Curtis Palidwor and the Calgary Roughnecks held off a furious fourth period rally to defeat the San Jose Stealth, 15-14, Sunday at HP Pavilion.

The loss was only San Jose's second at home all season, but it came at the absolute worst time -- in the first round of the playoffs!

The Roughnecks came out playing their trademark physical game in an attempt to take the 4,874 in attendance out of the game.

Tracey Kelusky opened the scoring with a power play goal that was quickly answered back by Mike Regan, then rookie sensation Taylor Wray scored shorthanded and Ted Dowling put home another power play goal.

But then the Stealth unveiled another weapon in its arsenal of scoring threats -- Rusty Kruger.

Kruger scored the first of his six goals with five seconds remaining in the first period and, after an early second period goal gave Calgary a 4-2 lead, he exploded with three straight to give the Stealth its only lead of the game at 5-4.

Calgary answered back quickly with goals from Lewis Ratcliff and Grant Hamilton, followed by a pair from Kelusky, to forge an 8-5 lead. The Roughnecks then withstood a 3-1 San Jose run to lead at halftime, 9-8.

The third period was all Calgary, as the Roughies' defense handcuffed San Jose's scorers, shutting out the Stealth with a smothering defensive effort.

Regan, San Jose's season leader in goals scored, became so frustrated by the Calgary defense that he took two roughing penalties during the period.

On the offensive end of the floor, Kelusky continued to lead the Roughnecks, scoring the last of his five goals to open the period. Dowling scored twice more and Calgary finished the third quarter with a commanding 14-8 lead.

The Stealth, however, was far from finished.

Josh Sanderson opened the fourth period with a rifle shot past goaltender Palidwor in the opening minute and, after Kruger scored the last of his six goals on the night to make the score 14-10, San Jose mounted a furious rally to pull to within 14-13 with a minute left to play.

Palidwor kicked aside a Regan blast with ten seconds left and Andrew McBride scored an empty netter for the winning margin at 14:53.

Rosyski scored the final goal with two tenths of a second left on the clock, but it came too late for San Jose, which finishes the season with an 11-6 record.

The victory puts the Roughnecks into the Western Division final against the Colorado Mammoth next weekend.

Kelusky finished the game with five goals and one assist, leading all Roughnecks, while Palidwor was outstanding in goal with 47 saves.

Rusty Kruger had six goals and one assist for San Jose.

NOTES:

The final attendance was announced at 4,874 but it was many, many times louder down the stretch. The Calgary media wrote a lot of negative articles about the San Jose crowd but as the Stealth climbed back into the game, the small crowd clearly was loud enough that the Roughnecks appeared rattled. After the final horn, the San Jose crowd gave both teams a standing ovation.

Prior to the game, I had a chance to talk with NLL commissioner Jim Jennings. Regarding the collective bargaining agreement negotiations, Jennings assured me that both sides have been talking all season and that a long-term deal is on the table. "I'm hoping for a five-year deal," he said, and added that "we're hoping to make an announcement in early June."

This loss ends the inaugural season for the Stealth, which finished with a 7-2 record at home. Both losses came at the hands of the Calgary Roughnecks... With expansion looming and the San Jose front office wanting more of the players to live "in-market," there stands a good chance that many of the standout players on this roster may not return. I'd like to take a moment here to thank and congratulate everyone on the San Jose Stealth roster for making the 2004 season special and memorable and to also wish them good luck and good fortune going forward.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
W3 Calgary Roughnecks (11-6, 1-0)     3  6  5  1  --  15
W2 San Jose Stealth (11-6, 0-1)       2  6  0  6  --  14

CALGARY ROUGHNECKS            SAN JOSE STEALTH
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Kelusky        5 - 1     6    Rosyski        3 - 5     8
Toth           2 - 4     6    Kruger         6 - 1     7
Ratcliff       1 - 5     6    J Sanderson    2 - 2     4
Dowling        3 - 1     4    Regan          1 - 3     4
T Wray         2 - 2     4    Teat           1 - 2     3
Hamilton       1 - 1     2    Reisig         0 - 2     2
Leies          0 - 2     2    White          0 - 2     2
McBride        1 - 0     1    Woods          0 - 2     2
Dostie         0 - 1     1    Santos         1 - 0     1
Forbes         0 - 1     1    Beisel         0 - 1     1
Gelsvik        0 - 1     1    Biers          0 - 1     1
Kirkby         0 - 1     1    Hall           0 - 1     1
                              Moss           0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           46    Shots on goal           61
Saves made by (GA)      47    Saves made by (GA)      31
   Palidwor (14)     47          Blasdell (9)      22
                                 B Miller (6)       9
Penalties                6    Penalties                5
Penalty Minutes         12    Penalty Minutes         10
Power Play Chances       4    Power Play Chances       5
Power Play Goals         4    Power Play Goals         2
   Dowling            2          Kruger             1
   Kelusky            2          Teat               1
Shorthanded Goals        3    Shorthanded Goals        0
   T Wray             2          (None)
   Dowling            1
Loose Balls             55    Loose Balls             52
   Kirkby            10          Moss               9
   Hamilton           5          Oglesby            7
   Phillips           5          White              7
   T Wray             5          
Faceoffs Won            21    Faceoffs Won            12
   MacArthur    (13- 8)          Cercy        (11-18)
   Kirkby       ( 7- 4)          Reisig       ( 1- 3)
   D Wray       ( 1- 0)          

 *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH SAN JOSE STEALTH ***