Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Jack Dempsey
On Friday March 11, 2022 the Colorado Mammoth (6-4) hosted the Panther City Lacrosse Club (4-8) in front of 7,959 fans at the Loud House in Denver, CO. The fans were excited to see their team back in action after not having been in the arena since February 20. This would be the only time that Panther City would visit Colorado this year and they certainly left their mark. The Mammoth just signed Alex Woodall to fill that much needed spot at the face-off position after the loss of Tim Edwards due to an off-ball injury in Calgary back on February 11. It definitely paid off as the previous contest the Mammoth went 1-23 against the Rush in their last loss on February 26. But in last night’s game although Colorado found their groove early on, they would be outscored 19-9 in the last three frames and suffer an embarrassing loss in front of their home crowd. Panther City found their momentum and ran with it chasing starting net-minder Dillon Ward from the cage early in the third and never looked back. The visitors would also see their net-minder Nick Damude score his first career NLL goal on an empty-netter late in the contest; they’d score a franchise high 20 goals in one game; and have two players who would notch five goals apiece with Patrick Dodds having a career high and first time having scored four goals in a game. And on an odd note, Panther City had 10 shots on goal in the first and 16 in the second, while the Mammoth had 16 shots on goal in the first and 10 in the second. Final Score: Panther City 20—Mammoth 14.
The game started out as a good defensive battle with neither able to put one between the pipes. Colorado would go man-down about four minutes in and Zed Williams (2g, 4a) got the nice feed from Eli McLaughlin and on the run, sniped it top corner for a short-handed goal at 5:20 to get them on the board 1-0. Patrick Dodds (5g, 6a) on the outside, used the screen and fired it between two defenders to find the back of the net at the 6:47 mark to tie it up 1-1. We’d go about two and a half before we’d see the ball hit twine again, and it’d be Colorado going on a four goal run. McLaughlin (3g, 4a) went to the net, dipped under and fired it far side low at 9:01 putting them up. Ryan Lee (3g, 2a) from way out fired an overhand bounce shot far side low for his 61st career point this year and a new career high with 3:23 in the frame 3-1 Mammoth. With 48 seconds left, Chris Wardle (1g, 2a) would sneak one in after Damude made the initial save, the ball had enough English that it trickled in 4-1. The Mammoth were on another man-down and on the other end of the floor, Jordan Gilles (1g) got the interception in front of the cage, went coast to coast and fired it in on the run stick side with 6.7 for another short-handed goal increasing the lead by four. Shots on goal Mammoth 16—Panther City 10; Face-offs Mammoth 3-7 Panther City 4-7; Saves Mammoth 9—Panther City 11. Score at the end of one: Mammoth 5—Panther City 1.
With Colorado starting the second on a man-down due to a five-minute major off a cross-checking major, Panther City would take advantage and notch two power-play tallies. Dodds took a nice overhand twister shot pulled it back short side and got Ward leaning to put it far side 32 seconds in 5-2. Dean Fairall (5g, 2a) got the cross crease pass and snuck one in on the corner at 3:54 for another power-play tally 5-3. Fairall would put another one up at 5:15 when he came around stepped down and beat Ward on the outside to close the gap to one 5-4. But only 23 seconds later Lee would go underneath on the run and fire it low increasing the gap by two once more 6-4. At the 7:00 mark, Dylan Hutchison (1g, 2a) would put one just under the glove for his first of the year and the gap was closed again 6-5. Cam Milligan (1g, 7a) would come off the pick and fired it far side to tie it up 6-6 for the first time since 6:47 in the first. With 5:00 left in the half, McLaughlin got a great inside cut and went hard to the cage, pump faked far side and went near side breaking the tie 7-6. Connor Robinson (3g) would get on the board with 4:10 left and go up top from way out, he’d go east-west and fire it back across his body to get it under the glove of Damude 8-6 Colorado. But Panther City had the momentum and Dodds would notch his hat-trick with 2:57 left; and then he’d notch the power-play equalizer with 1:21 left firing it over the defender going high to high top corner and the first time he’s scored four goals in a game and a career high. Shots on goal Mammoth 10—Panther City 16; Face-offs Mammoth 5-11 Panther City 6-11; Saves Colorado 9—Panther City 7. Score at the end of two: Mammoth 8—Panther City 8.
