Black Wolves remain in playoff race
Overtime victory snaps four-game losing streak
Mohegan — It wasn't the play that offensive coordinator Tracey Kelusky drew up, but the goal scored by New England's Stephan Leblanc with 6.3 seconds remaining in regulation late Sunday afternoon was just as timely.
Both connecting on set plays, Leblanc tied the game in the waning seconds of regulation and Johnny Powless scored the game-winner 47 seconds into sudden death overtime as the Black Wolves edged the Calgary Roughnecks 13-12 before 5,098 fans at Mohegan Sun Arena.
The win broke a four-game losing streak for the Black Wolves (7-8), who moved to within a game of the three frontrunners in the National Lacrosse League's Eastern Division with three games to play. The top three teams in the division will qualify for the playoffs.
Leblanc said the crucial tying goal game on a broken play.
“(Calgary) read it wrong,” Leblanc said of the play, on which the Black Wolves pulled goalie Aaron Bold to create a 6-on-5 opportunity. “(They) jumped the play. I was able to break off and move to get underneath.”
Leblanc smiled as he said the original play will remain off the record.
“We might need that play,” he said. “… We kind of improvised there. We've got multiple 6-on-5 plays that we're practicing on a regular basis. Confident? You're confident that you're going to get a shot off. You've got to pick your spots right.”
Leblanc's goal, his first of the game to go with three assists, was assisted by Reilly O'Connor and Kyle Buchanan. Powless scored the winner, following a Calgary possession on which the Roughnecks came up empty, assisted by Kevin Crowley and Callum Crawford.
Crawford had a season-high five goals in the game, plus two assists, and Crowley had three goals and three assists for his sixth straight hat trick and his 34th straight game with
“A lot of ups and downs. It was a roller coaster game ... like this year.” STEPHAN LEBLANC, BLACK WOLVES
a goal. Powless, acquired by New England from the Georgia Swarm on Feb. 20, added a pair of goals and Bold made 41 saves, several late.
The Black Wolves are 4-0 in one-goal games this season, 10-3 since the start of last year in those games, and 3-0 in overtime this year.
Their four-game slide, however, dropped them from first in the traffic jam that serves as the Eastern Division standings to last.
“It was satisfying and necessary,” Black Wolves coach Glenn Clark said of the victory. “You don't want to talk about must-wins, but you get to that point in the season. It was needed.
“That (goal by Leblanc) was beautiful. I don't know if that's what was drawn up … good players make good coaches, right? It was masterful.”
The Black Wolves trailed 2-1 after the first quarter, but Calgary's lead soon ballooned to 5-1, as New England fell into a rhythm of being one-and-done on offense, while the Roughnecks scored on back-to-back shots. It was at the end of the second quarter the Black Wolves caught fire, beginning with 3:09 remaining, as Powless, Mark Cockerton and Crawford all scored in the next 1:11 to pull New England within 6-5 at halftime.
New England tied the game for the first time with 1:22 left in the third quarter, 8-8 on a goal by Brett Manney from David Brock. Calgary reclaimed the lead to end the third, getting a goal by Dane Dobbie with 58.5 seconds remaining.
The teams went back and forth throughout the fourth quarter. The Wolves took an 11-10 lead with 4:45 to play on a goal by Crawford in transition. The next two goals, however, belonged to Calgary, as Dobbie took a pinpoint pass from Riley Loewen to make it 11-11 and Wesley Berg gave the Roughnecks the 12-11 edge with 42.7 seconds remaining.
The Roughnecks won the ensuing faceoff, with New England getting a stop on defense and calling a timeout to set up the 6-on-5.
“A lot of ups and downs,” said Leblanc, also in his first season with the Black Wolves after being traded by Toronto. “It was a roller coaster game … like this year.”
“I don't know if it's a secret,” Powell said of the Black Wolves' record in tight games. “I'd rather win by five or six. … To finally have a win under our belts is awesome.”
The Black Wolves play Saturday at Colorado and April 21 at Rochester before returning to Mohegan Sun for their regular-season finale on April 29 vs. Georgia. v.fulkerson@theday.com