The Colorado Mammoth look to better their 2018 record this year and they believe they have the right group of guys to do so, making very few roster changes from the past season.
The Mammoth welcome back Dillon Ward—a staple for Colorado in goal over these last few years. Ward comes off a strong Major League Lacrosse season where he helped the Denver Outlaws win the Steinfeld Cup. He was also brilliant in the world championships this summer helping Team Canada bring home the silver. Ward almost pulled off the feat of saving the most amount of goals in the National Lacrosse League last year; his second place finish of 181 stopped shots was one of the reasons his team did so well.
Steve Fryer is there to back up Ward as needed. Two solid goaltenders automatically puts this team ahead of some others.
The Mammoth bulked up on defense for the season. The defense includes some notable standouts like Joey Cupido (2018 Transition Player of the Year) and Robert Hope.
Joining the solid wall of defense will be captain Dan Coates who is returning from an ACL injury suffered during a Team Canada training camp in October 2017. Also included are Tim Edwards, Josh Sullivan, Brent Adams, Taylor Stuart, Jordan Gilles, Brad Self, Scott Carnegie, John Lintz and rookie Julian Garritano.
Of course, the Mammoth offense is always a threat. They have seven forwards who look to be fighting over who can score the most goals. Five of the men combined to score 142 goals last season while adding 203 assists. Ryan Benesch, Stephen Keogh, Eli McLaughlin, Jeremy Noble and Jacob Ruest hope to repeat that magic again this year. Colorado also has Chris Wardle and Ryan Lee in the mix.
Forwards Kyle Killen and Jeff Witting, and defensemen Rowan Kelly and Steven Lee make up the practice roster.
Nineteen of the 21 active players are returning to Colorado. Their first match up is against the newly added San Diego Seals at 7:00 p.m. MT at the Pepsi Center on Saturday, December 22. Look for Colorado to be strong predators against the Seals and the rest of the National Lacrosse League this season.
