Thanks to a schedule front-loaded with home games, the Mammoth puts its franchise-best start on the line tonight against a familiar face.
Question is, will Mammoth fans hoping for another Pepsi Center win give a hoot about Geoff Snider tonight when he steps into the circle for the opening faceoff for Philadelphia?
The Mammoth’s 5-0 start has not been matched in its six years in Denver. Playing four of the five games at home certainly has helped first-year coach Bob Mc-Mahon.
“We’re not looking forward to a 16-0 record,” Mammoth captain Gavin Prout said. “We’re focusing on Philly, and Philly only. It takes a lot of discipline to do that. When you’re playing very well, you don’t look into the future. . . . Philly is 3-0, they are on a roll.”
Snider has been the catalyst in the high-scoring Wings’ undefeated start.
“There’s a lot at stake,” Snider said Thursday. “Colorado has the whole package: offense, defense and transition. It is definitely a test for us.”
Snider is hopeful the near-sellout crowd will go easy on him despite his reputation. The former University of Denver All-American is arguably the best brawler in a league that now ejects players for fighting.
Cheered while playing for the Denver Outlaws in the summer Major League Lacrosse games at Invesco Field at Mile High, Snider is optimistic.
“The fans are incredibly loyal,” he said. “I just hope they take it easy on me because I play for them in the summer.”
Prout is directing an efficient offense in front of goalie Gee Nash’s solid defense. Six Mammoth players are on the ballot for the All-Star Game on March 16. Fan voting is available online.
Prout, the league leader with 28 assists, has found outlets in third-year forward Dan Carey (13 goals, 15 assists) and newcomer Jason Wulder (eight goals, eight assists). However, Colorado’s third-leading goal scorer, Brian Langtry, is questionable because of a broken finger.
Nash has played four games and owns a league-best 8.46 goals-against average; the Mammoth’s winning margin averages 2.6 goals.
The Wings are playing for the first time since Jan. 26, when Snider set the league record for fastest goal to start a game, scoring in five seconds. Along with overcoming its recent inactivity, Philadelphia faces a notoriously boisterous crowd, averaging a league-leading 17,312.
“In the final seconds of a tight game, that crowd really can play a factor,” said Snider, who attended Mammoth games as a DU student.
AROUND TOWN
Matchups with a shade of pink
Some larger-than-life matchups around town this weekend, as the No. 13-ranked Denver gymnastics team hosts Ball State and Colorado women’s basketball hosts Texas. But these are more than just run-of-the-mill games. These are breast cancer awareness celebrations. DU, which has sold out each of its meets this season after a program-best finish last season at No. 10, will have a personal incentive in its Link to Pink meet: Sophomore all-around competitor Kelley Hennigan is herself a cancer survivor and an American Cancer Society award recipient. The CU basketball team, too, has something larger to play for — its Think Pink game. It takes on Texas, led by legendary coach Gail Goestenkors, who will visit Boulder for the first time since leaving Duke, where she led the Blue Devils to four Final Four berths and 13 straight NCAA Tournaments.
Gymnastics: Denver vs. Ball State, at Hamilton Gymnasium, 6 p.m.
Basketball: Colorado vs. Texas, at Coors Events Center in Boulder, 7 p.m.
STAY ON THE COUCH
CU can’t catch a break
The Colorado men, hanging tough but struggling through their Big 12 Conference basketball schedule, will travel to face No. 3 Kansas on Saturday exactly two weeks after falling to the Jayhawks in Boulder. Twice this season the Buffs will play Kansas with the Jayhawks coming off a loss. Kansas State upset Kansas before KU took out its frustrations on CU the following game. And Texas handed KU its second loss of the season Monday. Saturday in Lawrence, Kansas will celebrate its 1988 “Danny and the Miracles” national championship team featuring Danny Manning. The stars, it seems, have aligned against CU again. The game airs on ALT on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
GET OFF THE COUCH
Big weekend for Lever-led Lopers
Fat Lever no doubt is one of the best to wear a Nuggets uniform. Any area hoops fan knows at least that much. But it will be his son, Garrett Lever, playing on Denver courts this weekend. Garrett Lever, a standout freshman guard at Nebraska-Kearney, has the Lopers threatening to win the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference East Division title. Kearney — which fields a team of only freshman and sophomores and is led by the RMAC’s leading scorer, Drake Beranek — will have Lever calling the backcourt shots in two crucial late-season games this weekend. Tonight, the Lopers take on Metro State at Auraria Events Center. On Saturday, the East Division title could be on the line when Kearney takes on Colorado Christian in Lakewood.
Today: Metro State vs. Nebraska-Kearney, at Auraria Events Center, 7 p.m.
Saturday: Colorado Christian vs. Nebraska-Kearney, at Cougar Fieldhouse in Lakewood, 7 p.m.
WEAK IN REVIEW
Troubles follow Sampson
Nice of Kelvin Sampson to drag his trouble with the NCAA from Oklahoma to Indiana. If his “major” violations, spelled out in an NCAA report Wednesday, are good enough for the Sooners, they’re good enough for the Hoosiers. But what will come of Indiana’s run this season? The Hoosiers were, barely, one of a few teams keeping the putrid Big Ten conference afloat.
