A nearly game-long struggle by Colorado’s offense could not be remedied with a desperate rally Friday night. In a 12-8 loss before 16,834 at the Pepsi Center, a Mammoth team that has gritted its way through an injury-plagued season squandered the home-floor advantage against a Rochester team that had been winless on the road.
With three games remaining in the race for a top-four finish for a playoff berth, Colorado (6-7) remains in third place in the National Lacrosse League West Division after second- place Portland (6-6) and fourth-place Minnesota (5-7) also lost on Friday.
After trailing 5-1 at halftime and 7-2 in the third quarter, Brian Langtry scored off his own rebound, blasting a shot so hard that it hit Rochester goaltender Pat O’Toole and trickled across the goal line, cutting the lead to 8-7 with 10:21 remaining.
Two minutes later, the Mammoth gained a power-play opportunity, but it went as poorly as possible. Not only did the Mammoth struggle for quality shots, a lack of hustle getting back on defense gave Rochester (6-6) its second short-handed goal of the game.
“You’ve got to run back with the guy; you can’t take the easy way out and run off,” said coach Bob McMahon of offensive power-play players who head for the bench seeking a defensive substitute rather than realizing they have to backpedal against speedy, opportunistic Knighthawks transition players.
The power play, which converted only two of eight chances, lacked quick, on-target passing and quality shots from the opening quarter, when it could not score on Rochester and the superb O’Toole (40 saves), even with a two-man advantage.
The offense also wasn’t smart before halftime, shooting too early on the shot clock, which enabled the visitors to get the ball back and score as time expired for a 5-1 lead.
“Ten-year-old kids know you hold it and shoot at six (seconds),” McMahon said. “That’s another critical mistake the offense made.”
Jamie Shewchuk was 0-for-14 as a shooter but made four assists as a feeder, including a pair to Gavin Prout. Langtry and Gary Rosyski, with three goals each, were the only other Mammoth scorers.
“Right now, the offense has let the team down,” said Prout, the team captain. “It’s not getting back, being outworked by the defense, not cutting. It seems to be in one ear and out the other sometimes with some of these guys. Right now, people have to look inside themselves. I can only say so much. I’m hoping we’ll rebound (today) at Portland.”
In defeat, Andrew Leyshon was spectacular, including three of his 35 saves in a 30-second span as Colorado was repeatedly smoked in transition.
Rochester 1 4 2 5 — 12
Colorado 0 1 3 4 — 8
Rochester — Evans 3 goals-5 assists-8 points, Schiller 2-2-4, Williams 2-2-4, Rooney 2-0-2, Point 1-1-2, Walters 1-0-1, Henhawk 0-2-2, O’Toole 0-2-2, Toll 0-1-1, McBride 0-1-1, Milin 0-1-1.
Colorado — Langtry 3-2-5, Rosyski 3-1-4, Prout 2-1-3, Shewchuk 0-4-4, Carlson 0-2-2, Prossner 0-2-2, Sims 0-1-1.
Goaltenders — Rochester: O’Toole, 40 saves; Colorado: Leyshon, 35 saves.
