was when Stuntman Stu announced that the Canadian junior hockey team was leading 4-0 in the World Junior Hockey championship game being played in Halifax this afternoon. I sure hope that any Rebel Fans reading this will promote the game and the team -- it's crucial if we want to keep this level of lacrosse here in Ottawa.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Calgary Roughnecks (1-0)              3  2  5  4  --  14
Ottawa Rebel (0-1)                    1  1  5  2  --   9

CALGARY ROUGHNECKS            OTTAWA REBEL
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Kelusky        4 - 5     9    Evans          2 - 2     4
Leies          3 - 1     4    Howard         2 - 1     3
K Goundrey     2 - 2     4    J Clark        0 - 3     3
Wulder         0 - 4     4    Plunkett       2 - 0     2
Toth           3 - 0     3    B Self         1 - 1     2
Olson          2 - 0     2    Giles          1 - 0     1
                              Roy            1 - 0     1
                              Disher         0 - 1     1
                              S Self         0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           50    Shots on goal           52
Saves made by (GA)      43    Saves made by (GA)      36
   Palidwor (9)      43          Disher (14)       36
Penalties               10    Penalties                6
Penalty Minutes         20    Penalty Minutes         12
Power Play Chances       6    Power Play Chances      10
Power Play Goals         3    Power Play Goals         4
   K Goundrey         1          Giles              1
   Kelusky            1          Howard             1
   Toth               1          Plunkett           1
                                 Roy                1
Shorthanded Goals        2    Shorthanded Goals        0
   Kelusky            1          (None)
   Leies              1
Loose Balls             46    Loose Balls             64
   K Goundrey         7          J Clark           10
   Leies              7          Codd              10
   Kelusky            5          Roy                9
   Marshall           5
   J Phillips         5

   *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH OTTAWA REBEL ***