Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Panther City Lacrosse
The Colorado Mammoth (1-1) headed to Panther City (2-1) to take on their Western Division Rivals at Dickies Arena in Ft. Worth, TX after having a bye week. They had just suffered a huge loss against another Western Division Rival, the Saskatchewan Rush (1-1) two weeks ago. Tonight’s contest had a much different Mammoth squad on the floor. They started out quickly jumping to a 2-0 lead and never looked back as they were firing on all cylinders. Rhys Duch (2g, 1a) would make his debut in a Mammoth jersey and showed the fans that he was a great addition to the team scoring early on in the second. Eli McLaughlin (4g, 3a) and Zed Williams (3g, 5a) have quickly become the “Dynamic Duo” picking up the slack with Ryan Lee still out of the line-up. Final Score: Mammoth 12—Panther City 9.
Colorado’s Tim Edwards (1a, 8LB) would nab the opening draw and the teams were off to the races. It was a defensive battle between the pipes for the first five and change before the Mammoth would draw first blood. Eli McLaughlin (4g, 3a) would notch his first of the 2022-23 season firing a sidearm shot from the right and buried it far side 5:40 into the first and we were on the board 1-0. The Mammoth were playing considerably better defense than they were in Saskatoon and it showed. With 7:47 left in the first, Colorado found the net again. Ty Thompson (2g) in his debut for the Mammoth used a little hitch move to penetrate the middle and buried it top shelf putting the Mammoth up 2-0. The Panther City offense had stalled in the first 10 and Dillon Ward had stopped everything. They’d finally get one to hit twine with 1:36 on the ticker. Will Malcolm (3g, 2a) split his defenders and with the quick release shot hit five-hole and it was 2-1 still in favor of Colorado. On the play, Rookie Mathieu Gautier (1g, 4a) would get his first career NLL assist. That was it for the first 15. Score at the end of one: Mammoth 2—Panther City 1.
It didn’t take long for the Mammoth to strike again. Thirty two seconds in, Rhys Duch (2g, 1a) from way out, fired a shot at the cage, it hit the crossbar then hit Nick Damude in the back and he knocked it into the net. This would be his first goal in a Mammoth jersey and Colorado was up 3-1 and it would start a three-goal run for the team. Zed Williams (3g, 5a) faked high, then low and used his defenders as a screen to put one five-hole on Damude at 1:31 and it was 4-1. Panther City would go man-up but the Mammoth would be the ones to capitalize. Ward would send an outlet pass to Williams on the breakaway, he’d head to the cage, went in all alone on the front door and went five-hole for a short-handed tally at 2:33 and Colorado had a four goal lead 5-1. The Mammoth would go man down for the third time with 8:53 left in the half. Nathan Grenon (2g) got the dish from Gautier from the rebound off the boards and with a quick stick caught Ward off guard to notch a power-play tally with 7:47 left in the first half and it was 5-2. It took less than 90 seconds before Panther City would score again. Grenon drove to the top side, rolled back underneath, faked far side and brought it back near side driving through the crease at 6:31 and it was 5-3. For the next four minutes the fans saw several changes in possession and great net-minding. Finally with 1:21 remaining, McLaughlin with his back to the net got the dish from Dylan Kinnear, he spun and dropped putting it through the wickets of Damude and once again the lead was three 6-3. With less 49.3 on the timer, Ty Thompson (2g) fired a laser at the cage, it hit the crossbar, then the inside of the left post and it was 7-3. Tracey Kelusky threw the challenge flag. Unfortunately for P.C. there was no conclusive evidence to overturn the call on the floor. Score at the end of two: Mammoth 7—Panther City 3.
Panther City would outscore Colorado 2-1 in the third. Malcolm with a spin move got around his defender dove through the crease and brought it back near side at the 3:22 mark and it was 7-4. Panther City would go on their second man-down situation and would kill the penalty lighting a bit of fire under the team. At the 5:00 mark, they’d get some more as Josh Medeiros (1g) in transition, would shoot through two defenders down low and hit five-hole closing the gap again 7-5. But soon after, they’d get hit with another penalty and somehow managed to kill it again. With 1:00 on the ticker, Duch with an off ball cut threw a couple of fakes and got Damude moving and he’d fire it point blank down low and Colorado was once again up by three. Score at the end of three: Mammoth 8—Panther City 5.
The fans got to see a high scoring fourth and their team battling back to within two and each team notching four apiece, but it would be those extra three that Colorado brought into the frame that would be the deciding factor. Panther City got it started quickly in the fourth with Malcom notching his hat-trick at 54 seconds on a side arm quick release shot when he got Ward moving east to west and he found the back of the net 8-6. The Panther City defense was looking much better in the fourth smothering the Mammoth shooters. But at 3:20 Colorado put together a tic-tac-toe play and McLaughlin fired it over the right shoulder and caught the top corner and a hat-trick to start a three-goal run. Williams from way out would go low on Damude and put it home at 5:44 for his fourth on the night 10-6 Mammoth. About 30 seconds later Evan Downey (2a) and Brett McIntyre (1g, 1a) on the two-on-one game would get McIntyre to fake low and he’d go high stick side giving Colorado their largest lead of the game 11-6 at the 6:18 mark. But the home squad wasn’t going away and would fight back once more. Phil Caputo (1g, 2a) crashed the boards, grabbed the loosie on the doorstep all alone and fired it down low on Ward with 7:31 and it was 11-7 and the start of their own three-goal run. Patrick Dodds (1g, 1a) would follow up when he saw a little opening and took advantage firing a bouncer and went top shelf stick side with 7:03 left and it was 11-8. It took three minutes before Panther City would score again and their final tally on the night. Mathieu Gautier (1g, 4a) who was having a stellar rookie night would notch his first career NLL goal. He dodged up the floor to increase the angle and fired it across his body far side with 4:25 left 11-9 still in favor of Colorado. Caputo immediately headed to the cage to grab the ball for Gautier’s chest. Panther City would get hit with their third penalty of the game with 3:41 left in the contest and this one cost them. Colorado would go on man-up and McLaughlin on the doorstep all alone, came up and dunked it over the shoulder of Damude for the final tally with 2:46. For the remainder of the contest Panther City had pulled Damude for the extra-attacker and was bringing in Cam MacLeod as the Mammoth would get close to the cage, but it was for naught as they could not find the net. Final Score: Mammoth 12—Panther City 9.
STARS OF THE GAME:
Zed Williams-Colorado Mammoth: 3g, 5a
Eli McLaughlin-Colorado Mammoth: 4g, 3a
Dillon Ward-Colorado Mammoth: 31 Saves; 57 SOG; .842 SV%
STATS:
Colorado Mammoth: SOG 45; Saves 48; SV% .842%; FO 16-25; PP 1-3
Panther City: SOG 57; Saves 48; SV% .688%; FO 9-12; PP 1-3
NEXT UP:
The Colorado Mammoth (1-1) will host the Calgary Roughnecks (2-0) on Saturday January 7, 2023 at Ball Arena in Denver, CO when they will raise the NLL Championship Banner, game time 10:00 p.m. EST. For fans in the USA, this is the Game of the Week and they can see the action on ESPNU. Fans in Canada can see the action on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
The Panther City Lacrosse Club (2-1) will head north of the border to face the Saskatchewan Rush (1-1) on New Years Eve, Saturday December 31, 2022 at Sasktel Centre, in Saskatoon, game time 10:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can catch the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see the action on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©