The Colorado Mammoth concluded its three-game road trip – the team’s longest of the year – with a 14-9 win over the New England Black Wolves at Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut to take two of three away from home and finish the first-half of the season with a winning record (5-4).
Colorado improved to 4-0 against East Division opponents this year, and has now won 11 of its last 12 against the East. The Mammoth has never lost to the Black Wolves, improving to 5-0 all-time versus New England. Its 14-goal output tied a season-high, and the five-goal win was Colorado’s best in 2017.
“I really liked our start,” said head coach Pat Coyle, who watched his team jump out to a 6-1 advantage. “With a one o’clock start on Sunday, sometimes you’re not sure what you’re going to get. The guys were really prepared. To me, that was the difference. We came out ready to play!”
In a match-up of last year’s two All-Pro netminders, Colorado’s Dillon Ward clearly outshined New England’s Evan Kirk. The Mammoth chased the reigning NLL Goaltender of the Year from his post between the pipes in the third quarter. Ward followed up his career-best performance a week ago with a solid 45-save effort.
“Dillon thinks every game’s important,” said Coyle. “But, it probably is a cherry on top to beat [Kirk]. We thought Dillon should have won [the Goaltender of the Year] award last year. Kirk’s a really good goalie, but I’m happy with who we have.”
First-round pick Zach Herreweyers returned to the Active Roster in grand style, scoring the game’s opening goal, and the first tally in the third.
“I definitely missed being out there,” said the rookie. “It was good to get that first [goal] out of the way right away, and then the one in the third that dropped for me was definitely a big one too.”
Colorado’s power-play was a perfect four-for-four, led by two extra-man tallies from Chris Wardle.
Joey Cupido scored a transition goal in the second, and was credited with a short-handed empty-netter late in the fourth. Callum Crawford and Stephen Keogh also enjoyed two-goal games.
The Mammoth returns to Pepsi Center on Friday, March 3 to take on the Calgary Roughnecks at 7:30pm MT as the team celebrates 303 Day. It will be Colorado’s first home game in four weeks.
Featured Image Credit: Colorado Mammoth