NLL West Divisional Final Game Preview and Sting Player Updates
April 27, 2006 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Arizona Sting News Release
The Arizona Sting will be looking to defeat the 2006 version of the Colorado Mammoth for the first time in four attempts this Saturday, April 29, at the Pepsi Center when the two teams meet to decide who will represent the NLL's West Division at the Champion's Cup Final on May 13. The Sting are 0-3 this season against Colorado and have been outscored 49-39 over the course of the three contests. Despite having a losing record against the Mammoth this season, Head Coach/GM Bob Hamley is confident in his team's ability to pull out a victory this weekend and earn a second consecutive West Division Championship.
"We're coming off of a great team win in Portland," said Hamley. "We're playing very strong as a team right now and that is definitely something we're proud of. The Pepsi Center is one of the toughest places to play in the NLL, but we've had success there in the past and we believe we have the ability to pull out a win this weekend."
Dan Dawson (7G-14A-21P in 3 games) and Craig Conn (13G-7A-20P in 3 games) have proven to be difficult for Colorado's defenders to contain in the three games in which the two teams have played. The Mammoth's Gavin Prout has likewise given Sting defenders all they can handle this season, having registered 22 points (7G-15A) over the course of his team's three straight victories.
Colorado Head Coach Gary Gait feels that his team cannot take the Sting lightly despite having had success against them in the regular season.
"We had some bounces go our way in the regular season against the Sting in a couple of the games we played," said Gait. "Anything can happen in the playoffs, and we will be very well prepared to take on a team that looks like they're peaking right now."
The Sting are coming off of an impressive 14-11 road victory over the Portland Lumberjax at the Rose Garden last weekend. The Mammoth defeated the Calgary Roughnecks by a score of 18-17 in overtime last Saturday at the Pepsi Center to earn the right to host the West Divisional Final on their home turf.
Arizona eliminated Colorado from playoff contention last season when they won their opening round contest with the Mammoth by a score of 16-13 at the Glendale Arena on April 22, 2005. The Sting went on to win the West Division Championship after besting Calgary 19-15 in the Divisional Final the following week.
Game time on Saturday is 11:00AM PST. The game can be seen live both on Cox 7 and B2 Networks.
THE MATCH-UP:
Arizona Sting (8-8 reg. season) vs. Colorado Mammoth (10-6 reg. season)
Location: Pepsi Center, Denver CO
Date/Time: Saturday, April 29 - 12:00PM MST, 11:00AM PST
LEADING SCORERS:
PLAYOFFS:
Arizona - Dan Dawson (1GP-3G-5A-8P); Lindsay Plunkett (1GP-3G-4A-7P); Craig Conn (1GP-2G-3A-5P); Matt Brown (1GP-2G-2A-4P); Pat Maddalena (1GP-0G-4A-4P)
Colorado - Gavin Prout (1GP-5G-7A-12P); Brian Langtry (1GP-4G-1A-5P); Jay Jalbert (1GP-1G-4A-5P); Andrew Burkholder (1GP-4G-0A-4P); Josh Sims (1GP-1G-2A-3P); Dan Carey (1GP-1G-2A-3P)
REGULAR SEASON:
Arizona - Dan Dawson (16GP-34G-48A-82P); Craig Conn (15GP-44G-23A-67P); Pat Maddalena (15GP-24G-34A-58P); Lindsay Plunkett (13GP-17G-25A-42P); Matt Brown (16GP-16G-19A-35P)
Colorado - Gavin Prout (16GP-29G-64-93); Dan Carey (16GP-17G-45A-62P); Brian Langtry (15GP-24G-26A-50P); Jay Jalbert (16GP-19G-29A-48P); Chris Gill (16GP-29G-16A-45P)
HEAD-TO-HEAD:
Sting All-Time Against the Mammoth:
In Colorado: In Arizona:
GP W L GF GA GP W L GF GA
4 1 3 52 58 5 2 3 68 70
Sting vs. Mammoth in Playoffs:
Record: 1-0 (2005 West Division Semi-Final)
Goals For: 16
Goals Against: 13
THE LAST TIME THESE TEAMS PLAYED:
The Mammoth beat the Sting by a score of 16-11 at the Pepsi Center on April 2, 2006. Jay Jalbert netted 5 goals for Colorado while Gavin Prout registered 3G-4A-7P. The Sting were led offensively by Dan Dawson and Curt Malawsky, who both tallied hat tricks in the loss. As was the case when these two teams met on February 3, all four goaltenders saw action in the game, with the Mammoth's Chris Levis putting up the best stats (37 SOG, 32 SV) for his team. Arizona out shot Colorado 64-50 in the game.
• Discuss this story on the National Lacrosse League message board...
National Lacrosse League Stories from April 27, 2006
- NLL West Divisional Final Game Preview and Sting Player Updates - Arizona Sting
- Gait not to play in 2006 MLL season - Colorado Mammoth
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
