Execution was a killer for the Roughnecks on Saturday night against the Stealth.

After a demoralizing one-goal-loss to the visiting Washington Stealth, the one word being tossed around the Calgary Roughnecks' dressing room was simple — execution.

Despite coming back from a 6-1 deficit early in the second quarter, the Roughnecks ended up being sunk by mistakes, causing them to lose the game 16-15 and dropping their record to 1-2 early in the National Lacrosse League schedule.

“The effort and determination were there but it’s the execution,” Roughnecks assistant captain Andrew McBride said. “It’s not a question of not working hard but it’s a question of executing it. And that’s what needs to be better.”

Captain Tracey Kelusky added: “Our execution was poor. We had a lot of chances and a lot of dropped balls, but again, I think our work ethic was great … We had some offensive chances but we just didn’t bear down and bury the

Calgary Roughnecks forward Jeff Shattler dekes out Washington Stealth goalie Matt Roik before passing off the ball during the Stealth's 16-15 victory over the Roughnecks on January 23 at the Saddledome.

Photo: Bryce Forbes/Calgary Journal

The last time the Roughnecks gave up 16 goals in a single game was May 10, 2008, when the Riggers lost to the now-defunct Portland LumberJax 16-12 in the NLL divisional playoffs.

“We can hang with any team in the league offensively and it’s really just a matter of execution,” Roughnecks head coach Dave Pym said. “Some mental errors and breakdowns on our back end, and normally in this (defensive system) we don’t allow this many goals.”

Although this may not be the start to the NLL season that the Roughnecks were looking for, McBride is not worried.

“We aren’t pushing the panic button, that’s the beauty of this league,” McBride said. “You’re never out of it, and we just need to come out and execute.”

“Anytime you score 15 goals you should win, so I think a lot of it has got to hang on our defense,” Roughnecks defenceman Bruce Codd said. “I know they scored a lot of goals, but you’re not going to win many games giving up 16 goals.”

With the victory, the Stealth left Calgary as the highest-scoring team in the NLL so far this year, with 61 goals scored, including a 13-11 victory over the Buffalo Bandits on Friday night.

In one bright spot for the crowd of over 10,000, Roughnecks forward Josh Sanderson made history. The second of his four goals in the game marked his 300th career goal. Teammate Kelusky was also credited with the 300th goal of his career with his second of the night late in the second quarter, but later, during halftime, the goal was credited toCraig Conn instead.

Former Roughnecks player Lewis Ratcliff got revenge on his old team, leading the Stealth with six goals and three assists, with his final goal late in the third period standing up as the game winner.

Also scoring four goals for the Roughnecks were Craig Conn and Dane Dobbie with Scott Ranger and Jeff Moleski firing singles. Jeff Shattler was valuable with six assists on the offensive side.

Next for the Roughnecks is their own version of the Battle of Alberta, heading north to take on the Edmonton Rush next Saturday night. The Rush currently sit at 2-1 on the season and are coming off an 11-7 victory over the Bandits on Jan. 23.