Justin Ivey, Beat Writer New England Black Wolves
Lacrosse is Awesome
The Sunday afternoon crowd of 5,720 at Mohegan Sun Arena, were hoping the New England Black Wolves (4-4) could rebound from two devastating losses and come out with a victory against the Colorado Mammoth (5-3). Instead of Aaron Bold starting in net for the home team, Doug Jamieson got the nod. “We had this planned prior to last week’s game…we wanted to give him an opportunity to start, as opposed to coming out in mop up work,” explained coach Glenn Clark post-game. With two new teams joining the league next season, it is important for every team to evaluate their roster top to bottom. Colorado started off hot in the first quarter, but New England found their way back into the game in the second. The second half though was one sided, and Colorado left the Den victorious. Final Score: Colorado-19, New England-11.
Colorado started off hot and found holes all over the Black Wolves’ defense. Just over a minute in, Brad Self (1G) scored on an odd man rush. Just over four minutes later, Jeremy Noble (2G, 4A) surprised Jamieson with an outside shot late in the shot clock to give the visitors a two-goal lead. Just a few possessions later, Eli McLaughlin (3G, 1A) scored from right on the crease, and to add insult to injury, the Black Wolves took a high hit penalty on the scorer. Ryan Benesch (2G, 6A) made quick work of the powerplay and 7:06 into the game Colorado found themselves leading 4-0. Things got a bit chippy during the second half of the first quarter, and seven penalties were called. Four were on New England, and three on Colorado. This gave the offenses plenty of opportunity to score on the power play. Kevin Crowley (4G, 3A) finally got the Black Wolves on the board, on the third shot of the power play. Benesch scored his second of the quarter with 1:17 remaining, and with a five on three advantage Stephen Keough (4G, 3A) put Colorado up five. At the end of the first, Colorado led New England 6-1.
New England came out in the second quarter and immediately changed things right around. They shut down the Colorado offense for nearly fourteen minutes and clicked on offense. Kyle Buchanan (1G, 3A) scored first 3:17 in, and under a minute later, Stephan Leblanc (3G, 1A) scored his first of the game. 5:09 in, Shawn Evans (2G, 4A) scored and suddenly the Black Wolves were only down two. Crowley scored his second of the game 6:34 in, and Leblanc tied the game with 4:40 remaining in the half. They weren’t done there. Evans scored his second of the quarter to give New England the lead with 2:20 left. But, the Mammoth offense finally broke through and Noble tied the game with 1:02 remaining. A late penalty gave Colorado a power play advantage and with only two seconds on the clock, Zack Greer (3G, 5A) put Colorado again. At halftime, Colorado led New England 8-7.
Just 50 seconds into the third quarter, New England was assessed another penalty, and again, Colorado scored. McLaughlin put in the power play goal to give Colorado a two-goal lead. The Mammoth won the ensuing faceoff, and Chris Wardle (1G, 3A) quickly found the net. Leblanc scored his hat trick goal 3:12 in, but it would not spark a Black Wolves run. Greer got the lead back to three with 7:16 remaining, followed by Crowley’s hat trick goal 27 seconds later. The Black Wolves were trying to claw back in, but Colorado ended the quarter with two straight to take a four-goal lead into the fourth. Jacob Ruest (2G, 1A) scored first, and Joey Cupido (1G) scored unassisted with 1:30 left. At the end of the third quarter, Colorado led New England 13-9.
Just 1:42 into the fourth, Keough scored his second of the game and chased Jamieson from the net. Aaron Bold came in to replace him, and it momentarily caused a swing. Bold made a few good saves, and Crowley scored his fourth 4:14 in. But, Colorado dug in and solved the Bold puzzle going on a five-goal run, holding New England scoreless until the final minute. Ruest bounced one in from outside, and just under a minute later Greer was left alone in transition leading to an easy one on one with Bold. With 5:23 left, Keough dipped his shoulder, causing Bold to drop down, and picked a top corner making the score 17-10. Two Black Wolves penalties gave Colorado a fine on three advantage. Keough scored, and on the five on four, McLaughlin found the net. With only 2:16 remaining, Colorado held a nine-goal lead. Kevin Buchanan (1G, 2A) scored with 55 seconds left on the clock to bring us to the final score. Final Score: Colorado-19, New England-11.
Up Next:
The New England Black Wolves (4-4) travel to play the Vancouver Stealth (1-9) on Saturday, February 24 at 10:00 PM EST.
The Colorado Mammoth (5-3) travel to play the Georgia Swarm (4-5) on Friday, March 2 at 7:35 PM EST.