Gary Gait's overtime goal sinks Sting, 14-13
Published on January 25, 2004 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Arizona Sting News Release
DENVER, Colo. - Perennial all-star Gart Gait, at 36, scored 29 seconds into overtime as Colorado came back from a 12-9 deficit to lead the Mammoth to a 14-13 win over the Arizona Sting Sunday night in a National Lacrosse League game in front of 14,857 at the Pepsi Center.
The Mammoth (4-1), who were held scoreless by the Sting for almost 15 minutes over the end of the second period and into the third, had to score twice in the final 4:11 of the fourth quarter to tie the game. Colorado scored seven times on extra-man possessions, five of those coming in the first half when it held a 9-6 lead.
Arizona (2-2) played gutsy defense behind goalie Mike Miron, who had 34 saves on 72 shots. Gewas Schindler had four goals for the Sting and Dan Dawson added three more.
Schindler's 30-foot blast with 8:46 left in the fourth quarter gave Arizona a 13-11 lead, but Ben Prepchuck and Gavin Prout scored within a little over a minute to tie the score at 13-all. Prout's unassisted shot in front of the net with 1:21 remaining knotted the game and sent it into overtime.
In the final minute, the Sting had a pair of chances and had the ball with 30.2 seconds left but did not get a good opportunity for a shot as time ran out sending the game into overtime. Trailing 9-5 late in the second period, Schindler scored an unassisted goal with 35.7 seconds left until the half. The Sting started the third quarter with six consecutive goals and Cory Bomberry's blast from the right side gave Arizona a 12-9 margin.
The Sting held the Mammoth scoreless for 14:53 over the end of the second and through the third period. "We had a great second half," said Sting head coach Bob Hamley. "Our defense was outstanding in holding this team (Colorado) scoreless for that long." Nash had 14 saves in 29 minutes of play.
It wasn't until Gait's lefthanded shot at 1:55 did the Mammoth first get on the scoreboard in the second half. Colorado's Nick Carlson added another score in front of Miron with 1:03 left in the third to close the Sting lead to 12-11.
Both teams had excellent scoring chances to open the fourth period. Mammoth goalie Gee Nash, who replaced starter Erik Miller with 9:15 left in the third period, had two point-blank saves on shots by Arizona's Kasey Beirnes and Peter Lough at the start of the fourth.
"Nash made a difference," said Hamley. "He made those point-blank saves and it got them going again. The momentum was definitely on our side in the end, but we couldn't finish."
Colorado jumped to a 6-2 first-quarter lead with Gary Gait scoring two goals in the period. Schindler got the first Sting goal that tied the game at 1-1 with 9:02 left in the quarter.
Jay Jalbert's low ground shot got by Miron at 8:39 and gave the Mammoth a 2-1 lead they never relinquished in the first half.
Arizona outscored Colorado, 4-3, in the second quarter and goals by Chad Culp and a power-play score by Dan Dawson closed the Mammoth's lead to 6-4 at the 11:42 mark.
The Mammoth came right back with two straight scores. A power play bullet by Gavin Prout and another unassisted man-short score by Gait at 5:42 gave Colorado an 8-4 margin.
Maddalena came back with a score in front of the goal at 4:46 of the second to make it an 8-5 game. But Langtry's second goal of the game gave the Mammoth a 9-5 buldge with 1:48 left in the first half.
National Lacrosse League Stories from January 25, 2004
- Storm and Stealth take it to overtime - Anaheim Storm
- Another OT thriller, 14-13, keeps Mammoth on top - Colorado Mammoth
- Stealth win 8-7 in Overtime Against Anaheim Storm - San Jose Stealth
- Gary Gait's overtime goal sinks Sting, 14-13 - Arizona Sting
- Roughnecks lose home opener - Calgary Roughnecks
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