Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Victoria Adkins
The Colorado Mammoth (5-5) headed east go Gas South Arena on Friday February 7, 2025, for a rematch against the Georgia Swarm (5-4). The game was action packed from start to finish with both sides playing with high intensity, aggressive on the loose balls and the keepers of the cage, Dillon Ward (Saves 39, Sv% .765) and Brett Dobson (Saves 32, Sv% .711) stood on their heads throughout. This time however, the Mammoth would flip the score against the Swarm as the last time these two met on December 29, 2024, Georgia was victorious 13-12. A milestone was reached tonight as well. Jeremy Thompson would notch his 2,500th face-off victory, putting him 2nd in NLL history. On the other side, last week Dillon Ward had the 3rd most saves in a game this season in their loss to Toronto (55); Colorado has tallied 36 goals total in the 4th quarter this season, the most by any team in any quarter this season; and Connor Kelly sits atop the leader board with 26 goals. Final Score: Mammoth 13—Swarm 12.
Georgia would win the opening draw but was unable to capitalize. About 3:30 in, Ward came off the floor on a delayed penalty, they had two players in the middle to set the screen, Connor Kelly (2g, 2a) got the feed and fired it far side 3:10 in to get them on the board 1-0. Miles Thompson (2g, 3a) would tie it up 26 seconds later. He’d make the catch from behind to put an around the world shot top corner 1-1. The teams held a track meet for the next six, each firing on cage without success. Then with 5:17 left in the frame, Bryan Cole (3g, 1a) set up behind the net, reached around, extended and put it by Ward 2-1 Swarm. Colorado would tie it up with 3:05 to go. Zed Williams (3g, 2a) was behind the net, got the feed from Wil Malcom, used a spin dodge around his defender, turned and skipped it into the net with 3 seconds on the shot clock for the equalizer 2-2. A minute and a half later, on another delayed penalty, Connor Robinson (2g, 4a) got the skip pass from Ryan Lee and fired a quick stick bouncer five-hole, and it was 3-2. The final tally in the frame came off a beautiful tic-tac-toe play by Colorado. Kelly passed to Dalton Sulver (1a), he fired a cross-crease pass to Wil Malcom (2g, 4a), he reached around his defender and dunked it far side with 1.9 seconds left on the ticker to double up Georgia. Score at the end of one: Mammoth 4—Swarm 2.
The Swarm would dominate the second by putting up a four-goal run. M. Thompson found Shayne Jackson (1g, 4a) all alone, he faked high and went low five-hole 1:40 in and it was 3-4. It took only 24 seconds before they’d tally another. Seth Oakes (1g, 3a) cut across the middle, used a little hitch move and got Ward leaning the other way to tie it at 2’s. Ninety seconds later, Jackson and Cole were on the two-man game, Cole did a nifty spin move, extended and put a side arm shot far side for the go-ahead marker 5-4. Colorado would get nabbed for an illegal cross check with 6:29 left in the half and Georgia made them pay. M. Thompson was wide open on the backside, got the feed, tip toed the crease, jumped and buried it up top for a power-play tally just 13 seconds into the man advantage. Fans watched for the next five and change, some stellar net minding before the ball would find twine. Robinson fired it from way outside and tucked it inside the post with six seconds left on the shot clock and 1:39 in the half. The Swarm would call for a time out with 28.3 to go, in an effort to set up a play to re-establish their two-goal lead but came up short. Score at the end of two: Swarm 6—Mammoth 5.
