The Loud House was buzzing as the hometown Colorado Mammoth were back in action in Week 14. The Mammoth have been hot lately, and as we begin the March to May, playoff jockeying is heating up. This game was going to be must see, as the potent Colorado offense would try to spoil the Roughnecks debut (or return) of Nick Rose, who was traded from Toronto earlier in the week.
Colorado pitched a shutout in the first quarter, with unreal defense and outstanding goaltending from Dillon Ward. With the addition of scoring five goals in the frame, Colorado never looked back and cruised to an 11-8 victory.
Just to reiterate, the first quarter was all Colorado. The pace was fast and furious right out of the gates and Calgary was up to the task for the first five or so minutes. Will Malcom finally broke the ice, and the flood gates opened. The next four for Colorado were scored by Eli McLaughlin twice, Thomas Vela, and Tyson Gibson. 5-0 Mammoth after one.
Calgary finally broke their 17:58 scoreless streak with two-in-a-row to begin the second, one from the league’s leader, Curtis Dickson, and the other from Tyler Pace. After more up-and-down the floor, Colorado got those two right back to close out the second courtesy of Malcom and Ryan Lee. 7-2 Colorado at the break.
Rosey’s debut wasn’t exactly going according to plan, but he did reach a milestone after his first half performance. With 27 saves in the first half, Rose eclipsed the 7,000 career save mark.
The third quarter began and once again, Colorado was all over Calgary. Every time the Riggers mounted some sort of offensive pressure; the Mammoth were there to put it to bed with a goal of their own. Tanner Cook opened the scoring in the frame but was answered by Lee’s second. Cook tried the scoring thing again, was successful for the second time in the quarter, but the Mammoth answered back with two-straight, one from McLaughlin and the other from Vela. Dickson buried his second in the waning seconds, which was the start of a Calgary run which would make this game a bit interesting. 10-5 Mammoth after three.
The Calgary run continued at the beginning of the fourth quarter as two-straight got the lead down to three. Cook and Pace buried goals, and it looked like the comeback could be on. Nope. Ward and the Mammoth defense recharged and slammed the door, and McLaughlin buried his fourth of the game for good measure. Dobbie notched his first with under two minutes to play, but that’d be all she wrote. Your final from Ball Arena, 11-8 Mammoth. Watch out for Colorado boys and girls, they are a team you don’t want to let get hot.
Players of the game for Colorado were McLaughlin (4+1), Lee (2+5), and Malcom (2+1). Ward was the epitome of a brick wall throughout the entire game, stopping 49 of 57.
Big moment for McLaughlin in this game as well. With his four-goal performance, he became the franchise leader in career goals for Colorado, surpassing John Grant Jr. Ever hear of him? Big moment for Liger.
For Calgary, Cook (3+2), Dickson (2+2), and Pace (2+2) led the way. Rose looked a bit unsettled in his first game with the Roughnecks, but did have some shining moments. He made 46 saves on 57 shots.
“I think we had some good talks during the week”, said McLaughlin after the game. “Patty (Coyle) reassured us that these are the guys, we trust in the guys, we believe in the guys in our room. Just to play like ballers, because we’re all great lacrosse players and we showed that tonight. They (the Colorado fans) get me fired up, I get them fired up, so I think it’s a good combo.”
Colorado (7-5) cruises right along and sits in the top eight of the standings. We’ve seen in years prior how dangerous they can be when they get on a streak. Their next opportunity to continue this success is on the road when they travel to Philadelphia (5-6). That game is Saturday March 15th at 1pm. Calgary (6-6) sits right in the middle of the logjam that is the middle of the standings. They look to avenge this loss in their next contest, which is also on the road against Buffalo (9-1). That game is this Saturday at 6:30pm.
