Jeff Moleski doesn't score a lot of goals for the Washington Stealth.
His role as a defenceman in the National Lacrosse League is to shadow the other team's top forwards and make life miserable for them in front of the net. When his team gets the ball, Moleski usually heads for the bench.
But with the Stealth trailing the Minnesota Swarm 5-2 late in the first quarter of their Western Conference semifinal playoff Saturday in St. Paul, Minn., the 29 year old from Prince George kicked his legs into high gear on an odd-man rush and finished the play by rifling a shot into the Swarm net.
The goal came just 24 seconds after Lewis Ratcliff had scored for the Stealth, and the defending NLL champions scored four more in the second quarter on the way to a 14-8 win to advance to the Western final against the Calgary Roughnecks this Saturday in Calgary.
"It was a timely one, for sure, that got us back into it and we never looked back from there," said Moleski, who collected three goals and 10 assists in 16 regular season games.
"I had a transition opportunity and got a pass from [Paul Rabil] and I just got a quick shot and beat the goalie high side."
With Moleski patrolling the defensive zone, the Stealth prevented NLL scoring champion Ryan Benesch from scoring Saturday, limiting a sniper who totaled 46 goals and 95 points in 16 regular season games to just three assists.
Rhys Duch led the Stealth with three goals and four assists and Ratcliff picked up three goals and three assists. Jeff Zywicki, back from knee injury that limited him to just three games, and Cam Sedgwick each had two goals and two assists.
Tyler Richards made 40 saves in goal for Washington. Nick Patterson turned aside 38 Stealth shots.
"We've had major injury problems all year and this last game was the first game all year we've had everybody back," Moleski said. "We started out poorly, but we only gave up three goals in the last three quarters."
Moleski is looking forward to taking on Calgary, where he played for six seasons until he was traded to Washington last summer. The Roughnecks won two of their three games against the Stealth this season.
The Roughnecks advanced Saturday with 10-6 win over the Colorado Mammoth in Calgary. In the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Buffalo Bandits edged the Boston Blazers 11-10, and the Toronto Rock defeated the Rochester Nighthawks 10-8. The Bandits will host the Rock in the Eastern final on Saturday.
