NLL Colorado Mammoth

Mammoth falls to Roughnecks in NLL playoffs

Published on May 3, 2008 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Colorado Mammoth News Release


DENVER - Like two heavyweights in the ring, the Colorado Mammoth and Calgary Roughnecks exchanged blows for 60 playoff minutes on Saturday night. The Mammoth punched hard, taking a two-goal lead with eight minutes remaining. Then the Roughnecks counterpunched.

In a game that had seven ties and four lead changes, the Roughnecks rode the last swing of momentum to a 15-13 victory in front of a stunned crowd of 15,554 at Pepsi Center.

The victory sends the Roughnecks to the West Division Final next weekend, while the loss ends the Mammoth's sixth National Lacrosse League season.

Trailing 12-10, Calgary exploded for five goals by five different players late in the game to win the single-elimination playoff game. A Mammoth goal by Nenad Gajic with one second remaining did little to soothe the sting of losing a postseason game on its home floor for the second year in a row.

"We battled hard and put ourselves in a position to win," said Mammoth coach Bob McMahon, who guided the team to a 9-7 regular-season record in his first year behind the bench. "We just couldn't close them out when we had the chance."

Jamie Shewchuk led the Mammoth with seven points on two goals and five assists, stepping up offensively in place of Dan Carey, who missed his sixth consecutive game because of a concussion. Eight others scored goals for the Mammoth, including two each by Jason Wulder, Chris Gill and Gavin Prout.

Jeff Shattler and Kaleb Toth each scored three goals for the Roughnecks while Tracey Kelusky added two goals and five assists.

Gee Nash took the loss in goal for the Mammoth, stopping 37-of-51 shots. The Roughnecks last goal was scored on an empty net. Steve Dietrich earned the victory in goal for Calgary, making 29 saves on 42 shots.

Shattler scored early in the third quarter to give Calgary a 7-5 lead, but the Mammoth responded to tie the game on two blistering outside shots by Prout. Jordan Cornfield then scored with a perfect shot over Dietrich's shoulder to give the Mammoth an 8-7 lead.

After a three-goal run by the Roughnecks tied the score at 4-4, Shewchuk scored to end a 13-minute goalless drought for the Mammoth. The 5-4 lead lasted less than two minutes though, and the Roughnecks scored twice to take a 6-5 halftime lead.

The Mammoth scored four consecutive goals to take a 4-1 lead into the second quarter.

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National Lacrosse League Stories from May 3, 2008


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