CALGARY — Zed Williams scored twice and added three assists as the visiting Colorado Mammoth edged the Calgary Roughnecks 9-7 on Saturday night to win the National Lacrosse League's best-of-three Western Conference final series 2-1.
After winning the series opener 8-7 in Colorado on May 11, the Mammoth lost a 13-12 Game 2 thriller in Calgary last Saturday, forcing the Game 3 showdown back in Alberta.
Eli McLaughlin, Ryan Lee, Chris Wardle, Tyson Gibson, Tim Edwards, Warren Jeffrey and Connor Robinson also scored for the Mammoth, who will now face the Buffalo Bandits in the NLL championship series that starts May 27 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
The Bandits, who are making their third straight appearance in the finals, swept the Toronto Rock in the Eastern Conference final.
Jeff Cornwall, Jesse King, Haiden Dickson, Kyle Waters, Zach Currier, Tanner Cook and Shane Simpson scored for the Roughnecks, who led 4-2 after the first quarter, but trailed 6-5 at halftime. The Roughnecks took a 7-6 lead into the final quarter.
The Roughnecks outshot the Mammoth 39-37.
ROLL-OUTS: Game 2 in the championship series is May 29 in Denver and Game 3, if necessary, is June 3 in Buffalo.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2023.
The Canadian Press
