NLL Colorado Mammoth

Mammoth's woes continue in loss to Titans

Published on February 5, 2010 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Colorado Mammoth News Release


DENVER - The Colorado Mammoth lost its third-straight home game Friday night, 12-5, to the visiting Orlando Titans in front of 13,953 fans. The loss drops Colorado to 2-4 on the season while Orlando improves to 2-2.

The Mammoth sorely missed its injured captain and defensive leader John Gallant, as the defense allowed the visiting Orlando Titans to control the game from start to finish. Colorado's slumping offense was held to a mere five goals on the night.

Colorado got off to a rough start giving up three quick goals to the Titans. It took the Titans less than five-and-a-half minutes to score two goals. Orlando followed quickly with a third as Titan forward Casey Powell beat his defender then beat Mammoth goalie Andrew Leyshon to the near-side pipe for a goal.

Mammoth president, general manager and head coach Steve Govett decided to pull starting goalie, Leyshon, just 6:03 into the contest in favor of the recently acquired Chris Levis. Orlando drew net for a fourth time in the period and the first time on Levis during an Orlando power play as Ryan Boyle broke through the middle and received a feed from behind the goal with enough time to bury it.

The Mammoth finally found the back of the net while on a power play. Levis made an athletic save and then quickly threw the outlet pass to defenseman Tom Ethington. Ethington looked up to find Ilija Gajic streaking down the right side of the field, who then hammered home the one-on-one goal against Orlando goalie Matt Vinc.

The Titans answered with a pair of their own goals, one coming from Powell on a deceptive low-to-high shot, then later, an easy goal from Boyle on a Titan's power play as he slipped past sleeping defenders to beat Levis for a goal.

The Mammoth tried to fight back with a nifty goal from new arrival Chris Gill who picked up a loose ball then shot a rocket past the Orlando goalie before he could reset. The second quarter finished in physical fashion with Mammoth goalie laying out a fast-breaking Orlando defenseman, Pat Merrill, 10 yards outside of his goal crease. Next, a last-second skirmish resulted in Mammoth leading scorer Jamie Shewchuk being given a five-minute, high-sticking penalty in addition to being ejected for game misconduct and landing Titans defenseman Rory Smith in the box with a four-minute facemask penalty.

The second half started much like the first, as Orlando's Boyle collected a rebound off a Casey Powell shot, then beat Levis to the top right corner of the goal just 1:06 into the half. The Titans followed up a goal by forward Mike McLellan at the 10:20 mark with another goal by Casey Powell who beat Levis on a bounce shot as he carried the ball from the right side to the top of the offensive zone. The Mammoth was held scoreless in the third to finish the quarter 9-2.

Disappointed Mammoth fans witnessed more of the same to start the fourth quarter as the Titans rolled off three unanswered goals, but were delighted by a strong finish as Mammoth forward Jed Prossner scored two goals and Cory Conway added a bouncer from up top as well to match the Titans with three goals apiece in the final frame.

High performers for the game included the Titans' Casey Powell who finished with three goals and three assists. Colorado's Jed Prossner finished with two goals and an assist while Cory Conway tallied a goal and two assists.

Colorado has two weeks to rest and evaluate before hitting the road to play the Minnesota Swarm on February 20. The next home game for the Mammoth will be Saturday, February 27 at Pepsi Center. The game will be Wild West Night as the Mammoth again faces the Swarm. Tickets are on sale now.

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National Lacrosse League Stories from February 5, 2010


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