Mammoth Offense Rolls Over Rock 2/14/26

Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©

Photo Credit: Di Miller

The Toronto Rock (5-4) travelled to Colorado on Saturday night February 14, 2026, to face the Mammoth (8-2). The Rock were coming into the game after a win last week against Oshawa whereas the Mammoth had played the night before, defeating the Las Vegas Desert Dogs by one goal for their sixth win in a row before flying back to Colorado on Saturday morning. The back-to-back games didn’t seem to bother Colorado as they scored early and often, they never trailed anytime during the game and Toronto was only able to get within 3 goals as Colorado routed the Rock 16 – 8. This was a franchise record seventh win in a row for the Mammoth, who seem to be unstoppable heading into the second half of the season.

Scoring started early for Colorado. Matthew Paolatto (2G) would win the opening draw, take the ball right down the floor and his high shot beat Troy Holowchuk (23 saves) over the shoulder just seven seconds in for the early 1 – 0 lead. A minute and a half later Will Malcom (2G, 5A) would come around his defender, his shot went stick side and it was 2 – 0 Mammoth. Less than three minutes into the first, Colorado would score again. Braedon Saris (3G, 4A) fired a high-to-high shot that beat over the stick side shoulder, and it was 3 – 0. Just out of the TV timeout, Andrew Kew (4G, 6A) was next with a sidearm low shot through the legs, and it was 4 – 0 for the Mammoth. The Rock would go on their first man down on the night when Elijah Gash was heading to the midfield line, Tim Edwards received a pass from Robert Hope, and he came head on into Edwards knocking him to the floor. Colorado would make them pay by notching their first power play marker on the night. After some good ball movement, Jack Hannah (1G, 5A) took a high to low bounce shot short side and Colorado was up 5 – 0. After the fifth goal, Toronto Bench Boss Matt Sawyer had seen enough, Steve Orleman (22 saves) got the nod and headed to the cage. That put a bit of spark in the Rock offense, and they’d put up their first tally on the night. While in transition Phil Mazzuca (1G, 1A) went in all alone and beat Dillon Ward (37 saves) to the glove side cutting the Mammoth lead to 5 – 1. For the next five and change, scoring stalled with the net minders battling it out. At the end of the first quarter the shots on goal were Colorado 18 and Toronto 12.

In the first minute of the second quarter, Toronto would strike again. Mazzuca passed to Challen Rogers (3G, 1A) and his mid to low bounce shot beat Ward through the legs and cut the Colorado lead to 5 – 2. But Colorado wasn’t done and would tally three in a row. Twenty seconds later Saris passed to a cutting Owen Rahn (1G, 1A) and he beat Orleman to the glove side to restoring the four-goal lead 6 – 2. A few minutes later Kew came across the top, fired a side arm low to low across his body to the far side to make it 7 – 2 for the Mammoth. On the next possession, Saris took a high-to-high shot over the shoulder to the top corner and Colorado was up by six, 8 – 2. Toronto was able to stop the Mammoth run less than a minute later, when Mark Matthews spun around his defender and his high to low bounce shot beat Ward far side with Colorado still holding an 8 – 3 lead. Colorado would answer back a little over a minute later. Hannah completed a behind the back pass to Dylan McIntosh (2G, 1A) he dove across the crease beating Orleman to the far side and it was 9 – 3. As frustrations mounted for the Rock bench, there was a scuffle against the boards near the Toronto bench. They ended up with three players in the penalty box and Colorado having only one which gave the Mammoth a five on three powerplay for a full two minutes, but Toronto was able to kill off the full two-man disadvantage. The Rock would get their first powerplay opportunity with 4:01 left in the half, and they’d capitalize. Matthews received a pass from CJ Kirst (2A) he took a high to low bounce shot beating Ward to the stick side and it was 9 – 4 Colorado. The shots at the end of the first half were Colorado 33 and Toronto 25.

The teams would match goal for goal in the third with Toronto opening up the scoring in the second half. Chris Boushy (1G, 1A) had his back to the net and fired a backhand shot stick side to cut the Mammoth lead to 9 – 5. A minute later, with the shot clock counting down, Owen Hiltz (1G) picked a rebound off the boards, went in on Ward and beat him over the shoulder getting them within three, the closest they’d be in the contest to make it 9 – 6. On the tally, Matthews picked up his 1,100^th point of his career making him the 14^th player in NLL history to achieve that milestone. After a scoring drought for Colorado and not having put a point on the board in over 15 minutes of play, Malcom took a high-to-high shot that beat Orleman over the shoulder into the top corner extending their to 10 – 6. At this point, the Toronto frustrations had hit an all-time high. Halfway through the third, Hiltz received a five-minute major and a ten-minute game misconduct for boarding, when he came from behind and pushed Jalen Chaster headfirst into the boards. The Mammoth would take no time avenging their teammate. Thirteen seconds after the penalty call, Kew struck again. He received a pass from Hannah, took a high-to-high shot that went over the shoulder top corner, and it was 11 – 6 for Colorado. Less than a minute later Saris fired a high to low shot from the outside and he beat Orleman to the far side, and it was 12 – 6. Once again, Toronto would pull their netminder and Holowchuk was back in net. On the next possession Kew passed to McIntosh and as he was falling down his bounce shot beat Holowchuk short side and it was 13 – 6. The Mammoth took no time notching another. Right off the ensuing faceoff, Paolatto with possession, headed right down the floor and his bounce shot went far side to make it 14 – 6. Colorado had scored five goals in less than three minutes, with three of them while the teams were four-on-four. The Mammoth would cap their six-goal run on the power play. Kew took a pass up top, fired high to low stick side for his fourth of the game to make it 15 – 6 for the Mammoth. The shots at the end of the third quarter were Colorado 54 and Toronto 38.

Compared to the first three quarters being a shooting gallery, the fourth was a netminder battle with Toronto opening the scoring. Kirst came across to his wrong side, switched hands to pass to Rogers in the middle and he took a shot over Ward’s shoulder and into the top corner to make it 15 – 7 for the Mammoth. Mammoth Bench Boss Pat Coyle decided then that Ward after having played the full 60 minutes in Vegas the night before and 51 minutes in this contest, that he’d let Nathan Whittom (8 saves) finish off the night and he’d give up only one. Matthews passed cross floor to Rogers who beat Whittom short side to make it 15 – 8 halfway through the fourth quarter. Colorado would respond right away with the final tally on the night. Thomas Vela (1G, 2A) received a pass from Saris behind the net, he dove in front and beat Holowchuk short side putting Colorado up by eight. For the next six minutes, each team would fire on the cage but both netminders stood on their heads. Final Score: Colorado 16—Toronto 8.

The three stars of the game were:
Andrew Kew – Colorado Mammoth: 4G, 6A
Braedon Saris – Colorado Mammoth: 3G, 4A
Will Malcom – Colorado Mammoth: 2G, 5A

GAME STATS:
Toronto Rock—SOG 53; Saves 45; Sv% .738; FO 5-28; PP 1-4; PIM 35
Colorado Mammoth—SOG 61; Saves 45; Sv% .850; FO 23-28; PP 2-5; PIM 12

NEXT UP:

The Colorado Mammoth (8-2) will travel to Hamilton next Friday February 20, 2026, for a rematch against the Toronto Rock (5-4), game time 7:30 p.m. EST.