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NLL Colorado Mammoth

Record Night for Mammoth in Season-Opening Win

January 3, 2015 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Colorado Mammoth News Release


DENVER - Leave it to the Colorado Mammoth to start the season in a huge way! In just its third season-opener on the road in franchise history, the Mammoth tied a team record with 20 goals in the seven-goal victory over the Minnesota Swarm on Saturday night. It also set franchise marks with four short-handed goals and a record three in one quarter (the fourth).

"As a coaching staff, we're pretty proud of [the guys]," said Dan Stroup. "It's a good way to start the year, but that's just one win. We start thinking now about next week against Calgary."

But maybe it's not too late to still admire the win. The two previous times Colorado scored 20 goals in a game were also in season-openers (including 2012 against Minnesota). Saturday's 11-goal fourth quarter was a franchise-best for a frame, and its 15-goal total in the second half set a new mark.

After getting shut out in the first quarter, the Mammoth scored five in the second and four in the third. Adam Jones, a 2014 Second-Team All-Pro, led the way for Colorado with a second-quarter hat trick, three of his five goals and seven points overall.

And yet, Jones might have been upstaged by two straight short-handed goals by John Grant Jr. in a 31-second span in the fourth. Or by Sean Pollock's night in which he notched the 200th goal, 300th assist and 500th point of his career in his adopted hometown.

"For a guy who was [drafted] fourth round, 40th overall, and to be able to play 12 years in the league, it's something I never thought I'd get to on a personal level," professed Pollock. "Playing here for seven years - a lot of those points came here in this building - to have my wife and my son and extended family and friends and everybody in the building, it's pretty cool!"

Defenseman Creighton Reid also posted single-game career-highs in goals (2) and points (4). But maybe his biggest contribution was standing up for goaltender Dillon Ward after Swarm captain Andrew Suitor got in the Mammoth netminder's face with less than two minutes to go in the game.

"I think that situation was just a little frustration on [Suitor's] part," said Reid. "If somebody gets in and shoves the goaltender - unacceptable!"

When the two teams met in St. Paul, Minn. in April, 2014, the Mammoth set a season-high with 18 goals scored. On Saturday, Colorado did two better. With the win, the Mammoth improved to 8-3 all-time at "˜The Hive'.

The team's home-opener is next Sat., Jan. 10 at 7pm on HealthONE Field at Pepsi Center against the defending West Division champion Calgary Roughnecks. Colorado was eliminated from the playoffs a season ago by Calgary in overtime. Tickets to the home-opener are on sale now at AltitudeTickets.com.

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National Lacrosse League Stories from January 3, 2015


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