Another star was born for the Colorado Mammoth on Thursday night when rookie Jamie Shewchuk scored three fourth-quarter goals en route to a 15-11 National Lacrosse League win over the Portland Lumberjax before 14,388 at the Pepsi Center.
The second-round draft pick faked and fired pinpoint shots to the top left corner of the net against future Hall of Fame goalkeeper Dallas Eliuk on his first two goals. Shewchuk then changed to the right top corner for Colorado’s 14th goal, part of a jaw-dropping spree of four goals in a 70-second span.
“It was a shootout until our veterans and defense stepped up and gave us an opportunity,” Shewchuk said. “Anytime you get breakaways, you want to make the best of them.”
With faceoff specialist Jamie Hanford winning three consecutive draws, Colorado (5-1) blew a tight game wide open.
“We got on a run at the right time,” Hanford said. “With those faceoffs, getting the groundballs and getting up the floor, we were catching them off guard. It was just momentum. And our young guys on offense are getting great shots off.”
In his Mammoth debut, second-year forward Matt Taylor scored two second-half goals, first-year regular Mike Law scored two fourth-quarter goals, and second-year forward Dan Carey netted a game-high three goals and three assists.
“These young guys are unbelievable,” Hanford said. “All I can say is, great job by Steve Govett. He’s our GM. He goes out and finds the players. He knows how to put the right players together. Not just talented guys, but good guys in the locker room; not cancers.”
Carey’s hat trick increased his season total to 17 goals, matching his rookie total and moving him into the NLL scoring lead with 34 points, including 17 assists.
“Dan Carey has emerged as one of the best finishers in the league,” Portland all-pro defender Brodie Merrill said. “Obviously, the Gavin Prout’s and Josh Sims’ are going to be there every night, but I think their secondary guys are stepping up.”
While remaining undefeated at home at 3-0, Colorado was sharp in the first half, using quick, accurate passes to forge leads of 3-0, 6-1 and 7-2 before Portland (2-3) stormed back with three consecutive goals to draw within 7-5 at halftime and tie it, 7-7, in the third quarter.
Taylor, who was acquired in a Jan. 16 trade, ended a 20-minute, 27-second scoring drought with his first goal as a Colorado player.
Footnotes
The rare Thursday game cost the Mammoth one regular. Crowd favorite Dave Stilley could not play because of business meetings in Texas. Fellow defender Pat Coyle played despite a severely torn calf muscle. … Transition player Nick Carlson, who spent the offseason rehabilitating from knee surgery, could not play because of knee pain. … Portland defender Scott Stapleford, who helped the Mammoth win the 2006 NLL title, was presented with his championship ring in a pregame ceremony.
Portland 0 5 3 3 – 11
Colorado 3 4 2 6 – 15
First quarter – C: Carey (unassisted), 1:42; Langtry, pp, (Law), 3:39; Prepchuk, pp, (Shewchuk, Langtry), 5:38. Second quarter – P: Prossner (Hominuck, Merrill), :18. C: Prout, pp, (unassisted), 1:46; Prout, pp, (Carey, Langtry), 4:03; Carey, pp, (Prout), 6:07. P: Prossner (Palmer), 7:17. C: Prepchuk, pp, (Carey, Prout), 7:44. P: Hominuck, pp, (Alexander, Prossner), 10:20; Hominuck, pp, (Powell, Alexander), 11:07; Alexander, pp, (Prossner, Hominuck), 14:45.
Third quarter – P: Bateman (Merrill), 5:52; Stapleford (Prossner), 7:57. C: Taylor (Coyle), 13:11; Carey, pp, (Langtry, Shewchuk), 14:11. P: Powell (Hominuck, Bateman), 14:38. Fourth quarter – P: Bateman, sh, (Morgan, Eliuk), 1:05. C: Shewchuk, pp, (Bloom, Sims), 1:45; Shewchuk (Bloom, Taylor), 5:30. P: Halladay (Powell), 10:28. C: Taylor (Carey, Catton), 11:01; Law (Gajic), 11:22; Shewchuk (unassisted), 11:56; Law (unassisted), 12:11. P: Powell, pp, (Alexander), 14:43.
