Panther City Lacrosse Club loses close one, still looking for franchise’s first win

When Phil Caputo scored 29 seconds into the fourth quarter to tie the game at 6-6, it seemed the Panther City Lacrosse Club might be on the verge of claiming its first National Lacrosse victory.

But the Colorado Mammoth wasn’t about to serve up an early Christmas present to Panther City and its fans.

Colorado scored the following two goals, including a short-handed marker, to come away with an 8-7 victory Friday night in a West Division match-up at Dickies Arena.

The Mammoth (2-1) took a lead they wouldn’t relinquish with 9:45 left when Zed Williams scored an unassisted short-handed goal, then, with 5:49 to play, Sam LeClair finished off a hat trick performance to put his team up by a pair of goals.

Panther City’s Dawson Theede scored with 11 seconds to play, but Panther City couldn’t muster a game-tying goal.

Panther City coach Tracey Kalusky said the game all came down to experience and team chemistry.

“We have to learn to win and how to play with a lead,” Kalusky said. “That’s a team [Colorado] that played their 300th game today, and we played our third.”

Colorado made the most of its shots, scoring eight goals on 44 attempts. The Mammoth outshot Panther City, 28-16, in the second half. Colorado outscored Panther City, 6-4, in the second half.

Panther City (0-3) started its second home game strong by jumping out to a 3-0 lead.

Liam Patten opened the scoring with the first of two goals on a breakaway at the 9:56 mark of the first quarter. Taite Cattoni put Panther City up 2-0 just 26 seconds into the second quarter, and Patten added his second goal with 10:08 to play in the first half.

Colorado fought back to close to within 3-2 after halftime behind goals from Eli McLaughlin and Lee. The pair traded assists on the goals.

Thirty-eight seconds into the second half, Mike Triolo put Panther City up 4-2 with a sniper shot from just beyond the restraining line.

The Mammoth showed their mettle with a three-goal outburst in 2:33, giving them a 5-4 lead. First, Tyler Digby scored. LeClair followed with his first goal of the night to tie things at 5-5, and Lee’s second goal gave Colorado a 5-4 advantage.

Caputo, who has scored in each of Panther City games, notched a goal with 3:23 remaining in the third quarter to tie the game at 5.

Colorado regained the lead on a goal by LeClair with 1:24 left in the quarter.

Panther City scored quickly in the fourth quarter when Caputo’s shot got under Colorado goalie Dillon Ward’s pads and trickled over into the net to knot the game at 6 only 29 seconds into the final quarter.

But Colorado outscored Panther City, 2-1, down the stretch to pick up the win.

“I’m going to trust the process,” Kalusky said. “These guys are not satisfied. It’s easy to be satisfied as an expansion club, when you lose two one-goal games, and you are 0-3. We are going to improve offensively and get some wins.”

Panther City has a scheduled three-week break over the holidays, and will resume its schedule with four straight road games, beginning with a contest at the San Diego Seals on Jan. 8. Their next home date will be on Feb. 12 also against San Diego.

This story was originally published December 18, 2021 at 12:46 AM.