NLL Colorado Mammoth

Mammoth tops Stealth, claims West Division title

April 12, 2007 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Colorado Mammoth News Release


DENVER - It was fan appreciation night at Pepsi Center and the Colorado Mammoth delivered what the raucous crowd of 16,012 hoped for: the National Lacrosse League's West Division title.

With a 13-12 victory over the San Jose Stealth, the Mammoth improved to 12-3 and clinched home-field advantage for at least the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Stealth, who had already secured one of the West's four postseason berths, fell to 8-7. The teams close out the regular season against each other on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. Mountain time at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

The Mammoth will host a West Division Semifinal at Pepsi Center on Saturday, April 21 at 7 p.m. The opponent won't be known until the NLL's regular season ends on Saturday night.

Mammoth forward Dan Carey was held to one goal, but it came at a crucial time. After the Stealth scored a power-play goal to tie the score at 10-10 Carey ripped a shot past San Jose goaltender Aaron Bold, initiating the decisive three-goal run. The Mammoth then extended the lead to 13-10 with a goal by Brian Langtry and a breakaway score from Jim Moss that would stand as the game-winner.

The Stealth had three possessions late in the game after pulling within one, but Mammoth goaltender Gee Nash turned aside any equalizing attempts. Nash finished with 36 saves to improve to 9-0 this season. Bold made 49 saves in the losing effort.

"Once again this team played with composure and focus late in the game and it paid off," Mammoth coach Gary Gait said. "It was a little closer than we would have liked there late in the game, but it was great to pull off the victory at home and clinch the division in front of our fans."

No goals were scored for more than 15 minutes until Mammoth captain Gavin Prout broke a 9-9 tie with 10:33 remaining in the game with a blistering shot from the high slot. The Stealth had tied the score at nine with 10:45 left in the third quarter.

Prout, who led the Mammoth with nine points on three goals and six assists, scored on two consecutive outside shots to give the Mammoth a 7-4 lead midway through the second quarter. The Stealth rallied with a three-goal run to even the score, but Jamie Hanford put the Mammoth ahead 8-7 at halftime by scoring after picking up a loose ball and running over the Stealth's Curtis Hodgson on his way to net.

Jamie Shewchuk, who finished with three goals, started the second quarter the way he started the game, with a goal on the Mammoth's first possession. His goal 11 seconds into the quarter tied the game, then he put the Mammoth ahead 5-4 when leaped from behind the net and put away a brilliant feed from Prout.

The Mammoth jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but the Stealth answered with three consecutive goals to build a 4-3 advantage by the end of the first quarter.

Shewchuk scored just 25 seconds into the game when he beat Stealth defender Tim Booth, drove to the net and scored. Nenad Gajic made it 2-0 just 32 seconds later when he cashed in on the rebound of a Ben Prepchuk shot.

Luke Wiles tallied four goals and six assists to lead the Stealth, which hasn't won in six games all-time at Pepsi Center.

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National Lacrosse League Stories from April 12, 2007


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