Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Photo Credit: M. Bowen
On Saturday February 18, 2023 the Colorado Mammoth (4-5) headed to Dickie’s Arena in Ft. Worth, TX to face the Panther City Lacrosse Club (6-4) for the second meeting of the teams this year. Colorado has dropped three in a row and heading into the game were 1-3 on the road. They needed a “W” to get back on track and keep themselves within reach of one of the three elusive playoff spots in the Western Division. They have been plagued by injuries even before winning the NLL Championship, but it’s been increased ten fold over the past few weeks having lost Joey Cupido for the year; having played games without Dillon Ward, Connor Robinson, Rhys Duch and they are still without Ryan Lee. They haven’t looked like the defending champs at any point this season and the frustrations are building with each game. This game would be no different as they could not get any offense going, they had careless penalties and with 10.8 on the clock, the gloves came off and players were tossed. During the game there would be a total of five “illegal substitution” penalties two of which went against the Mammoth. There was also a total of 70 minutes of penalties handed out. Next week the two teams will meet again, this time in the Loud House and we shall see if the tensions carry over into Friday night. Final Score: Panther City 13—Mammoth 7.
Colorado would get things going early on when Eli McLaughlin (3g, 1a) used a face dodge and twister shot to bounce one in near side at 2:25 and they were on the board 1-0. But as the game progressed, so did the penalties. Both teams would go man down and we’d see a four on four. Panther City would be the one to put a point on the board at 4:03. Will Malcom (2g, 4a) got his hands free and fired one top corner for the equalizer 1-1. The track meet and sloppy play continued for the next six minutes before the tie was erased. Jordan Gilles (1g) fought his way to the net, slipped underneath and on a three-on-one buried one short side under the glove for the go ahead tally 2-1 with 4:33 in the first. Another 90 seconds ticked off the timer and another penalty tacked onto Panther City. This time Colorado made them pay. McLaughlin in close threw a couple of fakes and went to the near side low giving them a two goal lead with 2:53 left 3-1 Colorado. Panther City got their momentum as soon as the next goal hit twine and didn’t look back as they’d go on a five-goal run. On a man up opportunity, Phil Caputo (1g, 3a) grabbed the loosie, headed to the cage and used a back hand wrap around to score on Ward with 36 seconds on the clock for a power-play tally and it was 3-2 still in favor of Colorado. This was the last time the Mammoth would hold the lead. Score at the end of one: Mammoth 3—Panther City 2.
The second quarter was all Panther City as they would outscore the Mammoth 5-1. Jonathan Donville (3g, 4a) was able to fire a bounce shot through traffic and went five-hole at 1:02 to tie it at 3’s. Callum Crawford (3g, 4a) standing at the side of the cage, got the skip pass and Ward couldn’t get back and he fired it near post 28 seconds later and it was 4-3. They weren’t letting up and just kept pounding Ward. Malcolm stepped down and fired an over the top shot and went top shelf at 3:31 and all of a sudden it was 5-3. It took 6 seconds and Colorado would break down and get it hit with an “illegal substitution” penalty. So, Panther City would again capitalize. This time Mathieu Gautier (2g, 1a) would get the rebound off the post, crashed the boards and fired it right back in on Ward for a power-play marker at 4:01 for the three-goal lead 6-3. At this point, PCLC had picked up the pace and Colorado was imploding on offense as well as defense. Once again, we’d see the same slowing of play as we did in the first with neither team scoring this time for almost 10 minutes. Finally, with 1:40 in the half, Zed Williams (1g, 3a) would throw a couple of fakes, roll dodge and fire it top side to finally stop the bleeding, end the five-goal run and it was 6-4. As the half was winding down, PCLC would call a time out and go with the six-on-five hoping to increase their lead and it worked. Donville let it fly from way out through traffic and went five-hole with 1 second on the clock to carry their momentum into the locker room. Halftime stats: Colorado—SOG 16; Saves 24; Sv% .774%; PP 1-3; FO 4-12. PCLC—SOG 31; Saves 20; Sv% .800%; PP 2-5; FO 8-12. Score at the end of two: Panther City 7—Mammoth 4.
It took a bit longer for the third to get going but Colorado would strike first with only one of two goals they’d put up. The Mammoth used some nifty tic-tac-toe passing and McLaughlin would get the feed to Tyson Gibson (1g, 2a) who went five-hole with a bouncer for a power-play tally and his first of the year at the 4:46 mark and it was 7-5 still in favor of PCLC. A few minutes later, the lead would once again increase for the hometown squad. Crawford threw a fake to draw the defense and fired an overhand shot right side at 6:48 and it was 8-5. We’d see six tick of the timer before the scoreboard would change much like the first two quarters. On the next shot on cage, Ward would make the save, but with 2:23, Patrick Dodds (1g) who was out in front picked up the garbage with Ward on the turf and fired it on the wide open cage and it was 9-5. But Colorado wasn’t giving up just yet. Connor Robinson (1g, 1a) from right out in front fired one glove side down low for a power-play tally with 1:27 in the third and the gap was reduced to three 9-6. Unfortunately, it was short lived. With under 45 on the timer, Donville came out from the “O” box and almost from mid-field fired a laser far side with 41 seconds in the frame. Once again, PCLC would win the quarter. Score at the end of three: Panther City 10—Mammoth 6.
The fourth quarter was all Panther City as they would outscore the Mammoth 3-1. It took only 55 seconds for Crawford to use a quick stick twister shot on the left side of the cage for his hat-trick giving PCLC their largest lead so far 11-6. It took eight minutes before either team would score and it would be PCLC again. Gautier with the second chance effort, would fake right-left-right-left and from out it front put it near side with 6:04 to go and it was 12-6 almost putting the game out of reach for Colorado. In a last ditch effort to put points on the board, Colorado went with a six-on-five and pulled Ward with 3:55 to go. McLaughlin would fire a bullet past the left side of Damude with 3:46 to go and it was 12-7. But that would be it for Colorado. They’d try again with an empty net and PCLC made them pay. Josh Medeiros (1g) on the break headed to the cage and Ward couldn’t get back in time and with 2:49 to go, they’d go up 13-7. There was absolutely no way the Mammoth had a chance and tempers flared in the closing seconds. With 10.8 on the clock, the gloves came off, helmets and sticks went flying. Josh Sullivan and Jalen Chaster would both get tossed from the game; the refs would send multiple players to the sin-bin with four Mammoth players inside the box and two PCLC players sitting in the box. One of the refs would actually take down Warren Jeffrey as well. When the dust settled and they attempted to start the clock, Jordan Gilles and Phil Caputo went at it in front of the cage. The two went to blows with 6.4 seconds on the clock and were ejected from the game. The buzzer finally sounded to end the malaise as the fans headed to the doors. Final Score: Panther City 13—Mammoth 7.
Next Friday 24, 2023, Panther City will head to the Loud House to face the Mammoth. It will be interesting to see if the frustration the Mammoth no doubt are carrying from having lost four in a row and the fight at the end of the contest in Ft. Worth will carry over into the game. The refs will definitely have to keep things in check early on so it doesn’t get out of hand.
STATS:
Colorado Mammoth—SOG 44; FO 10-22; Saves 40; Sv% .755%; PP 3-6; PIM 46
Panther City Lacrosse Club—SOG 53; FO 12-22; Saves 51; Sv% .863%; PP 2-7; PIM 24
NEXT UP:
The Colorado Mammoth (4-5) will play host to the Panther City Lacrosse Club (6-4) at the Loud House, Ball Arena, in Denver, CO on Friday February 24, 2023, game time 9:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can catch the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see the game on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©