Mammoth season comes to an end

CALGARY - The Colorado Mammoth fell to the Calgary Roughnecks 15-8 on Sunday at Pengrowth Saddledome in a West Division Semifinal matchup.

The loss brings the Colorado season to an end at 7-10 while Calgary moves to 13-4 and advances to host San Jose in the West Division Final next Saturday, May 9. It's the second consecutive season Calgary has knocked the Mammoth from the postseason in the first round.

Behind a strong offensive attack, Calgary jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the first quarter, and pushed their lead to an insurmountable 10-3 lead at the halftime break by further outscoring Colorado 4-0 in the second period.

Nolan Heavanor's second goal of the game made the score 10-3 in favor of Calgary as the teams headed to the locker room. Following a shaky start, Mammoth starting goaltender Andrew Leyshon was replaced by Curtis Palidwor in the second quarter.

In the third quarter, goals by Chris Gill and Matt Leveque gave Colorado some life as they closed to within 10-5, but that was as close as the Mammoth would get the rest of the way. The Roughnecks led 12-6 after three quarters on their way to the 15-8 win.

Jamie Shewchuk and Gavin Prout led the way for the Mammoth - each scored two goals and combining for another five assists. Gary Rosyski added a goal and three helper for Colorado. Dane Dobbie and Tracey Kelusky each tallied hat tricks for Calgary, while Matt King had a tremendous game in net. The goalie deterred 40 out of 48 Colorado shots in the contest.

Only four teams remain in the hunt for the NLL championship. Both Division Finals will be played on Saturday, May 9 with New York hosting Buffalo in the East while Calgary hosts San Jose in the West Final.