HALF TIME STATS:
Colorado Mammoth—SOG 22; Saves 18; Sv% .773; FO 6-12; PP 0-2; PIM 4; LB 34
Georgia Swarm—SOG 24; Saves 17; Sv% .750; FO 6-12; PP 1-2; PIM 4; LB 30
The second half was a scoring barrage with the two teams combining for 14 goals. The Mammoth would start it off on a double outlet. Ward sent the midfield outlet to Dalton Sulver (1a), he found Eli McLauglin (2g) down the floor on the doorstep, he pump faked, got Dobson to move and put it five-hole 3:02 in tying it at 6-6. McLaughlin put his second tally up less than a minute later. He made his way to the cage, brought his stick across his body, and put a bounce shot far side 7-6 Colorado. It took about 30 seconds for the Swarm to tie it up again. With one second left on the shot clock, Cole went high, came low and fired a shovel shot around his defender for his hat-trick tally and we saw 7’s on the board. Once again, the fans would see a mid-quarter battle between the pipes and Georgia would be the first to break the silence. On the two-man game, Brendan Bomberry (1g, 1a) was on top of the crease and as he was falling down, faked far side got Ward to move, he tucked and brought it back short side with 5:11 to go and they retook the lead. Thirty seconds later, Lyle Thompson (5a) saw Toron Eccleston (4g, 3a) fighting his way to the crease, passed the ball, Eccleston was leaning towards the backdoor, pulled it back and fired the shot far side for the two-goal lead 9-7. Colorado would halt the three-goal run on a power-play goal. On the give and go, Malcom got the BTB flip from Robinson, brought his stick up high and slam dunked a crease crank over the shoulder of Dobson with 1:18 left in the third. Score at the end of three: Swarm 9—Mammoth 8.
The fourth got off to a quick start. Just 39 seconds in, Eccleston on the run, threw a face dodge, extended and put it far side 10-8. Colorado was relentless in the fourth with great ball movement, control and grabbing those loose balls. Malcom fired on cage, Williams was out in front, grabbed the garbage catching Dobson off guard and put a BTB shot over the right shoulder 2:59 in and it was 10-9. On the next face-off, Jeremy Thompson would tally his 2,500th career face-off win, moving him to 2nd in NLL history. The Mammoth would tie it up in transition. Owen Rahn (1a) found Lee heading down the floor, he dove through the crease, brought his stick back across his body and found an opening to tie it up 10-10. The teams would exchange goal for goal over the next three minutes. Eccleston notched his hat-trick marker 5:24 in with a snipe shot from distance far side and it was 11-10. Kelly scored on almost the exact shot with a top left snipe, he came up and around and pulled it to the short side at the halfway point 11-11. With 5:11 left on the ticker, Eccleston notched his fourth on the night with a right left fake far pipe and it was 12-11. The teams would get hit with double penalties and go on a four-on-four with 4:18 left in the contest. Williams headed to the cage on the left side and bounced one in far side and we were looking at Déjà vu with the game tied at 12’s and 4:06 to go. Colorado would go man down with 3:20 left in the game and Ward was absolutely on fire making close to 10 saves in close, frustrating the Swarm bench. It would come down to the wire again, much the same as it did in Colorado on December 29, 2024. Lee was left wide open; he made his way around the cage and fired the GWG down low with 37.2 seconds on the ticker. Georgia chose to go with an empty net and the 6 on 5 for the remainder of the game so they could double team any chance Colorado had to score while also giving them the extra man for a possible tying goal before the buzzer sounded. Unfortunately for Georgia, Colorado held tough on their side of the floor, and they could not send the game into an extra frame. Final Score: Mammoth 13—Swarm 12.
Stars of the Game:
Ryan Lee—Colorado Mammoth: 2g (incl GWG), 6a
Toron Eccleston—Georgia Swarm: 4g, 3a
Zed Williams—Colorado Mammoth: 3g, 2a
GAME STATS:
Colorado Mammoth—SOG 45; Saves 39; Sv% .765; FO 12-28; PP 2-4; PIM 8
Georgia Swarm—SOG 51; Saves 32; Sv% .711; FO 16-28; PP 1-3; PIM 10
NEXT UP:
The Colorado Mammoth (5-5) will head into the bye-week and be back in action on Friday February 21, 2025, for Marvel Super Hero Night and will host the Las Vegas Desert Dogs (2-6)***, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see the action on TSN+. The game will also be televised on NLL+.
The Georgia Swarm (5-4) also have a bye-week and will head north of the border to face the Toronto Rock (3-5)*** at Paramount Fine Foods Centre on Saturday February 22, 2025, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see the action on TSN+. The game will also be televised on NLL+.
Both teams were victorious in their first meeting against their upcoming opponents…can they do it again?
Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
***Score at the time of the article