Colorado Begins Three-Game Road Trip Via Matinee Matchup in Philadelphia

March 12, 2025 By: James Youness, Mammoth PR

COLORADO MAMMOTH (7-5) VS. PHILADELPHIA WINGS (5-7)
SAT. MARCH 15 | 11 A.M. MT | BALL ARENA
ALT TV | ESPN+ | NLL+

Despite participating in a mid-season bye week during the league’s Week 15 slate, Colorado found itself improving two spots in the standings, currently operating in the No. 3 rank after seeing both the Georgia Swarm and Halifax Thunderbirds drop respective decisions.

Most recently securing a clutch 11-8 win over the Calgary Roughnecks inside the LOUD HOUSE March 1, the Mammoth improved to 4-3 this season inside Ball Arena as they knocked off a former westerly foe. Ryan Lee (2g, 5a), Eli McLaughlin (4g, 1a) and Connor Robinson (0g, 5a) paced the pack during the team’s seventh victory of the season while goaltender Dillon Ward stopped 49-of-57 on the night en route to climbing the all-time rankings in saves and netminder wins.

Seeing the Roughnecks bounce back from said loss during a 17-11 victory over the top-ranked Buffalo Bandits this past weekend only further credits Colorado’s win over the squad which just acquired goaltender Nick Rose and has remained a postseason contender for quite some time. Knowing Calgary and Buffalo are set to run it back this weekend, that’ll surely be a game to keep an eye on.

However, the Burgundy Boys will likely have their hands full with an antsy (5-7) Philadelphia Wings squad in Week 16. Set to bring an opposite 7-5 record into the rare matinee matchup inside Wells Fargo Arena, with faceoff scheduled for 11 a.m. MT Saturday afternoon, Colorado has an opportunity to jump three games ahead of the .500 mark should they be able to capture a victory out east. Representing the first contest of the team’s three-game road trip, with all three stops taking place in the eastern time zone, a win to start the trip would go a long way in getting to the 10-win mark, an area teams are the league are looking to meet sooner than later, should they want to be included in the quickly approaching playoff picture.

The March to May is officially on – And with the Mammoth officially 3-2 on the road, the idea that Colorado needs to win a couple of these games away from Ball Arena in order to return to the postseason isn’t as scary as it would’ve seemed in past seasons.

At the same time, the organization recently announced left-handed forward Eli McLaughlin is stepping away from the sport in order to further his commitment to the Vancouver Fire Department, a career McLaughlin has been working towards for quite some time now.

Expected to rejoin the team once his probationary period has been completed, it’s a big loss for Head Coach Pat Coyle and his hot-and-cold offensive unit. But given he’s slated to serve the communities which raised him over the past three decades, all we can do is salute Eli, hope he stays safe and look forward to his return to the turf – whenever that may be.

Of course, it typically rains when it pours. And just one week prior to announcing McLaughlin would likely be missing the remainder of the season, the organization announced they’d placed forward Zed Williams on the Season-Ending Injured Reserve List after sustaining a lower-body injury during the team’s 14-7 win over the Las Vegas Desert Dogs last month. Williams’ physicality is and was literally unmatched – so the team will need to either alter its approach a bit or convince Tyson Gibson or Ben McDonald that it’s time to bang some bodies. Ryan Lee and Connor Kelly will do their best to continue leading the righties, if not the offense outright. Thankfully the left side is still pretty loaded as well, with Will Malcom and Connor Robinson remaining in play. Thomas Vela has made some strides this season as well as he continues to earn some quality playing time, so he’s also worth watching here down the stretch.

Defenseman Dalton Sulver was moved to the Active Roster in a corresponding move this week, so we may see the Texas native make his third appearance with Colorado, pending starters and scratches Saturday afternoon. With speedy rookie defenseman Owen Rahn currently designated to Injured Reserve, it’s fair to wonder if the likes of Jalen Chaster, Jordan Gilles or one of the team’s other transition-able talents find themselves in the O-zone for a few sets.

Twelve games in, it’s clear Colorado is trending in the right direction in order to punch a ticket to the 2024-25 NLL playoffs. We’ve seen some stellar efforts and some close calls, but the team has been doing what they need in order to get the job done.

Across the turf come Saturday, we’re not exactly sure what Philadelphia will have in store, as the team is both nursing a five-game losing streak yet remains loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. It’s almost impossible to string together five-straight losses in a league full of parity once again. But the Wings have found a way to do it, dropping a decision to the Rochester Knighthawks to begin the rut and since dropping consecutive games to the Halifax Thunderbirds and most recently a set of duels with the No. 13-ranked Albany FireWolves.

Sure, Colorado has lost to each of the league’s bottom-three ranked teams in the Toronto Rock, Albany FireWolves and Las Vegas Desert Dogs. But the Mammoth have also taken care of business against two of three said squads, defeating Las Vegas last month and the FireWolves earlier this season back in January. It’s hard to measure the two units pound-for-pound, but one team is on the outside looking in (with the Wings currently ranked No. 10), while one is already two games above .500.

Seeming a bit streaky overall this season, Philadelphia actually had a four-game winning streak going earlier in the year. Of course, two of those wins came against the Desert Dogs, but the team’s close call wins over both the Calgary Roughnecks and Saskatchewan Rush suggests they had, and may still have, the firepower to compete with some of the league’s top-ranked squads. Of course, that was two months ago, so whatever form of the team Colorado will get Saturday remains to be seen.

Coming off consecutive losses to the Albany FireWolves, the team will very likely be hungry to turn things around, which may potentially include a scrappy effort. Colorado will be prepared for said ventures, if needed, but would prefer to get in, get a win, and get out of there healthy as the Mammoth have continued to deal with some bumps and bruises throughout the season.

