Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Heather Barry
The Colorado Mammoth (1-1) traveled East to face the Philadelphia Wings (1-0) in a Saturday matinee at the newly named Xfinity Mobile Arena for the Wings season and home opener. This was the fifth meeting of the two teams with Colorado holding a 3-1 record. The contest was low scoring with the teams combining for a total of 15 goals. The Mammoth were behind the entire contest, but an “in the crease call” for Colorado with seven minutes left in the game, which after being replayed prior to the TV timeout, showed that Jalen Chaster was actually not in the crease and not challenged by Colorado Bench Boss Pat Coyle after commercial break, would have put them within two. As the Mammoth were able to notch two in a row and keep the Wings out of the net for the remainder of the contest, if the goal had been challenged, the outcome could have been much different. In the end, Philadelphia would come out on top and their first win scoring 8 goals or less since January 29, 2022, when they defeated the Georgia Swarm. Final Score: Wings 8—Mammoth 7.
Philadelphia would win the opening draw, and it took a couple changes of possessions before the ball would find twine. Dalton Young drew the defender allowing Eric Fannell (2g) to set his feet and fire a side arm bounce shot down low getting the Wings on the board just 3:32 in and it was 1-0. After almost five minutes of scoreless lacrosse, Sam LeClair with the feed to Joe Resetarits (2g, 1a) on the pick and roll, Resetarits who has the most regular season career points of any American born player, headed to the crease, came across and put it down low 2-0 Wings. Once again, shots were fired but both netminders held strong keeping their opponents out of the net. Until Wil Malcom (2g, 3a) looked his man off, came down the middle, pump faked sending Nick Damude (52 saves) the other way and he found a tiny opening on the inside pipe with just 31.5 seconds left in the frame to get Colorado on the board. Score at the end of one: Wings 2—Mammoth 1.
Jalen Chaster (2g, 1a) would notch the equalizer 2:20 in when he came around the back of the net, faked and got Damude to go left, he dove back to the right, dunked the ball, and it was 2-2. But the Wings would take flight and control the next six minutes, putting up four in a row. Brennan O’Neill (1g, 2a) would fire a blast from outside and put one through the legs of Dillon Ward (34 saves) 4:44 in and the lead was restored 3-2. Less than 90 seconds later, Landen Sinfield (1g) would come off the screen, set his feet and beat Ward down low with a mid-range shot for his first career NLL goal 4-2 Wings. With 7:36 left in the half, Colorado would get nabbed for an illegal crosscheck putting Philadelphia on the second man up on the afternoon. It took only 18 seconds for O’Neill to dish it to Resetarits to put it inside corner down low. As the men in black and white had conflicting calls, the goal went under review. After a couple of minutes, it was found that the ball had crossed the plane, so the goal was good and they were up by three 5-2. Off the ensuing face-off, Evan Messenger took off, picked up the loosie and with a fake, fake, finish, found the net just 10 seconds later to make it 6-2. Three minutes later, as the Wings would be called for their first penalty of the game, Ryan Lee (1g, 2a) was out in front with Patrick Foley draped all over him, and he flipped the ball into the net. The zebras did not call the goal good, so Pat Coyle called for the challenge. After review, it was found to be a good goal with 4:00 remaining in the half shutting down the four-goal run and closing the gap to three 6-3 still in favor of Philadelphia. Once again, both goal keepers held strong for another three before the score would change. Fannell kept fighting off his defender, pushing him back, spun and fired an overhand shot five-hole with 1:05 on the ticker increasing the gap once more. Score at the end of two: Wings 7—Mammoth 3.
First Half Stats:
Colorado Mammoth—SOG 19; Saves 21; Sv% .750; FO 5-12; PP 0-1; PIM 4; LB 31; CTO 11; Assists 6
Philadelphia Wings—SOG 28; Saves 16; Sv% .842; FO 7-12; PP 1-2; PIM 2; LB 34; CTO 13; Assists 12
The third was all defense while the fans watched a track meet and stellar net minding. Colorado would notch the lone marker in the frame, and they would outshoot Philadelphia 19-8 matching their shot total of 19 in the first half. Almost five minutes in, the Wings would lose a man as Dylan McIntosh (2g) was all alone behind the net, come out in front, fake right, finish left and it was 7-4. The Wings ball control in the third was less than stellar, but the Mammoth could not put up any further offense either so the stalemate for the remaining 11 minutes held. Score at the end of three: Wings 7—Colorado 4.
Colorado would win the draw to open the fourth and just eight seconds in, the Wings would go man down on a “holding the stick” call and the Mammoth took advantage. McIntosh got the dish, set up and beat Damude with an overhand shot inside pipe for the first and only power play tally for Colorado on the night 1:21 in closing the gap to two and it was 7-5. Twenty seconds later, Phil Caputo (1g, 1a) would post up out in front, and with a fake, fake, finish, found twine ending their 17:46 scoring drought and what would turn out to be their last tally of the night 8-5. The defensive minded second half would continue but as the Mammoth typically do, they would notch a comeback. With 7 minutes left on the clock, Malcom would feed to Chaster out in front, he put it into the net but was called in the crease. As the replay showed right before the commercial break, his foot was not on the line even before the ball crossed the plane of the goal. However, Colorado Bench Boss Pat Coyle did not throw the challenge flag after the TV time out, which turned out to be fatal as it would have gotten them to within two and the next two would have tied the contest. Just 15 seconds later, Thomas Vela would feed to Chaster for an identical play and the shot clock almost at zero, with a quick catch and release put it stick side and it was 8-6. Colorado would put up another quick tally just 23 seconds later. Braedon Saris (2a) saw Malcom streaking out of the box, dished to him and he fired an overhand shot far side and the lead was only one 8-7. It was an exciting six minutes as the fans got to see some amazing performances between the pipes. However, with 2:20 left in the contest, Ryan Wagner would be called for a five-minute boarding major which was reviewed and reduced to a two-minute giving Colorado another opportunity. But after back-to-back turnovers by the two teams, and time winding down, the Wings would have possession and call a time out with 27 seconds remaining. Dalton Young had possession at the start of the timer, split two Mammoth veteran defenders burning off the clock for the last 23 seconds of the shot clock and stoppage of the clock. With 6 seconds on the clock, Colorado would call a time out to set up the final attempt to tie the game. But the Wings defense halted that attempt and the clock would wind down and the buzzer sound nixing any chance for bonus lacrosse. Final Score: Wings 8—Mammoth 7.
STARS OF THE GAME:
Wil Malcom—Colorado Mammoth: 2g, 3a
Jalen Chaster—Colorado Mammoth: 2g, 1a
Nick Damude—Philadelphia Wings: 42 SOG; 52 Saves; .881 Sv%
NEXT UP:
The Colorado Mammoth (1-1) have a bye week and will be back in action when they face the Georgia Swarm (0-1)***, for their home opener at Ball Arena on Saturday December 27, 2025, game time 9:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the action on multiple media sources, including ESPNU, ESPN+, and NLL+. Fans in Canada get to catch the action on TSN+.
The Philadelphia Wings (1-0) will head to Blue Cross Arena on Saturday December 20, 2025, to face the Rochester Knighthawks (0-0)***, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+ and NLL+. Fans in Canada get to catch the action on TSN+.
Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
***Record at the time of article.