Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Angela Burger
The Colorado Mammoth (12-6) headed to Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday April 18, 2026 to face off against the Calgary Roughnecks (6-12) for the final game of the regular season. With a “W” Colorado automatically took the No. 1 Seed as well as home field advantage throughout the playoffs. If they lost, they’d need Vancouver to lose, and either a Buffalo or Georgia loss. Well, the Bandits helped them out with their loss to Oshawa but the red-hot Warriors did not as they would have a decisive victory over the Wings giving them the No. Seed in the league. The Mammoth were also without their face-off specialist Matt Paolatto and the league leading scorer Andrew Kew. This meant once again that the other guys needed to take up the slack. What started out as a promising night for Colorado quickly became a battle as they had an almost impossible time getting anything past Colby Bowman who came in early on and stopped the Mammoth offense in their tracks. The score sheet was close all night, but in the end Calgary spoiled Colorado’s night giving them their sixth loss on the season. Final Score: Roughnecks 9—Mammoth 8.
The Mammoth got it started right off the opening draw. Will Malcom (1g, 5a) found some space out in front, made his way to the cage, fired a shot that bounced around off the post, then off the back of Aiden Walsh and in for the early 1-0 lead just 26 seconds in. A little over a minute later, Jack Hannah (3g, 2a) spun around his defender and put one five-hole putting them up by 2-0. Calgary Bench Boss Josh Sanderson immediately made the call and sent Colby Bowman in between the pipes. Just last weekend Bowman came into the game against Oshawa put up the lowest GAA of any goalie in NLL history and he was just as stellar in this contest. Colorado would put up another 2:44 into the first when Thomas Vela (1g, 1a) who had just returned from the IR was left wide open, crashed the cage, jumped over the crease, put it far side and the lead was 3-0, and that was it for scoring on the Mammoth side for almost 30 minutes. The teams would battle before Calgary came firing back. Braydon Mayea (4g, 1a) picked up the garbage off a Tyler Pace shot, put up a fake, fake and dunked it over the shoulder of Dillon Ward and they were on the board. After another three, the Roughnecks put up another. Tanner Cook (2g, 4a) was left all alone on the doorstep, jumped and dunked it in. The men in black and white called it a “no goal” so the challenge flag came flying onto the floor and it didn’t take long for the review to finish before they came out of the box and called it “good goal” and the arena erupted. With 3:02 left in the first, the Roughnecks had cut the lead to 3-2. The first ended with Calgary having the momentum which they carried into the second.
With the netminders putting up a goalie clinic, the fans would only see one tally in the second and it was Calgary who put it up. It came near the halfway point. Cook fought off his defender, and with one hand, found the inside pipe for his 49th goal of the season. The frame would see three penalties and no man up tallies. The Mammoth would carry over the last 17 seconds of their man up into the third. Score at the end of two: Roughnecks 3—Mammoth 3.
HALFTIME STATS:
Colorado Mammoth—SOG 28; Saves 21; Sv% .875; FO 1-7; PP 0-2; PIM 2; LB 35; TO 10
Calgary Roughnecks—SOG 24; Saves 24; Sv% .857; FO 7-8; PP 0-1; PIM 4; LB 37; TO 14
Calgary would take their first lead on the night. Off the draw, Justin Inacio (1g, 8LB) headed down the floor towards the right boards, split his defenders and with a low sidearm shot and only 3 seconds left on the Mammoth man up would notch a short-handed tally 14 seconds in and the board showed 4-3. The third would also not be kind to the Roughnecks as they would find themselves with five man down situations and the Mammoth took advantage of three. The first came 3:39 in when Dylan McIntosh (2g, 2a) got the BTB feed from Hannah and blew it past Bowman stopping an almost 30 minute scoring drought for Colorado and it was tied 4-4. Three minutes later, the Roughnecks found themselves in a 3 on 5 and the Mammoth tallied another. Off a beautiful tic-tac-toe play, Braedon Saris got the feed to Jalen Chaster (1g, 2a) on the crease, and his quick stick went far side giving them the lead 5-4. Given the double penalty on Harrison Matsuoka, the Mammoth were still on a five on four but couldn’t tally another. It took another three and change for the Roughnecks to tie it up once more. Cook fired on cage, Ward made the save, Mayea grabbed the garbage on top of the crease, dove and fired it back across his body and found the back of the net. Unfortunately, Mammoth Bench Boss was not quick enough to throw the challenge flag, and a questionable goal went onto the board and the game was tied again 5-5. But once again, Calgary headed to the sin bin with 3:55 in the frame and McIntosh would tally his second power play marker on the night when his shot caught the inside post and the lead changed hands again. They could not capitalize on the fifth penalty for the Roughnecks in the third and the clock would wind down. Score at the end of three: Mammoth 6—Roughnecks 5.
The Mammoth would start the fourth with 35 seconds left on the man up from the end of the third. Although they won the draw, they couldn’t find twine and once again Calgary could. Mayea spun off his defender, and his overhand shot pinged the top corner 1:45 in and the score board shows 6’s. This would also give Tyler Pace his 300th career assist. It took another four minutes for the Roughnecks to retake the lead. Pace put up a nice swim move, headed to the net, jumped through the crease and put his shot far side low and it was 7-6. Cook would also get his 100th point on the year with the assist. But Colorado wasn’t ready to go away. Hannah stepped down, fired on the cage, picked the corner, his shot hit two posts and dropped in with 6:23 remaining and this time the board shows 7’s. But Mayea used a quick stick and snuck one near pipe 19 seconds later for what turned out to the be the GWG and their second man up goal on the night and it was 8-7. Pace decided to give them some insurance, he headed to the cage, and his high-to-low shot gave them their first two goal lead on the night 9-7 but there was still plenty of time on the ticker. With 2:11 remaining, Hannah waited for the offense to get set, used the defender as a screen and fired the final tally of the Mammoth 2025-26 regular season. Although they tried, Colorado could not tie it up and they’d walk away with not only the loss, but also the loss of home field advantage for the playoffs because the Warriors had defeated the Wings. Final Score: Calgary 9—Mammoth 8.
STARS OF THE GAME:
Brayden Mayea – Calgary Roughnecks: 4g, 1a
Tanner Cook – Calgary Roughnecks: 2g, 4a
Jack Hannah – Colorado Mammoth: 3g, 2a
GAME STATS:
Colorado Mammoth—SOG 56; Saves 40; Sv% .816; FO 9-21; PP 3-8; PIM 4; LB 74; TO 27
Calgary Roughnecks—SOG 49; Saves 47; Sv% .839; FO 12-21; PP 1-2; PIM 16; LB 63; TO 26
NEXT UP:
The No 2. Seed Colorado Mammoth (12-6) will play host to the No. 7 Seed San Diego Seals (8-10) for the First Round of the 2025-26 Playoffs on Saturday April 25, 2026. Winner moves on…Loser goes home.
Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©