Last night at The Pepsi Center, the Colorado Mammoth defeated the Vancouver Stealth by the score of 13-12 in an exciting and fast paced game, a game which had some of the best lacrosse the sport has to offer.
Drew Westervelt, #26 Mammoth forward scored the first goal 1:26 into the first quarter, followed by a second goal by Westervelt only 47 seconds later. Rhys Duch, #10 of the Stealth scored with 12:34 on the clock bringing the score 2-1 still in favor of the Mammoth. However, after a 5:04 minute scoring drought, Cam Holding, #19 Mammoth transition player got the ball on a breakaway and scored which gave the Mammoth a 3-1 lead. With 3:24 left in the first quarter, Vancouver Captain and defenseman Kyle Sorenson #11 received a 5-minute major and game misconduct penalty for high-sticking Westervelt . Unfortunately, the Mammoth couldn’t capitalize on the PP and ended the first quarter with the score unchanged. Mammoth goaltender Tye Belanger #31 had 9 shots on goal with 8 saves. Vancouver goaltender Tyler Richards #00 had 7 SOG and 4 saves.
The Mammoth started the second quarter with 1:36 left on their PP, but again the Stealth killed the PP and went on a three-goal scoring spree. At 12:56 into the second quarter, Alex Gajic, #9, forward scored, followed by Cliff Smith #5, forward with 11:20 on the clock, and rookie Tyler Digby #7, forward/transition with 10:46 left, scoring his first career goal. This led to a goalie change for Colorado when Mammoth Head Coach Bob Hamley pulled veteran Belanger in favor of rookie Dillon Ward #45. Ward held the Stealth scoreless until Cliff Smith scored his second goal of the game with 6:17 on the clock. The next goal would be the Mammoth’s, when defenseman Dan Coates #37, scored with 4:09 remaining. The final goal of the second quarter would go to the Stealth when Digby scored with 3:16 remaining on the clock. John Grant Jr. #24, was called for cross-checking with 30.8 seconds on the clock which would put the Stealth in a PP position for the remainder of the second quarter. Mammoth goaltenders had a combined 15 SOG and 10 saves, while Stealth goalie Richards was impressive with 13 SOG and 12 saves.
At the start of the second half with the Mammoth down by a score of 6-4, Stealth forward Duch would again score only 32 seconds into the period. The Mammoth seemed sluggish, not transitioning the ball well and lacking on rebounds with multiple turnovers. The game went without a goal until 8:54 was left on the clock and Mammoth forward Sean Pollock #17 scored, only to be followed by yet another goal from Duch with 3:42 remaining. Then something began to click with the Mammoth, the crowd was fired up, the players seemed energized which was evidenced when Westervelt scored with 2:55 remaining, followed by Pollock scoring only 20 seconds later. With 1:57 left on the clock Digby of the Stealth would score his third goal of the game. But, the Mammoth weren’t done yet. They closed out the third quarter when Pollock scored with 35.6 seconds giving him a hat trick, Adam Jones scoring with 10.5 seconds on the clock and the final goal by Bob Snider with 5.2 seconds left. The Mammoth went on an amazing 5-1 run to take the lead over the Stealth. This scoring spree frustrated Stealth goaltender Richards who immediately following Snider’s goal came out of goal and shoved Mammoth player Adam Jones to the floor. Richards did not go to the penalty box, the penalty was served by another Stealth player. Mammoth goaltender Ward had 10 SOG with 7 saves, with Stealth goaltender Richards having 10 SOG and only 4 saves.
Heading into the fourth quarter with the lead on the Mammoth’s side 10-9, both goaltenders played extremely well. It wasn’t until 6:19 into the period that Lewis Ratcliff #42, forward for the Stealth tied up the game. Westervelt had a spectacular dunk shot with 6:55 remaining on the clock giving the Mammoth the lead. However, Stealth forward Cody Bremner #12, would add another goal with 5:53 remaining. This would tie the game 11-11. But Colorado’s Jones wasn’t done yet, when he shot on goal, recovering his own rebound off Stealth goalie Richards and scored with 4:45 remaining, he immediately followed up with the game winner and only 4:13 left on the clock, also giving him a hat trick. Mammoth goaltender Ward had another impressive quarter with 16 SOG and 13 saves, and Stealth goaltender Richards with 15 SOG and 12 saves.
Although the Mammoth had some troubles in the second quarter both on defense and transition, they made the necessary changes, one which included putting in Ward at goal with 10:46 on the clock in the second quarter, started making quality shots and took this momentum from the third quarter all the way to the end of the game. The Stealth began to waver in the third quarter as the players seemed to tire, weren’t making good shots on goal, did not capitalize on loose balls and rebounds, and the Mammoth took full advantage for their first win of the season at home with the score of 13-12.
The Mammoth would have three players with hat tricks, Pollock, Jones and Westervelt. Four other Mammoth players would each put up one goal, Grant Jr., Cam Holding #19, Coates, and Snider. Ward had 38 SOG with 30 saves for a .789 save percentage.
The Stealth were lead by Duch with 4 goals, Digby with 3 goals, Smith with 2 goals and three players each with 1 goal, Alex Gajic, Ratcliff, and Bremner. Richards had 46 SOG with 33 saves for a .723 save percentage.
Next weekend the Mammoth are set to take on the Roughnecks in Calgary and according to both the GM and head coach for the Mammoth, it should be an exciting game.
