Sting Surges Past Mammoth 16-13 in NLL Playoffs
by Andrew Nordmeier
Published on April 23, 2005 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Arizona Sting
Laurel and Hardy, Batman and Robin and Abbott and Costello were all dynamic duos.
For the Arizona Sting, their dynamic duo of Dan Dawson and Craig Conn scored all five of the team's fourth quarter goals and led the Sting to a wild 16-13 win over the Colorado Mammoth in the first round of the NLL playoffs Friday night at Glendale Arena.
With the score knotted at 11-11 heading into the final quarter, Dawson and Conn took control of the game.
First, Conn beat Colorado goaltender Gee Nash 3:44 into the quarter to put Arizona (10-7) up by one. Dawson scored 90 seconds later to put the Sting up 13-11.
Colorado countered with a pair of Brian Langtry goals, his fourth and fifth of the night, to re-knot the score at 13-13 with 6:33 left.
"I looked at myself in the mirror and said 'You know what, you've got to do something here tonight.' Dawson said."
Dawson, the Sting's go-to man and the league's second highest goal scorer, beat Nash at 11:39 to put Arizona back in the lead at 14-13. He found the net again at 13:04 to give the Sting a little bit of breathing room. Conn's fifth goal of the night 23 seconds later iced the win for Arizona.
Even with the win, the Sting still knows there's work to be done.
"This is obviously a stepping stone, it's a great feeling now but we're not happy yet," Dawson said, "This is just an appetizer for us."
The game started out to be a fast and furious one with seven goals going up on the board in the first 4:04. The Mammoth notched five of those goals. Colorado had even built itself a four-goal cushion when Paul Gait scored at 8:49 of the second quarter to put the Mammoth up 8-4.
It was at this point Colorado's offense became as extinct as their team nickname.
The Mammoth wouldn't score again until Jay Jalbert's tally 9:03 into the third quarter which ended a goal drought of 15:14.
While the Mammoth offense was hibernating, the Sting ran off five straight goals to seize a 9-8 lead.
Sting netminder Mike Miron stopped 30 of 43 shots for the win while Nash turned aside 37 of Arizona's 53 shots in the losing effort.
For the Sting, Conn (5g, 3a), Lindsay Plunkett (3g, 5a) and Pat Maddalena (2g, 6a) led the way with eight points each. Dawson finished with a six-point night (4g, 2a) after being held to one assist in the first half. Cory Bomberry scored the other two goals for Arizona.
On the other side of the ledger, Langtry paved the way with his five-goal game. Brad Self added a hat trick for Colorado.
Lacrosse legend Gary Gait played his final game for the Mammoth and went out with a five-point night (1g, 4a).
With one playoff win under its belt, the Sting will head north to 10-6 Calgary to take on the West Division champion Roughnecks. The game will start at 8PM Mountain Time with the winner going to the Champions' Cup Final. Calgary won the season series 2-1 over Arizona.
"Calgary is our focus now." Sting Head Coach Bob Hamley said. We've got to go up there and play in a tough building against a very, very good team,"
Geography may be against Arizona; the Sting has never won in five tries in Canada, creating a "Canadian Curse."
"It would be perfect timing next week to break it." Hamley said.
Notes: The game only drew 5,549 fans but was still a strong crowd considering that NASCAR was in town and both the Arizona Diamondbacks and Rattlers were home as well...Arizona finished 4-of-6 on the power play while Colorado capitalized on 2-of-3 chances...Plunkett led all players with 15 shots on goal and Dawson added another 10...Arizona went 3-1 against Colorado this year...The only way Arizona can host another game is if Rochester wins the East Division crown and those two teams meet in the Champions' Cup Final.
National Lacrosse League Stories from April 23, 2005
- Rochester Knighthawks at Buffalo Bandits - Rochester Knighthawks
- Sting Surges Past Mammoth 16-13 in NLL Playoffs - OSC Original by Andrew Nordmeier
- Mammoth exit playoffs with loss at Arizona - Colorado Mammoth
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