Shawn Palmer, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Di Miller
The Calgary Roughnecks (4-10) travelled to Colorado to face the Mammoth (10-5) on Saturday night, with the Mammoth needing a win to clinch a playoff spot while the Roughnecks were trying to keep their playoff hopes alive. In a game that had everything from lots of goals to plenty of hits, including a couple of major penalties and even a penalty shot, Colorado had the lead at the end of the first quarter and did not let Calgary get any closer than within one goal the rest of the way. The Mammoth came away with a 14 – 12 victory to clinch their playoff spot and give coach Pat Coyle the 100th win of his career.
The Roughnecks opened the scoring less than three minutes into the first quarter as Tyler Pace (5G, 4A) fired an overhand high-to-low shot that beat Dillon Ward (46 saves) through the legs for the early 1 – 0 lead for Calgary. Colorado tied it up five minutes later as Andrew Kew(6G, 4A) passed across the floor to a cutting Braedon Saris(2G, 2A), and his quick-stick bounce shot beat Aden Walsh (35 saves) through the legs to tie the game at one. Colorado got their first lead of the game as Will Malcolm (3G, 3A) took a mid-to-low shot that beat Walsh to the short side to give the Mammoth a 2 – 1 lead with just under six minutes left in the first quarter. With one minute left in the first quarter, Jack Hannah (3G, 3A) jumped across the crease, faked far, and tucked it in short side to give the Mammoth a two-goal lead at 3 – 1. With the Calgary goalie on the bench for an extra attacker at the end of the quarter, Pace took a high-to-low bounce shot that beat Ward through the legs, and at the end of the first quarter the Mammoth led 3 – 2. The shots on goal after the first quarter were Calgary 15 and Colorado 12.
Calgary scored first in the second quarter as Carter Cook (1G, 1A), in transition, went the full floor and dove across the crease to beat Ward over the shoulder for his first NLL goal, tying the game at three just over a minute into the quarter. Just over a minute later, Tanner Cook (2G, 3A) beat his defender and his bounce shot beat Ward through the legs to make it 4 – 3 for Calgary. The Mammoth tied it up again while on the power play as Kew fired a sidearm low-to-low shot from the top and beat Walsh through the legs, making it four-all with just over ten minutes left in the first half. In transition, Robert Hope passed to a cutting Kew coming off the bench, and he beat Walsh through the legs to give the Mammoth the lead at 5 – 4. Three minutes later, Kew got the natural hat trick as he came across the top and his sidearm bounce shot beat Walsh through the legs to make it 6 – 4 for Colorado. In transition, Kyle Pepper (1G) received a long pass from Harrison Matsuoka (1A), went in all alone on Ward, and beat him with a shot to the glove side to cut the Colorado lead to 6 – 5 with five minutes left in the first half.
Thirty seconds later, Hannah went by his defender and drove in on Walsh. As he was going to the net, he was hit into the goalie and the ball went into the far side of the net. When Hannah ran into Walsh, it caused a melee as all players paired up while the referees tried to determine whether the goal should count. After a review, it was determined that the goal counted, and Colorado was ahead 7 – 5. With just over a minute left in the first half, Saris received a pass from Kew and his overhand shot beat Walsh through the legs to give the Mammoth an 8 – 5 lead. At the end of the second quarter, the shots on goal were Colorado 28 and Calgary 25.
Calgary scored just nine seconds into the third quarter as Pace passed to Tanner Cook, who was wide open in front of the net, and his bounce shot beat Ward through the legs to make it 8 – 6 for Colorado. In transition, Pace received a pass from Carter Cook, made a move on his defender, and his bounce shot beat Ward through the five hole for his hat trick goal to make it 8 – 7 for Colorado two minutes into the third quarter. With just under ten minutes left in the third quarter, a Mammoth defenseman put his hand on the ball in the crease, which resulted in a penalty shot for Calgary, and Pace took it. He came down on Ward, threw a few fakes, and his bounce shot went through Ward’s legs to tie the game at eight.
Tanner Cook tried to go in on Ward and, after shooting, ran right into him in the crease and received a five-minute major. While on the power play, Hannah took a high-to-low shot that beat Walsh through the legs to regain the lead at 9 – 8. On the same power play, Kew took a sidearm shot from the top at the end of the shot clock and beat Walsh through the legs to extend the Colorado lead to 10 – 8. Less than a minute later, Malcolm came around his defender and his low-to-low shot beat Walsh through the five hole to make it 11 – 8 for Colorado. Calgary changed goalies after the goal, putting in Colby Bowman (1 save) for one series before Walsh went back in net. Hannah received a five-minute major for cross-checking as he hit Matsuoka right in the throat, giving the Roughnecks a five-minute power play. Calgary was able to get a power-play goal as Brayden Mayea (2G, 2A) did a toe drag around his defender and then beat Ward through the legs to cut the Mammoth lead to 11 – 9. The shots at the end of a very eventful third quarter were Calgary 42 and Colorado 35.
Colorado opened the scoring less than two minutes into the fourth quarter when Malcolm fired a low-to-low shot from the top that beat Walsh through the legs for his hat trick goal and regained the three-goal lead for Colorado at 12 – 9. Calgary responded right away as Pace faked a flip pass, went to the net, and dove across the crease to beat Ward to the far side and get Calgary within two again at 12 – 10. A minute later, while on the power play, Noah Manning (1G, 1A) received a pass from Pace on the crease and reached around Ward to beat him to the far side, making it 12 – 11 Mammoth. With less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Kew picked up a rebound in front of the net and bounced a shot through Walsh’s legs to extend the Mammoth lead to 13 – 11. With just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter, Mayea fired a high-to-high shot that beat Ward over the shoulder to make it a one-goal game again at 13 – 12 Mammoth.
In the last minute and a half, Calgary pulled their goalie for the extra attacker but were not able to beat Ward to tie the game. With 0.2 seconds left, Kew threw it into the empty net for the sock trick, sending many fans’ socks onto the floor as Colorado won the game 14 – 12 and clinched a playoff spot.
The three stars of the game were:
Andrew Kew – 6 goals and 4 assists
Tyler Pace – 5 goals and 4 assists
Jack Hannah – 3 goals and 3 assists
The Colorado Mammoth (10-5) will host the Las Vegas Desert Dogs on Friday, April 3rd, while the Calgary Roughnecks (4-9) will travel to Las Vegas on March 28th.