Di Miller, Beat Writer Colorado Mammoth
Lacrosse is Awesome
On Friday March 30, the Colorado Mammoth (10-4) headed east to face the Toronto Rock (7-7). Air Canada Centre was packed with 10,288 Rock fans that were ready to watch their team roll over the Mammoth. Unfortunately for Toronto, they couldn’t stop the second toughest team in the league. Colorado led the series against Toronto 7-1 going into the game and they would make it 7-2. After coming off the loss last week against Vancouver, the Mammoth wanted to get back to their winning ways. Toronto was on a two game winning streak and hoped to keep it going. The Mammoth would conquer and divide coming away victorious. Final Score: Colorado 11—Toronto 7.
Colorado would start off the first with a bang. Ryan Benesch (2G, 2A) would start it off with a pass from Jeremy Noble, and with a nice side arm whip used Brodie Merrill as a screen and sent it past Nick Rose 48 seconds in. For the next two minutes the defense on both ends played very well. But for Toronto it wasn’t good enough. Brad Self would feed the ball to Eli McLaughlin (2G, 1A) as he tip-toed the crease on a one-on-one; then with his fast foot work hit stick side on Rose at 2:56. That one quieted the Toronto fans for a bit. This would be the first time during the contest that the battle of the net-minders would begin. Rose and Dillon Ward held strong in their respective nets using their instincts to keep the ball from meeting twine for almost a full six minutes.
The Rock were doing well offensively, but had some errant shots which kept them from scoring. Ward was confident as he was coming out of net; he felt his defense was capable of stopping the back door man coming up with a turnover and scoring. But Ward was also able to predict the shots from Toronto and hadn’t allowed a quick stick shot yet. As Ward was doing his job, Zack Greer did his. From the weak side out the back door, Greer would pick and roll off the ball; and with a quick step would cut to the crease give Rose one fake and scored at 8:23. Colorado was successful in their finishes; and Toronto was successful in stopping the number one team in power-play goals against with 21. The Rock would pull Rose with 20 seconds in the frame in favor of the extra attacker, but on the three-0n-two offensive set couldn’t score. Score at the end of one: Mammoth 3—Rock 0.
In the second quarter, Toronto would match goals scored by the Mammoth in the first outscoring Colorado 3-2. After 2:34 of track meet lacrosse, Noble (1G, 4A) would break the silence as he lowered his shoulder and sent a bullet through traffic giving him his 19th goal of the season; and second on the team in points. The Rock would go on a three-goal run. All the goals were unassisted and scored by the defense. Latrell Harris (2G) would score only eight seconds later when he scooped the loose ball on the face-off, took off dove across the crease hitting stick side on Ward. A minute later, Billy Hostrawser (1G) would get another unassisted defensive goal again on the face-off. Hostrawser would get the fast break shooting on Ward glove side. After coming back from the TV timeout at 8:00 on the clock, there would be a delay due to problems with the shot clock. About two minutes after the break, Brad Kri (1G) found himself in a 2-on-1 situation; and with great transition to the goal, went straight to the net, dove into the crease and scored the third unassisted defensive goal for the Rock tying the game a 3 apiece. He made contact with Ward and went face first into the net. A scuffle ensued as Mammoth players wanted to protect their goalie. The men in black and white called it a clean hit and broke up the scrum. There would be yet another TV timeout which broke up Toronto’s momentum. The Mammoth would get possession after the break, Noble came across the field with a couple of fakes; saw Stephen Keogh (2G, 1A) wide open in front of the net passed the ball and Keogh would hit net between the legs of Rose. Matt Sawyer, Head Coach of the Rock threw the challenge flag. After a long review, head Crew Chief Chris Williams announced the goal was good putting the Mammoth up 5-3. With less than a minute in the first half, the teams would be equal in face-off wins at five apiece; and shots on goal were almost even with the Mammoth leading 25-22. The Rock would outscore Colorado in the second but would not take the advantage in the half. Toronto would receive the only two penalties in the first 30; a holding call and an illegal substitution. Score at the end of two: Colorado 5—Toronto 3.
