Undefeated Mammoth Takes on Rush on Saturday
The month of January was kind to the Colorado Mammoth: an unblemished, 4-0 record; three National Lacrosse League Weekly awards; and a sweep of the NLL Player of the Month awards. A new month brings new challenges, the first of which is the Edmonton Rush on Saturday night at 7pm MT at Pepsi Center as Colorado looks to match its best-ever start to a season (5-0 in 2008).
“We’re very happy where we are,” said Mammoth head coach Bob Hamley.
That said, he knows how challenging every game is in the NLL. So too does Edmonton Rush head coach and general manager Derek Keenan.
“I’d hate to be the guy trying to predict week-to-week in this league, because it [always] seems to change.”
The Rush, which lost to the Mammoth, 13-12, in Edmonton in January is coming off a 16-5 thrashing of the Stealth in Washington a week ago.
“We played pretty well and we caught them on an off-night,” said Keenan. “We executed the way we had planned and really got on a role there early, and managed to keep it going…”
Colorado is the league’s lone undefeated team, and holds a two-game lead in the West Division over Calgary, Edmonton and Minnesota. The Mammoth is 3-0 against West opponents and has a five-game home-winning-streak that dates back to March, 2011. The 60 goals scored by Colorado is an all-time franchise-high through four games.
Both teams have potent offenses. The Mammoth’s 15 goals-per-game average is second to the Swarm, and just one goal-per-game better than the Rush.
“They’re obviously a tough team to defend,” said Keenan, referring to Colorado. “They’re scoring goals in bunches. [John Grant] Jr.’s been on fire and he’s got a good supporting cast around him.”
On Wednesday, Grant was named the NLL’s Player of the Month for January. Two weeks ago, he became the fifth player in league history to record 1,000 career points. His former Rochester teammate, Shawn Williams, who’s now with Edmonton, is just 16 points shy of the milestone.
“They’ve got a lot of fire-power, and it starts with Shawn,” said Hamley, referencing Edmonton’s offense and Williams. “He’s been one of my favorites for a long time.”
The Mammoth owns a 12-5 all-time lead in the teams’ head-to-head match-ups, and is 6-3 against the Rush at Pepsi Center.
Tickets to Saturday’s game are on sale now at the Pepsi Center box office, all Colorado Dick’s Sporting Goods retail kiosks, online at TicketHorse.com, or by calling 303.53.HORSE.
