Di Miller, Beat Writer Colorado Mammoth
Lacrosse is Awesome
The Colorado Mammoth (6-6) hosted the Vancouver Stealth (5-6) on a rare Sunday night contest. The Mammoth had a chance to move into a tie for first place in the Western Division with the Saskatchewan Rush with a win on Saturday March 11, but the Mammoth weren’t able to bring home the “W” suffering an OT loss at the Sasktel Centre putting them two games behind the Rush. The game against Vancouver was critical as the “W” would put Colorado up two games over the Stealth and a loss would make the race for the top even closer. Colorado had won four of their last five prior to the loss to the Rush, but unfortunately for the Mammoth when they returned to the Mile High City 
after little sleep from the road trip back from Saskatchewan, tired legs and an unsettled offense would have them on the short end of the stick. Final Score: Vancouver 10—Colorado 6.
The Mammoth are still without veteran John Grant, Jr. and now Joey Cupido has been put on the inactive roster. Jeremy Noble was back on the floor tonight after missing almost a month and a half from the board checking he got off Greg Harnett earlier in the season; Zack Greer was also suited up this weekend after missing several games; and Alex Buque was getting his first start in over two months. Their young guns that came to life in the Roughnecks game were a must for Colorado in this game but it just wasn’t working on either side of the floor.
Vancouver was coming off a huge win against the Rush halting their six game winning streak while scoring four unanswered goals against Aaron Bold in the fourth quarter in their contest last weekend. Tye Belanger has really come to life between the pipes and over the last two weeks has made save after save. By the way Vancouver played; they wanted the win to remain in the hunt.
The Stealth would start off the scoring quickly with a feed from Rhys Duch to Joel McCready who would rip it top far corner on an overhand shot. But the Mammoth would strike back only 11 seconds later when Callum Crawford would get his 22nd of the year with his hands out, feet set and would shoot under the left hand glove of Belanger. Duch would come back with a shot low glove side on Buque to put Vancouver back up by one. Over seven minutes would tick off the clock while the fans watched the players run up and down the field, and the net minders at both ends saving shot after shot. At 9:59 Corey Small, the league’s leading scorer would get his 28th of the year when he got the pass from Cory Conway, pump faked, shot and scored five hole right out of the power-play when the Mammoth couldn’t convert. Colorado was off to a slow start; had the slight advantage with shots on goal 14-12; and were dominating at the face-off circle 3-4. Score at the end of one: Vancouver 3—Colorado 1.
Colorado Captain Dan Coates would start off the second winning the draw, headed down the field in transition and made a nice right hand shot over the screen and blew it past a stunned Belanger only eight seconds in. Again, the fans would watch the track meet as the players would run back and forth down the field; shots on goal only to have the net minders from both sides making some highlight reel saves. It took over seven minutes for the drought to end and it would be Vancouver with Duch getting his second on the night. On the Mammoth’s second power-play opportunity they looked better with more shooting opportunities and quality shots, but they still weren’t hitting net. Eli McLaughlin would notch his first and only of the night getting his 21st of the year and a career high on a quick stick shot top corner catching Belanger moving post to post. But again it would be Vancouver closing out the frame with Jordan Durston scoring unassisted with an absolutely amazing bounce shot top corner when he scooped the ground ball and sent it passed Buque. With five seconds left on the clock, Colorado would pull Buque in favor of the extra attacker but they couldn’t capitalize. Score at the end of the half: Vancouver 5—Colorado 3.
The Mammoth just didn’t look good starting off the second half; they weren’t moving around on offense making it easy for Vancouver to defend. The Stealth could see this and would take advantage with Duch getting his third (hat-trick) 50 seconds in when he stepped back, shot and scored outside five hole on Buque. Colorado would go on the power-play again when Jeremy Noble set up in front of the net, adjusted his shooting angle which caused a slight delay in Belanger getting set and Noble would split the defenders with a nice shot and goal. This would be the only man-up goal for either team in the contest. At this point, the Mammoth defense was playing nice and tight, not allowing clear shots on target. They would again pull Buque with less than nine minutes in the third again in favor of the EA, but they couldn’t capitalize. On the other end, Vancouver was using the hidden ball trick throughout the game and although they tried, they weren’t fooling the Mammoth. Yet again, the fans would watch each team run up and down the field for almost eight minutes until McCready dove into the crease and the goal would have been highlight material, but he was called for a crease violation. The Stealth threw the challenge flag and after multiple reviews the ruling on the floor stood as there was no conclusive evidence to the contrary “No Goal”
. The Mammoth had been lucky so far as their defense had been locking out Duch; they had offensive numbers but just weren’t connecting with at least five of their shots in the contest hitting off pipe. And then finally, with almost 12 minutes having past, Cam Holding would scoop the loose ball and get the breakaway in a one-on-one with Duch, shielded the Stealth pick off the pass and made a nice outside shot on Belanger at 14:11 for his first on the year. But with only 15.4 seconds left on the clock Small would close out the third when he squeaked one through Buque for his second on the night. Simply put, the Mammoth were not aggressive on defending the league leading scorer, Small with the ball in his stick and less than 16 seconds in the frame. Score at the end of three: Vancouver 7—Colorado 5.
The Stealth would again draw first blood as they had done in the first and third quarters. Durston would break the silence at 5:36 with a stutter step across the floor sick side top right shelf as he hit the post and net. Again, the Stealth would split the defense shoot and score, something that had been problematic for the Mammoth for the first 45 minutes of play. Duch would get his fourth on the night at 6:45 with another stutter step side-to-side and although Ilija Gajic had his stick on Duch the entire time and was looking for help, it just wasn’t there. Duch would capitalize with a bounce shot under the glove of Buque. This would give Vancouver their biggest lead of the night 9-5. The Mammoth would attempt a desperate comeback pulling Buque again in favor of the EA. It almost backfired on them when Duch came off the bench on the rebound, scooped the ball and Buque barely made it back in net to make yet another highlight reel save. Finally at 13:03 the EA would pay off for the Mammoth on a fluke play. Ian Hawksbee would pick up the loose ball, lose control as he hit the boards and the ball would bounce behind the net where Chris Wardle was patiently waiting and would scoop the ball and dive from the backside of the net for his first and only goal (unassisted) of the night at 13:03. The goal was reviewed and the call was upheld. The Mammoth chose to go with the EA for the remainder of the contest and Vancouver would take advantage with Belanger sending it down field to Travis Cornwall for the empty netter at 13:32. From that point on, it was sheer desperation as the Mammoth could not maintain possession and their shots were just not hitting twine; passing was rushed and sloppy; and their transition was off. Vancouver would control the ball for the remaining thirty seconds of the game and defeat the Mammoth. Final Score: Vancouver 10—Mammoth 6.
Colorado had dominated at the face-off circle with Coates almost unstoppable
, but all that accomplished was more possessions, not more goals which is typically the case. The Mammoth had no real set offense; and the cutters weren’t there. They were very scattered on the power-play; and had little player movement. We’re not sure if there is a problem with throwing Noble back into the mix, but the chemistry just wasn’t there tonight. With Noble and Greer back, they must figure out how to integrate them back into the line-up if they want any semblance of organized play and a chance to break this two game slide.
Next Friday March 17, 2017, Colorado (6-6) heads back on the road up to Toronto to face the Rock (6-4) at Air Canada Centre. Vancouver (5-6) will host the Buffalo Bandits (4-6) at the Langley Events Centre.
Di Miller, Beat Writer Colorado Mammoth
Lacrosse is Awesome