Justin Ivey, Co-Editor
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Grateful Dead night took over Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado as the Colorado Mammoth (7-5) hosted the Calgary Roughnecks (6-6). With the first day of March to May, the playoff push has begun and both teams entered with matching 6-5 records. A win for either team would raise them to the top of the clogged middle of the standings. Calgary prepared for this mid-season push by acquiring Nick Rose (11GA, 46SV) from Toronto in a mid-week trade. His first start for the Roughnecks was a bit, well, rocky at first. His play settled as the game progressed, but led by Eli McLaughlin (4G, 1A) and Ryan Lee (2G, 5A), the Mammoth were able to secure a victory. Dillon Ward (8GA, 49SV), the rock in goal for Colorado, became just the eighth goaltender to collect 80 wins in a career, while also passing Dallas Aliuk for sixth in the all-time saves ranking, finishing the game with a total of 6,363 career saves. Final Score: Calgary-8, Colorado-11
For the first almost six minutes of this game, it was the goalie showdown many expected. Rose and Ward, paired with hard defenses, did not allow a goal for the first 5:46 of play. Will Malcolm (2G, 1A) broke the scoreless tie, streaking to the goal from the box and launching from long range. In the next two minutes, McLaughlin tallied two goals of his own. Scoring took another long pause, and unfortunately for Calgary, Colorado continued their barrage. Thomas Vela (2G, 1A) scored with 54 seconds left, and Tyson Gibson (1G, 2A) made it five unanswered for Colorado with just 18 seconds remaining. Ward sent all 10 shots he saw away, but Rose had more saves seeing more than double the shots (17-22). At the end of the first quarter, Colorado led Calgary 5-0.
Curtis Dickson (2G, 2A) danced his way to Calgary’s first goal of the evening 2:58 into the second quarter. After another couple minutes of scoreless back and forth, Tyler Pace (2G, 2A) scored the second in a row for the visitors. Malcolm, after serving time for his holding penalty expired, ignited the waiting Colorado offense and scored with 3:24 left. Riding the momentum, Lee notched his first of the night with 2:02 left. At the half, Colorado led Calgary 7-2.
Calgary and Colorado would trade scores in the third, both fighting for three scores. Tanner Cook (3G, 2A) scored for Calgary to open the second half, but Lee answered within a minute, igniting the Loud House crowd. Cook again scored on Ward with 10:39 remaining, cutting the lead to four. This time, McLaughlin answered for the home team, dodging his way to the crease before beating Rose. Almost seven minutes of tense back and forth lacrosse followed before Vela increased the home lead to six with 3:21 left. Dickson roughed his way to a four-on-four goal with 27 seconds remaining to even the tallies in the quarter. At the end of the third, Colorado led Calgary 10-5.
Calgary would do their best at a comeback in the fourth quarter. Playing stout defense, they scored two goals in a row. Cook scored his hat trick goal 4:32 in, and a minute later he assisted Pace. With 9:28 left, the Colorado lead was now only three after growing to as high as six. McLaughlin provided the insurance goal with 4:45 left and a late goal from Dane Dobbie (1G) was not enough. Final Score: Calgary-8, Colorado-11