The Wings are somewhat used to hosting these early afternoon Saturday/Sunday games, but Colorado is not. Paired with the outright home turf advantage, the Wings will likely get a slight bump in overall victory odds, but it’s hard not to imagine Colorado being the favorites when the lines are set.

With the NLL Trade Deadline coming to a close on Monday, March 10, Colorado found itself acquiring defenseman TJ Comizio from the Georgia Swarm in exchange for a third-round selection in the 2026 NLL Entry Draft. With Owen Rahn being sent to Injured Reserve and some potential lingering ailments throughout the team, General Manager Brad Self and company secured the Basking, New Jersey native ahead of the team’s March to May playoff push.

The Wings were also rather active ahead of the deadline, eventually acquiring defensemen Chris Corbeil and Mitch de Snoo from the Toronto Rock alongside transition talent Shane Simpson from the Las Vegas Desert Dogs.

“In recent games, we identified needs with injuries on our defense,” Wings General Manager Paul Day shared in a press release last week. “We think these moves will bring some exciting lacrosse to Wells Fargo Center to finish the regular season and propel us into the playoffs.”

Held to 10 or fewer goals in each of the team’s past four contests, it would be easy to say the Wings could’ve used a boost somewhere in the O-zone. But with plenty of offensive threats already on the roster, the team is betting on said group waking up sooner than later while bolstering the back end. Knowing the team has only held one opponent to single-digit goals against, limiting Las Vegas to just nine conversions, suggests Day may be correct in needing to shore up the back end. Hell, through 12 games, the Wings have technically scored seven more goals than Colorado has, 150 to the Mammoth’s 143. The bigger problem relies upon the idea that the Wings have forfeited 156 goals against, 20 more than Ward and company have allowed, totaling just 136 on the season. Held out of the postseason during each of the past two seasons, a loss on home turf would go a long way in encouraging the Wings to fold up shop and potentially concentrate on next season. At the same time, a few wins in a row would go a long way for Philadelphia in bouncing back into the playoff picture, so when we say Saturday’s matinee is quite crucial to both units, we mean it!

Saucin’ On You

The chicken wing pun has been used before and will continue to be used in relation to one of the league’s “snackable” units at this point in the season. That said, fans can expect the Wings to show up with one of their fiercest efforts of the season Saturday, something Paul Day and friends would love to see after dealing out assets for a potential push. If Philly is to turn things around in Week 16, it’ll likely be due to the team’s pair of leading scorers in Joe Resetarits and Mitch Jones. Bringing an identical 87 points into the Wings’ thirteenth showdown of the season, they’ve literally mirrored each other’s production 1:1 in 2025, as each of the forwards have 28 goals and 59 assists to their name. That’s nearly impossible, but then again, so are some of the shots the pair of veterans continue to land past the league’s top-performing goaltenders. They’re old. They’re a bit slower than they used to be. But they’re both very much still extremely efficient and effective, remaining tied with the Bandits’ Dhane Smith for the third-most points in the league. That’s right – the Wings have two of the NLL’s Top 5-scoring threats and yet they remain just 5-7, sitting in the No. 10 spot, two outside the playoff picture. Then again, the Rochester Knighthawks roster both of the league’s current Top 2 scorers and are a mere 7-7, so perhaps having a decent defense and confident goaltender are the way to go these days.

Having sent forward Holden Cattoni packing to Las Vegas last week, who had amassed 60 points (21g, 39a) in 11 appearances, rookie forward Brennan O’Neil remains the only other man above the 30-point mark, with 42 points (17g, 25a) to his credit. Blaze Riorden (29 points: 16g, 13a), Phil Caputo (22 points: 15g, 7a) and former Mammoth forward Sam LeClair (18 points: 9g, 9a) round out the team’s top scoring options in Week 16. So, it’s becoming quite clear why the team has had to lean so heavily on Jones and Resetarits thus far.

With goaltender Nick Damude holding things down in net, the beefy netminder brings a 5-6 record into Saturday’s showdown, alongside a 12.81 goals-against average and .780 save percentage. Both his GAA and save percentage rank closer to the middle of the pack – but it’s Damude’s 513 saves on the season which continue to set the bar for goaltenders around the league, currently one save ahead of the FireWolves’ Doug Jamieson, who’s played in 13 contests to Damude’s 12. Leading the league in saves means your defense is giving up more looks than most. But continuing to serve as a blocker at a rather regular rate suggests Damude is not the problem in this equation. The question remains, will his defense be able to step up and limit the ailing Mammoth offense to 12 or fewer? He’ll need to if he wants to secure the win!

Mammoth After Hours

Back for some more Wednesday night fun, Mammoth After Hours (continuing to take place Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. MT on Altitude Sports social media channels), hosted by Mammoth Play-by-Play Caller Andy Lindahl and Color Analyst Jamie Shewchuk, welcomes General Manager Brad Self and Mammoth legend Gavin Prout to the space to discuss some NLL Trade Deadline moves, the March to May and tons of other topics in the lacrosse world!

Get in the Game

Mammoth games can be viewed on Altitude TV and streamed live via ESPN+ and NLL+. Saturday’s March 15 showdown against the Philadelphia Wings can be viewed locally via Altitude TV and streamed live on ESPN+ and NLL+. Mammoth fans can keep an eye on the team’s social media channels and coloradomammoth.com for the latest news, transactions and organizational updates throughout the 2024-25 NLL season.

Limited Tickets remain for Colorado’s April 5 Rumble at the LOUD HOUSE showcase against the Buffalo Bandits, so be sure to lock yours in and get ready to TUSK UP!