DENVER – Although it was their first meeting in more than two years, the Colorado Mammoth and Philadelphia Wings rekindled their hatred of one another almost immediately. With matching unsportsmanlike conduct penalties issued just 13 seconds into Saturday night’s game, the National Lacrosse League’s fiercest inter-divisional rivalry was renewed.
John Gallant of the Mammoth and Philadelphia’s Geoff Snider served their penalties and an emotional but skillful battle between unbeaten teams ensued.
After trailing much of the night, the Wings rallied in the fourth quarter with a five-goal run that propelled them to a 15-13 victory before 17,109 fans at Pepsi Center.
Jamie Shewchuk’s goal one minute into the fourth quarter gave Colorado a 13-10 lead, but Philadelphia dominated the game’s final 14 minutes with a combination of transition goals and superb goaltending by Rob Blasdell.
“Just a hard-fought game from beginning to end,” Mammoth coach Bob McMahon said. “We weren’t able to put them away when momentum was on our side.”
The Mammoth fell to 5-1, but remained in first place of the West Division. The Wings improved to 4-0 and remained in second place in the East Division behind the 6-0 Minnesota Swarm.
Athan Iannucci led the Wings with five goals and eight points and was credited with the game-winning tally, while rookie Merrick Thomson added three goals and two assists. Dan Carey led the Mammoth with six points, sharing team-highs with Jamie Shewchuk’s three goals and Gavin Prout’s three assists.
Gee Nash took the loss in net after surrendering 15 goals. Blasdell earned the victory for the Wings, stopping 47-of-60 shots.
The Mammoth reeled off five consecutive goals in the first quarter to take a 5-1 lead, netting two power-play goals and a penalty shot tally by Prout. Philadelphia rallied to cut the Mammoth advantage to 7-6 at halftime.
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