A Pepsi Center crowd never hushed in its roaring support of the Colorado Mammoth, then it was silenced by a San Jose Stealth overtime goal Saturday night.
The shot by Jeff Zywicki rebounded off the post and goal-
tender Chris Levis, then slowly trickled past the goal line – ending the Mammoth’s quest to repeat as the National Lacrosse League champion.
Colorado’s 15-14 loss marked the third consecutive season the West Division champion was eliminated in the first round of the NLL playoffs.
It was the first victory in Denver for the Stealth, which started the season 1-5.
Colorado converted only 3-of-8 power plays, including failed attempts in overtime and the last 2:37 of regulation.
It was the third consecutive one-goal game between the teams, and all three followed the same pattern.
“We get a big lead, we let them crawl back into the game and panic sets in,” Mammoth captain Gavin Prout said. “We let them back in when we should have stepped on their throats. Their goalie changed the momentum.
“I will blame the offense for this loss. It’s pretty obvious when you have a power play at the end of the game and a power play in overtime.
“We should have won. We didn’t get the job done.”
San Jose goalie Anthony Cosmo, who was pulled three times in the first half, held the Mammoth scoreless in the third quarter and limited the team to three fourth-quarter goals. He was especially adept at preventing rebounds.
“That’s what Cosmo does well,” Mammoth coach Gary Gait said. “The ball hits him and it doesn’t bounce out.”
“Cosmo was absolutely amazing in second half and our man-down is the best in the league. We have absolute faith in them,” said Zywicki, who scored the game-winner 4:42 into overtime.
It was the seventh goal of the game for Zywicki, who plays for the Denver Outlaws of Major League Lacrosse in the summer.
In his postgame team meeting, Gait said: “We gave a great effort. We played a great regular season. We left it on the floor, and that’s all we can do. Don’t forget the feeling.”
Mammoth defender Dave Stilley struggled to express his disappointment.
“It is an indescribable feeling, just a terrible feeling,” he said. “It was a weird goal to end our season on, but we had opportunities and we didn’t step up.
“I’m proud of our guys, and I know this team will stick together.”
The Mammoth looked unbeatable early, outscoring the Stealth 7-1 during a first-quarter stretch to gain a 7-3 lead.
But a series of poor decisions put the Mammoth in the penalty box and the visitors cashed in, drawing within 11-8 at halftime.
In all, San Jose converted 7-of-8 power plays.
Early in the third quarter, Colorado starting all-star goaltender Gee Nash, whose sore back stiffened at halftime, was replaced by Levis.
San Jose 3 5 3 3 1 – 15
Colorado 7 4 0 3 0 – 14
Scoring (goals-assists) – San Jose, Jeff Zywicki 7-1; Colin Doyle 1-9; Gary Rosyski 2-5; Luke Wiles 2-3; Callum Crawford 2-0; Cam Sedgwick 1-1; Curtis Hodgson 0-1; Darren Halls 0-1; Steve Holmes 0-1; Eric Martin 0-1. Colorado, Brian Langtry 3-2; Jamie Shewchuk 3-2; Mike Law 1-3; Gavin Prout 1-3; Nenad Gajic 1-2; Dan Carey 2-0; Nick Carlson 0-2; Pat Coyle 1-0; Josh Sims 1-0; Ben Prepchuk 1-0; Rich Catton 0-1.
Goalies – San Jose, Anthony Cosmo, 48:45 minutes, 46 shots-35 saves; Aaron Bold, 15:57, 15-12. Colorado, Gee Nash, 29:41, 27-18. Chris Levis, 35:01, 31-25.
Shots on goal – San Jose 58, Colorado 61. Loose balls – San Jose 80, Colorado 83. Faceoffs – San Jose 13-33, Colorado 20-33. Power-plays – San Jose 7-for-8, Colorado 3-for-8.