Toronto would for the second frame in a row, outscore the Mammoth. Harris would score yet another unassisted defensive goal. This one also off a loose ball scooped after the face-off, as he would head back to the net beating Ward yet again. Benesch would get the only goal in the third for the Mammoth. He came down the wrong side of the floor sending a skipper left side high on Rose using Brock Sorensen as a screen at 2:05. After seven and a half minutes of scoreless lacrosse, the Rock would see Challen Rogers (2G) score back-to-back goals, both unassisted defensive goals. The first at 9:33 when he was wide open scoring a transition goal with the assist going to Rose; and the second in a five-on-five as he would fist pump, swim dodge, wound up and hitting short side at 10:56 (assist Reid Reinholdt and Kieran McArdle). The Mammoth had no mistakes on offense and they were playing good tight defense. Ward was cutting down the angles and not allowing the Toronto offensive to score as evidenced by the fact that all six goals were scored by the defense. It was obvious that Ward had watched numerous game films as he knew ahead of time where the Rock offense would shoot, but had no idea about the defense, hence the six goals. In the last two minutes, the Mammoth would get their rebounds controlling the ball for almost a minute and a half; and the Rock defense was getting tired. With around 40 seconds left in the frame, Toronto finally got possession but could not capitalize. There would be one penalty in the third, a holding call against the Mammoth. Score at the end of three: Colorado 6—Toronto 6.
At the start of the fourth, the net-minders would head to their ends of the field, check their nets and take their stance in goal. Colorado controlled the fourth outscoring the Rock 5-1. Keogh would start it off at the 27 second mark. Rose stepped out for a split second and Keogh took advantage splitting two defenders and scored. At 3:06 the Mammoth would pull Ward in favor of the extra attacker, a risky move but with the upcoming penalty for goalie interference on Toronto, Head Coach Pat Coyle felt it was worth the risk. On the ensuing man-up situation, McLaughlin would get the pass from Ruest across the floor, perfectly executed the pump fake scoring at 5:22. A little over two minutes later, Brook Sorensen would feed the ball to Brodie Merrill (1G) who was wide open, headed down field on the fast break and hit short side top fooling Ward who slid the other way. At this point in the game Colorado was dominating in shots on goal 47-33 over Toronto, obviously due to the fact that the offense had not scored a goal and there was less than eight minutes in the game. The next goal was created by a toss from Benesch which hit off a Toronto defender, allowing another 30 seconds on the shot clock. Noble saw Chris Wardle (1G, 1A) open, who went out the back door snuck behind his defender went airborne, faked and snuck one in stick side at 9:20. The Mammoth would go up 9-7. The next goal was a highlight reel goal. Jacob Ruest (2G, 4A) split two defenders, faked a shot then sent a behind-the-back goal catching Rose flat-footed and off guard. With about two minutes left, Rose was pulled in favor of the extra attacker. Although Colorado had several chances to score on the open net, they chose to play smart ball and run down the clock. But with the wide open net calling his name, Ruest would pass Rogers and took it to the net with 1:16 left in the game. Toronto attempted to score with 6 on 5, but it wasn’t meant to be. The Mammoth would go onto win the contest. Final Score: Colorado 11—Toronto 7.
The game was extremely odd with the Rock offense being held scoreless and the Rock defense keeping them in the game. Some other facts: there were no offensive goals by Toronto; after tonight’s game, there is a four way tie in the NLL East; Colorado is a half game back from Saskatchewan and if they can pull off the win in Rochester on March 31, they could take the lead in the NLL West.
NEXT UP:
Colorado heads down the highway to face the Rochester Knighthawks (7-7) at the Blue Cross Arena for their first game back home after three weeks. This will be a great game when the power house Mammoth go up against the young Knighthawks who are very much alive for a spot in the playoffs. Toronto (7-7) will head out on the road on Sunday April 8, to face their Eastern Division rivals the Georgia Swarm (7-7) at 4:05 p.m.
Di Miller, Beat Writer Colorado Mammoth
Lacrosse is Awesome