NLL: LumberJax Rally Halted by Colorado, 13-7

Salem-News.com SPORTS

DENVER - The Portland LumberJax (2-8) were devastated on the road in Denver, Colo. Saturday night, falling to the Colorado Mammoth (9-1) by a score of 13-7.

The Jax were led by defenseman Richard Morgan who scored three goals for a hat trick at the Pepsi Center in front of 18,024 fans.

Portland’s newest defenseman, Darren Reisig (1G, 1A), scored the first goal of the game on a power-play opportunity at 4:01.

Colorado stepped up their offense with goals from Jamie Shewchuk (6:53), Jordan Cornfield (7:12), Brian Langtry (12:14) and Josh Sims (14:35) which allowed the Mammoth a 4-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Colorado continued their scoring run in the second, netting five straight goals over the quarter to take a 9-1 lead.

At 12:50 Portland’s defenseman R. Morgan found the back of the cage and ended Colorado’s nine goal run that began at 6:53 in the first quarter.

After another Colorado goal, R. Morgan fired one more past Mammoth goalie Gee Nash at 14:57, which brought the score to 10-3 entering the half.

Eight goals were scored between the two teams over the course of the second quarter, but only the Mammoth would notch points in the third.

The quarter remained scoreless until Brian Prepchuk and Dan Carey scored at 13:58 and 14:43, respectively.

It was all Portland in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. R. Morgan earned a hat trick on the night at 3:21.

Then goals from Kelly Hall (4:54; 1G, 1A) and Tyler Heavenor (6:15; 1G, 1A) helped cut the Mammoth lead in half, 12-6.

Gavin Prout scored another power-play goal for the Mammoth at 8:23, but Portland’s Peter Morgan (1G, 1A) responded at 13:57 with one of his own.

Once again the Jax late scoring run wasn’t enough to lift them to a victory though, and the Mammoth took the game by a score of 13-7.

The LumberJax will get an opportunity to rest up for a few weeks before playing the San Jose Stealth on Saturday, March 17th in California.

Portland will host the upcoming National Lacrosse League All-Star Game in the Rose Garden on March 10th at 7:00 PM.

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