Three goals in the second quarter of Saturday’s game built up enough of a lead for the Colorado Mammoth that they were able to go on to a 7-5 victory over the Georgia Swarm in a low-scoring contest.
The win moves the Mammoth up to 3-2, in fourth place in the NLL while the Swarm’s loss drops them to 2-3 and ninth spot in the league.
Georgia opened the scoring on the power play at the eight minute mark of the opening quarter. It took almost six minutes for Colorado to even things up in a period that saw lots of saves but only two goals.
Things opened up a bit in the second quarter. The Mammoth scored first, just two-and-a-half minutes in, and it wasn’t until the 6:47 mark that the Swarm tied things up again. But then Colorado went on a two-goal run to end the half, giving them the lead.
Lyle Thompson brought the Swarm back to within one goal with a power play marker early in the third quarter, but Colorado responded less than a minute later to get their advantage back. The fourth quarter was more of the same, with the teams trading goals back and forth, with neither team able to establish any offensive momentum and the game wrapping up with the Mammoth still holding their two-goal lead.
Jalen Chester had three assists to lead Colorado’s offence while Thompson’s goal along with two assists paced the Swarms’s attack.
Both goaltenders had strong nights. Colorado’s Dillon Ward made 39 stops for the win while Brett Dobson turned away 50 shots in a losing effort.
The teams resume action on Friday, with the Mammoth travelling to Halifax to face the Thunderbirds and the Swarm hosting the Calgary Roughnecks.
