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NLL Colorado Mammoth

Mammoth Drop Season Opener in OT

January 8, 2011 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Colorado Mammoth News Release


DENVER - The Colorado Mammoth opened the 2011 season with an 11-10 overtime loss to the defending NLL champion Washington Stealth in front of a crowd of 17,029 on HealthONE Field at Pepsi Center on Saturday night. Newly acquired forward John Grant Jr. made the most of his Mammoth debut scoring four goals and adding three assists in the losing effort.

A fast-paced but low-scoring opening quarter started with multiple saves from Mammoth goalie Chris Levis. The Stealth struck first though at the 7:31 mark on a back-door cut by forward Jeff Zywicki. Colorado answered as rookie defenseman Ben Davies found himself uncovered on the crease. Receiving a pass from forward Jamie Shewchuk, Davies spun around and bounced home the first goal of the 2011 season and the first of his NLL career. The Stealth scored two more goals, including an empty-netter with just 12 seconds left, to carry a 3-1 lead into the second quarter.

The Stealth started the second frame with two unanswered, power-play goals to push its lead to four. The Mammoth finished the half with a flurry of goals though. Grant scored two consecutive circus shots. The first came as Grant collected a loose ball in front of the net, then fired off a shot over his shoulder before even squaring up to the goal. The second, an off-speed shot to the corner after dipping his head to fake the goalie. The Mammoth finished the half down by one after forward Brian Langtry scored a breakaway goal with 2:36 remaining.

The Stealth opened the second half with a side-arm rocket from Rhys Duch just 27 seconds into the half but the Mammoth quickly answered about two minutes later, with forward Cliff Smith sneaking a bounce shot past Washington goalie Matt Roik. Two more goals from Grant gave Colorado its first lead of the night bringing the score to 7-6. Washington regained the lead before the end of the quarter, scoring two goals in the final 2:07 bringing the score to 8-7.

The fourth quarter saw a quick-stick goal by Mammoth forward Mike McLellan at the 8:23 mark, sandwiched between two Stealth goals, bringing the score to 10-8 in Washington's favor. That score remained until McLellan scored a nearly identical quick-stick goal with 4:34 remaining. The Mammoth's Cliff Smith tied the game at 10 with a goal with just 2:01 remaining to send the game to overtime.

Colorado dug itself a whole in overtime though, committing two penalties, allowing the Stealth to go on a two-man advantage power play. Washington capitalized on the penalties with Duch hammering home the sudden-death goal with 9:49 remaining in overtime, bringing the final score to 11-10.

Colorado hits the road next week to face the Calgary Roughnecks on Saturday, January 15. The game will be shown on tape-delay on Monday, January 17 at 11pm MST on Altitude Sports & Entertainment. The next home game for the Mammoth is Saturday, January 22 at 7pm when its hosts the Philadelphia Wings.

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National Lacrosse League Stories from January 8, 2011


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