Panther City would continue their momentum into the third outscoring the Mammoth 7-3. Phil Caputo (2g, 1a) would get things started at 1:48 faking high, then going low around defender giving Panther City their first lead of the contest 9-8 and they didn’t look back. Nathan Grenon (1g) would come at the cage and with the crease dive dunk it far side 10-8. Williams would use the hard pick and roll and was left wide open in front of the crease and fired it over the top for the bounce shot at 2:59 and halted the four-goal run for Panther City 10-9. Milligan and Fairall would team up and get Ward going side to side, Ward got skinny and Fairall went far side for his hat-trick at 5:11 and it was 11-9. At that point Mammoth Bench Boss Pat Coyle had seen enough and pulled Ward in favor of back-up net-minder Tyler Carlson. It took about a minute and change before he got his welcome and Liam Byrnes on a three-on-two fired it down low through the wickets at 6:48 and it was 12-9. Robinson would break up the action when he grabbed his own loosie and on the run fired it across his body on the run 12-10. But Fairall score his fourth 13-10; and Will Malcolm would put the shake-n-bake on his defender, come at the cage, jump and dunk it over the shoulder of Carlson 14-10. The Mammoth would get the turnover and on the two-on-two, Williams and Eric Turner (1g, 2a) headed down the floor, the defenders had their eyes on Williams and Turner popped it in past Damude 14-11 with 3:16 left in the third. The final tally in the frame was a short-handed marker by Caputo coming across the crease, he got underneath his defender and fired it in on the backdoor cut. Shots on goal Mammoth 13—Panther City 15; Face-offs Mammoth 6-11 Panther City 5-11; Saves Mammoth 8—Panther City 10. Score at the end of three: Panther City 15—Mammoth 11.
The fourth was once again dominated by Panther City as the Mammoth could not find a way to get any type of momentum. It took only 52 seconds for Panther City to get on the board with a strange goal. Malcolm fired at the cage, it hit the glass behind the net, came back, hit Carlson in the back and went into the net 16-11. Dodds on GLE fired it in far side to bounce one in (a goal originally called a “no goal” but was reviewed and overturned) 17-11. At this point in the contest Panther City had outscored Colorado 16-6 since the second quarter. It took about five minutes of back and forth lacrosse before either team would score again. Colorado would see Robinson notch his hat-trick at the 6:30 mark when he’d head to the crease and fire it under the stick of Damude 17-12. With 4:17 remaining, Fairall got a good backdoor look and took a left handed shot from up top for a power-play tally 18-12. The Mammoth went for the extra-attacker and Damude (1g) took the shot and got the perfect “empty-netter” at the 3:49 mark for his 1st NLL Career Goal 19-12. McLaughlin would score one more with a quick stick finish on the far side with 2:34 left 19-13. Josh Medeiros (1g, 1a) in transition used a couple of pump fakes, jumped and dunked it over Carlson putting them up 20-13 making him the third defender to score on the Mammoth in the second half. As a matter of pride, Lee from way out would find an opening near pipe with 1:20 in the contest and his 26th goal of the season. That was it for the contest. Final Score: Panther City 20—Mammoth 14.
TEAM STATS:
Panther City: SOG 52; Saves 37; FO 20-38; Assists 30; LB 81; PP 4-5
Colorado Mammoth: SOG 51; Saves 32; FO 18-38; Assists 21; LB 66; PP 0-2
NEXT UP:
The Colorado Mammoth (6-4) will play host to the Vancouver Warriors (5-5) at Ball Arena, in Denver on Friday March 18, game time 9:30 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can catch the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can catch this game on TSN.ca or the TSN app. This game has major playoff implications for both teams so it’s a must win for both.
The Panther City Lacrosse Club (4-8) will head north to face the Calgary Roughnecks (3-6) at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday March 19, game time 9:00 p.m. EST. Fans in Canada can catch this game on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©