EVERETT — Washington and Colorado added another chapter to a heated West Division rivalry Saturday night at Comcast Arena.
The Stealth scored early and often, showcasing a high-powered offense, and deflated the Mammoth 17-8 in a National Lacrosse League season-opening victory in front of 4,737 fans at Comcast Arena.
Fifth-year forward Jeff Zywicki spearheaded the offensive charge with five goals and three assists as Washington received goals from 10 players.
Stealth (1-0) defender Eric Martin pitched in with one goal and five assists, assistant captain Cam Sedgwick had five assists and second-year transition man Paul Rabil had two goals and three assists to pace Washington.
“Getting those couple (goals) early, getting a lead, getting the crowd into it, it was huge for us,” Zywicki said. “We kind of rode that the whole way.”
For as highly-touted as Washington’s offense was while the team was located in San Jose, Calif., last season, the Stealth defense showed that it too can be a strong point for the franchise.
“I thought Tyler Richards was exceptional,” Mammoth head coach Bob McMahon said of the Stealth goaltender who had 45 saves on 53 shots. “… Everybody’s so good in this league that you get down four or five … and you panic a bit, we’re young and this was a learning experience for us.”
It was evident that despite many new players on both rosters and a new home for the Stealth, there was absolutely no love lost between the division foes.
Stealth rookie defender Matt Beers, engaged in two scuffles and received a game misconduct penalty for fighting with 6 minutes, 39 seconds remaining in the game. Beers was ejected, but before he left, he was able to score his first career goal to give the Stealth an 11-5 lead in the third quarter.
The game saw numerous fights and ejections from both squads. Colorado had four players ejected, including brothers Alex and Ilija Gajic and Washington had two players tossed for fighting.
“Everyone’s fired up on the first night, we’re putting it to ‘em a little bit so they want to go, we’re trying to get the crowd into it so we’re ready to go,” Zywicki said. “Its kind of just like a powder keg ready to explode.”
Colorado (0-1) was led by four goals from Jamie Shewchuk, a fourth-year forward.
Washington took a three goal lead into halftime after a commanding offensive performance in the first two quarters.
Zywicki, second on the Stealth franchise’s list of goals scored, put in the first Washington goal in Comcast Arena history with 13:29 remaining in the first quarter after receiving a pass from Rabil.
Zywicki added three more goals in the half, including one on a nice hesitation move following an interception by Sedgwick, to propel Washington to a 6-3 lead.
Colorado lost starting goaltender Curtis Palidwor with 8:49 remaining in the first half after a Rhys Duch shot went through Palidwor’s facemask and struck the goalie in the face. Palidwor was taken to an area hospital for further treatment.
Andrew Leyshon replaced Palidwor and Washington took advantage, scoring 14 goals on Leyshon.
“It (Palidwor’s injury) puts a lot of pressure on the backup,” Zywicki said. “With nobody backing him up once the goalies hurt, he’s got a lot of pressure, he’s got to play well, he can’t get pulled.”
Washington, playing without defender Kyle Hartzell because of a sprained ankle, lost second-year defender Brett Manney early in the first quarter with a dislocated left elbow.
Steath defender Travis Gillespie and Mammoth forward Cory Conway received game misconduct penalties and were ejected for fighting with 54.8 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Gillespie broke a hand in the fight, according to Stealth head coach Chris Hall.
Colorado0323—8
Washington3365—17
Scoring: First quarter—1, Washington, Zywicki 1 (Grimes, Rabil), 1:31. 2, Washington, Rabil 1 (Sedgwick, Martin), 9:44 (sh). 3, Washington, Zywicki 2 (Rabil, Ratcliff), 14:48. Second quarter—4, Colorado, Shewchuk 1 (Smith), 0:17. 5, Colorado, Gajic 1 0:47. 6, Washington, Zywicki 3 (Sedgwick, Duch), 3:21. 7, Washington, Zywicki 4 (Sedgwick), 7:26. 8, Colorado, Shewchuk 2 (Gajic, Veltman), 10:26. 9, Washington, Johnson 1 (Duch), 11:00. Third quarter—10, Washington, Rabil 2 (Zywicki, Ratcliff), 1:06. 11, Washington, Duch 1 (Koesterer, Martin), 1:29. 12, Washington, Martin 1 (Rabil, Grimes), 2:55. 13, Colorado, Gajic 2 3:02. 14, Washington, Ratcliff 1 (Duch, Martin), 3:32. 15, Colorado, Shewchuk 3 (Conway, Langtry), 5:47. 16, Washington, Beers 1 (Grimes), 11:31. 17, Washington, Morgan 1 (Zywicki, Sedgwick), 12:25. Fourth quarter-18, Washington, Ratcliff 2 (Duch, Zywicki), 2:19. 19, Colorado, Shewchuk 4 (Langtry, Gajic), 6:21. 20, Colorado, Culp 1 (Carlson, Gallant), 6:51. 21, Washington, Morgan 1 (Duch, Sedgwick), 9:56. 22, Colorado, Smith 1 (Gajic, Shewchuk), 10:45. 23, Washington, Zywicki 5 (Martin), 10:56. 24, Washington, Beers 1 (Grimes), 11:31. 25, Washington, Morgan 2 (Zywicki, Sedgwick), 12:25.
Shots on Goal—Colorado 16-10-14-13-53. Washington 12-15-13-15-55.
Power Play Opportunities-Colorado 0 of 7; Washington 0 of 5.
Goalies—Colorado, Leyshon 0-1-0 (35 shots-23 saves); Palidwor 0-0-0 (20 shots-15 saves). Washington, Richards 1-0-0 (53 shots-45 saves). A—4,737
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