Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Mary Adger Bowen
On Saturday March 26, 2022 the Colorado Mammoth (7-6) headed to Ft. Worth, TX for the final game of the three game series and the tie-breaker against the Panther City Lacrosse Club (6-8). The last time these two teams met, Panther City scored the most goals any team has scored this season, putting up 20 goals against Colorado on their home turf. So Colorado wanted some redemption. The Mammoth had just made some major trades prior to the deadline ending, giving up some great talent sending Sam Leclair to Philadelphia; and Ron John and Tyler Digby to New York while picking up Anthony Joaquim on defense and Tyson Gibson first overall pick by New York in the 2019 NLL Entry Draft. Unfortunately Gibson hasn’t been able to put anything in between the pipes so far and the loss of Leclair is being felt as well. Ryan Lee has not been on target over the last couple of games either, having put up stellar numbers in the previous games. Not to mention that with Tyler Carlson going out during the Vancouver game on March 18, their back-up net-minder is out for the season so Dillon Ward is pressured to perform as Nate Faccin has yet to see anytime between the pipes this year. Colorado put up a lackluster performance getting behind early on and tried to place catch up for the entire 60 but when you can’t put together any offense and your defense isn’t protecting the man between the pipes, it’s a recipe for disaster. Final Score: Panther City 10—Mammoth 6.
Panther City would shut out the Mammoth 4-0 in the first getting on the board on the opening draw and it went downhill from there. Josh Medeiros would put one between the pipes only 14 seconds in and it was all she wrote in the first as the home squad would tally three more, including a power-play tally. Scoring for Panther City in the first were Cam Milligan (2g) on the power-play, former Mammoth forward Will Malcolm (1g, 4a), and Phil Caputo (2g, 1a). Score at the end of one: Panther City 4—Mammoth 0.
The second was a defensive battle as both net-minders stood on their heads with Ward facing 14 shots while only allowing one goal and Nick Damude facing 12 shots while allowing two. It took over 10 minutes before the Mammoth finally got on the board and it would be in transition as Erik Turner (1g) would notch his second of the year at 10:17. Colorado would go man-down on their third penalty of the game and Panther City would put up their second power-play tally from Milligan at with 2:46 in the frame. The Mammoth would close out the half with a man-up tally of their own. Chris Wardle (3g) would get on the board with 42 left in the frame off illegal cross-checking penalty on Panther City to get them to within three. Score at the end of two: Panther City 5—Mammoth 2.
Once again, we’d see a slow start in the third with Panther City opening it up with Caputo notching a power-play marker at 9:52 increasing their lead 6-2. But Colorado would close out the frame notching the final two. Connor Robinson (1g, 1a) would finally put one between the pipes with 3:21 to go, and Wardle would notch his second with 1:59 to go in the third. Once again, the Mammoth would surpass Panther City in shots on goal 12-8 but they weren’t quality shots and Damude was making quality saves on the shots that were. Score at the end of three: Panther City 6—Mammoth 4.
In the fourth, Colorado would start it off 51 seconds in with Wardle notching his hat-trick. It would take almost six minutes of back and forth lacrosse before another point went up on the scoreboard and it would be the home squad notching two in a row. Dean Fairall (1g, 1a) broke the drought at 6:31 and Patrick Dodds finally got in on the action at 8:33 and once again Panther City increased the lead 8-4. The Mammoth were able to put one more up with Zed Williams (1g) finding an opening at the 9:34 mark but that was it. Although Colorado had another power-play opportunity, they couldn’t score and allowed Panther City to score yet a short-handed tally with Nathan Grenon increasing the lead 9-6 with 1:13 remaining. Colorado would pull Ward in favor of the extra attacker and Panther City took advantage and Liam Byrnes (1g) would put one into the empty net for the final nail in the coffin with 10 seconds on the clock. Final Score: Panther City 10—Mammoth 6.
Something to note is that Panther City has the longest winning streak in the league with five games in a row. They have gone from a record of 1-8 to a record of 6-8 and become a serious contender for a play-off spot this season.
STATS:
Colorado Mammoth—SOG 50; Saves 39; Face-offs 7-20; Assists 9; LB 54; PP 1-4
Panther City—SOG 49; Saves 44; Face-offs 13-20; Assists 13; LB 64; PP 3-5
NEXT UP:
The Colorado Mammoth (7-6) will play host to the Buffalo Bandits (12-1) at Ball Arena on Saturday April 2, game time 9:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can watch the action on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
The Panther City Lacrosse Club (6-8) have a bye week and will head to the Scotiabank Saddledome to face the Calgary Roughnecks (5-7) on Saturday April 9, game time 9:00 p.m. EST. Fans in Canada can watch the action on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©