Going in to the game, the biggest question on most people’s lips was, “Can the Mammoth still win without John Grant Junior?”
Rookies Adam Jones, Derek Hopcroft and Jamie Lincoln certainly proved they can; scoring seven of the Mammoth’s thirteen goals.
The history between the Colorado Mammoth and the Washington Stealth is long and contentious dating back to when the Stealth were the Albany Attack and Brian Reese set off a bench clearing brawl. Even though the number of players who were around for that event is minimal, the bad blood between these two teams remains egged on by playoff results and continuously chippy play.
This game was no different. The game was so aggressive from both sides, it almost felt like it was played in reverse. The first quarter was extremely high scoring and the play so hard fought, you would’ve have thought the game clock was winding down, not just starting. Of course, the result of that is it appeared many on both teams had a huge adrenalin dump and the play slowed down in part due to much slower line changes from worn out players. As both teams meet again tonight in Washington, you can expect more of the same.
1st Quarter
Jamie Lincoln started off the scoring after deking his defender leaving him all alone on the crease. Dean Hill quickly ties the score up after shooting around his defender for the goal. In a similar play, Adam Jones gets his first goal of the night. It’s quickly followed up by a super aggressive play where the Stealth intercepted the ball, but the player was board checked and lost the ball before he could get it across center where his teammates now were. Sean Pollock recovers the ball for the Mammoth. He passes it to Jones who passes it to Lincoln alone at the crease for a perfect goal. And that was just the first five minutes! With a third of the quarter over,
Dan Coates gets sent to the penalty box on a five minute major for high sticking. Pollock gets sent to the box for elbowing less than a minute later to give the Stealth a huge opportunity which they make the most of. Lewis Ratcliff scores a pair of goals split by another goal from Hill to take the lead. Ratcliff’s second goal is challenged, but surprisingly, the referee chose to only view it from two angles, neither of which helped one direction or the other. (When it comes to replay capabilities, the Pepsi Center is one of the best in the league so I find it hard to believe those were the only two angles available.) The goal is ruled good
Not to be undone, the Mammoth go on their own scoring streak kicked off by Derek Hopcroft with a goal from the outside that simply put looked easy. Pollock scored from the center of the field followed up with a bunch of pushing and shoving between the teams and a goalie change. (And on that note, throughout the night, Ref #33 was really aggressive in his manner of shoving players away. Usually refs will try to pull them apart or simply keep them at arm’s length, not actually push them in the shoulder like they’re trying to start a fight. I witnessed him do it several times to players which I would think if anything would up the aggressiveness.) Jordan McBride scores right away on former Mammoth goalie Matt King and Kevin Croswell is brought back in to tend net for the Stealth. Jones scores another around the defender goal before the streak is broken with a goal from Jeff Zywicki at the crease.
Washington Stealth 5, Colorado Mammoth 7
2nd Quarter
For as high scoring as the first half was, the second quarter was quiet in comparison with it taking nearly four minutes for a goal to be scored. Both sides started to look very flat and players took much longer to get to the bench.
After plenty of back and forth play, Jeff Moleski gets the ball and outruns Gavin Prout for a one on one opportunity with Chris Levis for a shorthanded goal to cut the Mammoth lead to one. About five minutes later, Prout scores his own goal on a hard wind up overhand shot. In his first game back since being injured earlier in the season, Rhys Duch scores his only goal on the night utilizing a screen. Hopcroft makes the most of not having a defender and notches the last official goal of the half.
As the clock wound down its final seconds, Duch passed to Zywicki behind the crease. Zywicki leaps for an air gait goal. Zywicki, Levis and Coates all collide knocking the goal aside. The ref rules the goal no good. The Stealth throw the challenge flag despite already using up their timeout earlier in the game. Refs review, call on the field stands and Stealth are assessed a Delay of Game penalty to start the third.
Washington Stealth 7, Colorado Mammoth 9
3rd Quarter
Despite starting the quarter off with a power play opportunity, the Mammoth are unable to convert and their penalty kill struggled as well. Both teams come out looking tired. Play isn’t anywhere near as aggressive as in the first quarter. Midway through the quarter, Ratcliff kicks off the scoring shooting under his defender going top shelf and a beautiful screened play to cut the Mammoth lead back down to one. Ilija Gajic scores a minute later after being left completely undefended at the crease. With under six minutes remaining in the quarter, Cam Sedgwick scores at the crease on a pass from Ratcliff to keep it a one goal game.
Washington Stealth 9, Colorado Mammoth 10
4th Quarter
Adam Jones kicks off the fourth by scoring his hat trick goal on the power play after he was left undefended by the Stealth. Ratcliff scores his own easy shot on the power play to keep the game close. Play continues for nearly ten minutes with neither team able to score. While Levis was standing on his head making some truly phenomenal saves, as the clock wound down, the Mammoth offense looked more and more like they’re trying to sit on a one goal lead, which in this sport is a ridiculous notion to begin with. Larger leads are not safe in this league let alone a one goal lead.
With just over two minutes remaining in the quarter, Mike Grimes and Mat MacLeod get into a foot race. MacLeod tries to bump Grimes, but he’s just enough behind Grimes that instead of bumping him out of position, MacLeod bounces off Grimes and stumbles to the floor giving Grimes a one on one opportunity against Levis. Levis fails to make the stop and Grimes ties the game up. With a minute left in the game, Pollock undefended with an open lane scores from the outside. The Stealth pull Crosswell for the extra attacker. Cameron Holding recovers a Stealth shot rebound and races down the field toward the empty net. His defender collides with them sending them tumbling to the ground. As it was an empty net Holding is awarded the goal to secure the Mammoth win.
Final Score
Washington Stealth 11, Colorado Mammoth 13
Attendance: 17,116
1st Star – Adam Jones, with three goals on four shots and four assists, the rookie was an instrumental factor in the Mammoth’s win.
2nd Star – Chris Levis, faced 52 shots on goal (39 of those shots came from Rhys “Clutch” Duch, Lewis Ratcliff, Athan Iannucci and Dean Hilli) and despite huge pressure in the fourth quarter, only failed to block two goals was huge.
3rd Star – Lewis Ratcliff, with four goals and two assists, Ratcliff made his presence felt and without which, the Stealth may not have been able to stay in the game as Duch went 1/10, Hill 2/10 and Iannucci 0/8
Around the League:
Friday
Philadelphia Wings 12, Toronto Rock 10
Calgary Roughnecks 13, Edmonton Rush 10
Saturday
Buffalo Bandits 10, Rochester Knighthawks 13
Edmonton Rush 9, Calgary Roughnecks 16
