So much was riding on one score, but the Colorado Mammoth couldn’t get that game-tying goal against Portland in the final 2 minutes, 57 seconds before 15,247 on Sunday at the Pepsi Center.
With 31 seconds remaining, the Mammoth pulled goalkeeper Gee Nash for an extra forward and still could not get past the Lumberjax defense or goalkeeper Matt King, who made 54 saves.
In a game-long trend, Portland’s huge defenders broke up passes, deflected shots, and knocked the ball out of the stick of Mammoth players.
Colorado’s 12-11 loss dropped it from a first-place tie to fourth place in the National Lacrosse League Western Division behind Portland, Arizona and Calgary, all at 5-4.
On the heels of Saturday’s 15-14 overtime loss to Calgary despite 50 saves by Nash, Colorado fell to 5-5.
“We have six games to go. We’ve just got to win,” said veteran forward Dan Stroup, who scored a game-high four goals. “We couldn’t bury it tonight, and last night we lost in overtime. We’re right there.”
Stroup scored on one-time shots off cross-crease passes and with fakes on King, but late-game attempts by Stroup and teammates Dan Carey, Gavin Prout, Jay Jalbert and Brian Langtry didn’t find a seam between King and the pipes – if they penetrated the likes of premier defender Brodie Merrill or 6-foot-5, 255-pound Bruce Alexander.
“King made stops, but it was those big defenders, with their long reach … They made us rush shots,” Stroup said. “But we had our chances.”
Del Halladay, whom the Mammoth exposed and lost in the expansion draft, scored two goals and made three assists.
Portland 6 2 3 1 – 12
Colorado 2 3 4 2 – 11
Portland – P. Morgan 2-4-6, Halladay 2-3-5, Hominuck 2-2-4, Bateman 2-1-3, Alexander 1-2-3, Marshall 1-1-2, R. Morgan 1-1-2, Merrill 0-2-2, Forget 1-0-1, Sharp 0-1-1.
Colorado – Stroup 4-0-4, Langtry 2-3-5, Prout 1-5-6, Carey 1-3-4, Law 1-1-2, Carlson 1-1-2, Stapleford 1-0-1, Gill 0-2-2, Sims 0-1-1, Nash 0-1-1.
Goal keepers – Portland, King, 65 shots-54 saves; Colorado, Levis, 15 shots-9 saves; Nash 36 shots-29 saves. A – 15,247.
