Sting Defeat Mammoth 16-9
December 16, 2006 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Arizona Sting News Release
WEST VALLEY CITY, UTAH --- The Arizona Sting improved their pre-season record to 2-0 on Saturday afternoon by defeating the Colorado Mammoth by a score of 16-9 at the E-Center in West Valley City, Utah. The Sting never trailed in the match, as the potent Arizona offense took center stage in the inaugural Utah Pro Lacrosse Showcase. Andrew Lazore (4G-4A-8), Lindsay Plunkett (3G-4A-7P), and Dan Dawson (4G-3A-7P) led the way for the Sting, who went 5-for-11 on the power play in the impressive neutral site victory. Arizona defenseman Peter Lough was pleased with his team's effort Saturday afternoon.
"This was a total team victory," said Lough. "Our ball control and clock management were as good today as I've ever seen. We were strong at both ends of the floor for pretty much the entire game and this will definitely give us some confidence going into the regular season."
Both teams scored twice in the game's opening three minutes, with Dan Carey and Jamie Shewchuk netting goals for the Mammoth and with second-year forward Andrew Lazore finding the back of the net twice for Arizona. The following three minutes saw a plethora of scoring chances for each squad, but goaltenders Gee Nash (Mammoth) and Rob Blasdell (Sting) both made some quality saves to keep the game tied at two apiece. Craig Conn broke the deadlock with a tally midway through the frame, giving Arizona a lead that they would not relinquish over the course of the subsequent three-and-a-half periods. Matt Brown extended the Sting lead shortly thereafter, unleashing a rocket of a shot from the left side that beat Nash high. Dan Carey then netted a power play goal to pull Colorado to within one with 6:15 remaining in the opening period. The Arizona power play went to work 90 seconds later, with Dan Dawson taking a feed from Derek Malawsky and firing a shot to the back of the Mammoth net to give the Sting a 5-3 lead with just under five minutes remaining in the first. Andy Secore then netted his second goal of the pre-season two minutes later to put Arizona up by three; a goal from Colorado forward Gavin Prout with 25 seconds remaining in the first made the score 6-4 as the opening quarter came to an end.
Lindsay Plunkett scored his first goal of the afternoon three minutes into the second quarter, netting a power play goal to put the Sting up 7-4. Gavin Prout then registered a power play tally of his own 6:05 into the second period to pull the Mammoth back to within striking distance of the Sting lead. Matt Brown put the Sting back up by three soon thereafter however, beating Gee Nash from close range with a well-placed shot. The Sting went up by four goals midway through the second, as Dan Dawson took a pass from Scott Self on the fly and scored his third goal of the afternoon. Mark Tinning then scored on a breakaway (also set up by Self) with 1:59 remaining in the first half to put Arizona ahead by a score of 10-5. Tinning's tally proved to be the final goal of the second period, and Arizona entered half-time with a five goal advantage over the defending National Lacrosse League Champions.
Andrew Lazore, who is coming off an outstanding summer campaign with the St. Regis Indians of Major Series Lacrosse, was extremely pleased with his performance on Saturday.
"I felt pretty good out there today," said Lazore. "I got a lot of floor time and was able to take advantage of some good picks from my teammates to get some quality scoring chances. Our offense was really clicking tonight and hopefully this momentum will carry over into our opening game in Glendale on January 5."
The Mammoth scored four unanswered goals to open the third quarter. Dan Carey, Brian Langtry, Kevin Olson, and Jamie Shewchuk combined to pull Colorado to within one of Arizona's lead, but Andrew Lazore's third goal of the game with 6:43 remaining in the third period put the Sting back up by two. Mike Attwood, who replaced Blasdell in net following Shewchuk's goal, stoned Josh Sims from close range with two minutes remaining in the third to maintain the two-goal Arizona advantage. 'Dangerous' Dan Dawson added to the Sting lead a minute leader to make the score 12-9 as the penultimate quarter of regulation play came to an end.
After a back-and-forth opening to the fourth period, Lindsay Plunkett scored his second goal of the game at the 4:04 mark of the fourth to put Arizona up 13-9. Lazore's fourth tally of the game at the 5:23 mark gave the Sting a five-goal advantage for the first time since the end of the second quarter. Dan Dawson then scored a highlight-reel goal with 7:58 remaining in regulation, managing to get off a successful shot despite being tackled by Nick Carlson in front of the Colorado goal crease. Plunkett's second goal of the afternoon with 1:44 remaining in regulation put the Sting up by a converted touchdown. The stellar Arizona defense held Colorado's offense in check in the closing moments of the game, and the final score read Sting 16, Mammoth 9.
Sting Head Coach/General Manager Bob Hamley is very pleased with his team's pre-season performance, which, along with the win over the Mammoth includes an11-8 victory over the Toronto Rock on December 1. "I'm very pleased with how we played in both of our pre-season games," said Hamley. "We played solid lacrosse for eight quarters and came up with victories against two very good teams. I'm really looking forward to the regular season."
Having beaten both the 2005 (Toronto) and 2006 (Colorado) Champion's Cup winners in consecutive exhibition contests, the Sting end the 2007 NLL pre-season with a perfect 2-0 record. Their first regular season match takes place at Jobing.com Arena on Friday, January 5, and pits Arizona against the Mammoth in a rematch of the 2006 NLL West Division Playoff Final.
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National Lacrosse League Stories from December 16, 2006
- Sting Defeat Mammoth 16-9 - Arizona Sting
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