Sting Lose to Mammoth 15-11
Published on March 18, 2006 under National Lacrosse League (NLL) News Release
GLENDALE, ARIZONA --- Colorado goaltender Gee Nash proved he plays for the right team Saturday night, as the amount of space he appeared to cover in front of his net was akin to what the prehistoric pachyderm for which his team is named would have. Following an 8-8 first half, Nash put forth a dominating performance, holding the Sting to a single goal in the third quarter as the Mammoth built a 13-9 lead that Arizona was not able to recover from. Lindsay Plunkett, re-acquired by the Sting on the trade deadline earlier this week, gave the crowd of 6,420 on hand at Glendale Arena hope of a potential comeback with his third goal of the game midway through the fourth quarter, but Arizona was unable to cut any further into Colorado's commanding lead. Plunkett was pleased with his performance, but not in the game's outcome.
"I took a lot of shots out there and was able to net a few goals," said Plunkett. "It's tough to lose my first game back in Arizona but I'm thrilled to be back with this organization. The Mammoth were better than us tonight - that's the bottom line. They capitalized on their chances more often than we did and that's how you win games. Gee Nash had a really strong game in net and we weren't able to beat him when we had to. Full marks to Colorado tonight."
Colorado got off to a quick start with All-Stars Gavin Prout and Jay Jalbert netting goals 0:47 and 3:01 into the game respectively to give the Mammoth a 2-0 lead in the early going. Lindsay Plunkett cut the lead in half at the midway point of the first quarter and Craig Conn tied the game 1:19 later on a shot that beat Gee Nash between the legs. With 4:16 left in the first quarter, Nick Carlson was awarded a double minor penalty and the Sting's power play went to work. Dan Dawson finished a pretty passing play to give Arizona their first lead of the game. Craig Conn followed that up with a goal at the 11:32 mark of the period to give Arizona a 4-2 lead. Brian Langtry beat Mike Miron with a well-placed shot shortly thereafter and Jay Jalbert tallied his second of the game with less than two minutes remaining to tie the game at four. Chris Gill then scored with only 3.2 seconds on the clock to give the Mammoth a 5-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter opened in favorable fashion for Arizona, as Jonas Derks scored his 18th goal of the season 2:39 into the frame. Colorado responded with a goal by newly acquired forward Andrew Buckholder 32 seconds later. Lindsay Plunkett then re-tied the game with a shot that bounced off of the boards and then off of Gee Nash before entering the net. Jay Jalbert completed his hat trick with 6:49 remaining in the second quarter, giving the Mammoth a 7-6 lead in the process. Rookie Dan Carey extended the Colorado lead thirty seconds later on a breakaway. Dan Dawson then ripped a shot over Gee Nash's left shoulder to pull the Sting back to within one. Craig Conn then tied the game on his third of the night with 5:06 remaining in the opening half. The goal came short-handed, which gives Conn the team record for man-down tallies in a season with 5. Both goaltenders stood their ground in the closing minutes of the first half, sending the game to halftime with the score 8-8. Conn was pleased with his strong opening half in which he registered 3G-2A-5P.
"I felt good out there early," said Conn. "Unfortunately I couldn't keep it going in the second half. This was a tough game to lose but this team has a lot of heart and I know we'll bounce back."
Andrew Burkholder scored his second goal as a member of the Mammoth to open the second half; his third gave Colorado a 10-8 lead 4:52 into the third period. Chris Gill and Ben Prepchuk then extended the Mammoth lead to four. Dan Dawson scored the Sting's first goal of the second half with just under a minute remaining in the third quarter. Jay Jalbert then scored on a questionable play in which it appeared that his shot bounced off of both posts behind Mike Miron. The tally gave Colorado a 13-9 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Lindsay Plunkett scored his third goal of the game 3:41 into the fourth quarter to cut the Mammoth lead to three. Plunkett plowed through a pair of Colorado defenders to gain the open look on Gee Nash that led to his hat trick being completed. The Mammoth went up 14-10 on another goal by Andrew Burkholder. Tom Ethington added an empty net goal for the Mammoth and Pat Maddalena netted a meaningless tally near the end of regulation to conclude the match. Peter Lough scooped up his 500th career loose ball in the fourth quarter to provide Sting fans with a highlight in an otherwise disappointing second half.
"We have to rebound from this loss," said Assistant Coach Rick Wilson. "The West Division gets tighter every day and we need to put some wins together soon to stay in the hunt for first place."
The Sting travel to Pennsylvania next weekend to take on the 6-5 Philadelphia Wings. Game time is 1:30 PM EST / 11:30AM Arizona time. Fans can watch the match live by logging onto B2 Networks. Visit www.nll.com for more info.
National Lacrosse League Stories from March 18, 2006
- Sting Lose to Mammoth 15-11 - NLL
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