Photo: Matt Zambonin/Freestyle Photography/OSHC
The Ottawa Black Bears prevailed over the Calgary Roughnecks on Saturday night at Canadian Tire Centre to get back to .500 on the season.
Ottawa held a slim lead for much of the 11-9 win, and although they eventually fell behind the Roughnecks 9-8 in the fourth quarter, they rallied with three straight goals, including a Matt Marinier empty netter, to hand Calgary their seventh loss of the season.
Jeff Teat notched a goal in each quarter en route to a four-goal, nine-point performance which left him with an NLL-leading 73 points on the season, 12 clear of the second highest scorer’s total, Oshawa’s Alex Simmons.
“I think something we’ve been doing all year is just sticking to our game plan, and trusting the whole 60 minutes, we’re a resilient team and I think we showed that tonight,” said Teat after the game.
Teat labelled goaltender Zach Higgins as the biggest factor in the win. Higgins saved 45 of 54 shots the Roughnecks sent his way, good for a .833 save percentage, his highest mark so far this season.
“He was great, I think we had a lot of great individual efforts,” continued Teat. “Reed Kurtz at the faceoffs, wearing their guys down, pressing their ball team. I thought [Brent Noseworthy] was great as well. I think a lot of good efforts, [Reilly O’Connor], scoring the game winner, picking up a tough loose ball.”
Teat was named the game’s first star for his efforts, while Higgins was named the game’s second star. “I think we really beared down today, we were working hard defensively, we were really trying to impose our will a bit on them,” said Higgins.
“They bounced back well in that second half but I think we kept our composure and really kept to our game plan. We were a good unit today, I thought, we had lots of communication, no one was being quiet out there, we were being loud, and I think that gave everyone confidence to play.”
The team’s 2025 fourth-round draft pick, Cole Begley, made his debut during the game. MacRae said the decision to play the defenceman was based on what he’d seen during the week of practices, and also the work players put in studying video and during workouts. “We’re looking at everything [that] these guys are doing, and we want to reward hard work,” said MacRae after the game.
“Cole Begley’s been doing that since training camp. Was fortunate that we had a spot available for him to go in. I just told him to try and give us a spark with some hard work and he did that numerous times, big loose balls and getting our offence a couple of second chances there, so super proud to see him succeed there tonight.”
Travis Longboat scored his first goal of the season, in his second game since returning from injury. Sam Firth added a goal and an assist. O’Connor’s goal in the fourth quarter stood as the winner, and came off of a slick pass from Rob Hellyer, who finished with a goal and three assists, the first of which was the 600th of his NLL career. Kearnan scored twice and added an assist, while Larson Sundown contributed two assists.
On defence, Marinier’s empty-netter came off a selfless pass from Kevin Brownell, who drew in two Roughnecks defenders before giving Marinier the chance to pot his first of the season. Callum Jones was his usual physical and determined self on the back end and in transition and picked up an assist on Teat’s third goal, while Jake Stevens caused two turnovers and scooped six loose balls.
The Black Bears will play for the 10th week in a row next Saturday in Rochester before getting a break with their second of three bye weeks on the season. The Knighthawks are also standing at .500 on the season (4-4) and are leading the league in goals scored per game.
“The guys are due for a rest, but a big challenge ahead of us next week, so I’m just looking for them to stay hungry after a win,” said MacRae, who noted that Kearnan provided some encouragement to the Black Bears before the game with an emphasis on getting out of the gates quick as to not rely on fourth quarter comebacks.
“Especially with the bye and Rochester being one of the top ranked teams, we really want to come in and set the tone early with them, and try and get a big win,” said Higgins.
