­With Jeremy Noble again unready to return to the lineup, the Colorado Mammoth activated Brent Adams for his third National Lacrosse League game on the right side of the attack, and Adams seized the opportunity to score his first NLL goal. He then scored his second and then his third, in overtime, lifting the Mammoth to a 10-9 road win Sunday over the Vancouver Stealth.

Where were they hiding this guy?

On the practice roster, it seems. It will be hard for Colorado to exile Adams to the squad of extras after this three-goal outburst.

The 26-year-old forward from Norwalk, Conn., has put in four years in the outdoor Major League Lacrosse and now is giving the indoor pro game a go. He likes it.

“The pace of it, the up-and-down, really suits my abilities,” Adams said. “Speed is definitely something I’ve been recognized for and have success utilizing. And I love the contact. It’s a different pace than the outdoor game, for sure.”

Adams slid across the middle of Vancouver’s zone to bounce in a ball while on the run in the second quarter for his first goal, tying the game at 3.

He stretched his 6-foot-1, 175-pound frame in a dive into the crease to stuff a ball into the far side of the net in the fourth quarter, tying it at 7.

He darted out of a corner to the front of the net to gather in an Eli McLaughlin pass, faked a shot to distract goalie Tye Belanger and let go the winning shot in the second minute of overtime, winning it.

“That play started with an amazing effort by Mike Mallory to get a loose ball,” Adams said. “I was in the right place at the right time, and I was able to bury it.”

The Mammoth have been without veteran forwards John Grant Jr., who hasn’t played since Jan. 7, and Noble due to head injuries, and top scorer Callum Crawford could not finish Sunday's game because of what the team described as a lower body injury. To have Adams step up as he did was huge.

“It was a great team win,” coach Dan Stroup said. “We had guys going down and we were short-handed a bit. We came together as a team and pulled it out.”

Adams wore jersey No. 8 at Fairfield and eventually got his favorite number while playing for MLL’s Boston Cannons. But on the Mammoth, fellow American and Fairfield alum Greg Downing has 8, Zack Greer has 88 and Robert Hope has 18. So Adams went with 28. Why?

“Because it has an 8 in it,” he said.

Adam's older brothers, Owen (Stony Brook) and Glenn (Wesleyan), both played for NCAA and MLL teams, and Brent fell in love with lacrosse, too. When an NLL team set up shop two years ago at the Mohegan Sun Arena an hour or so drive from his home, he tried out for the Black Wolves and was on the practice roster. Last summer, Crawford, whom Adams got to know when both were sponsored by the same lacrosse products company, invited Adams to the Ottawa region to join him for a few games in an indoor league on a team called the Capital Region Axemen.

“I’m always up for a new challenge in this sport,” Adams said.

He got his first NLL goal.

And a hat trick.

And also the OT winner.

WE SEE YOU, BRENT ADAMS. #BraceYourself pic.twitter.com/eZIb5FuKDa

— Colorado Mammoth (@MammothLax) February 13, 2017

Adams moved to Denver and rented a studio apartment. The Mammoth brought him to camp and he made the team. Adams, Downing, Greer and Nick Ossello are doing the Denver double this year — playing for the NLL’s Mammoth and the MLL’s Outlaws. Adams signed with the Outlaws as part of a new player movement policy.

“The lacrosse market is growing out here, and I’ve always loved Colorado, I played some college ball here and I’ve got an uncle here,” Adams said.

Adams has a communications degree from Fairfield. Asked if that would lead him into another profession, he replied, “Haven’t really figured that one out yet. I’m focusing on lacrosse and trying to establish a brand for myself.”

Adams would like to add clinic work and school coaching to his lacrosse involvement.

In the predominantly Canadian NLL, he’s the latest American making headlines.

With Tom Schreiber, the Toronto Rock forward who leads all rookies in scoring, Adams and other players enjoying success in the NLL this winter, it's an encouraging sign for US Lacrosse. The U.S. has finished third in all four Federation of International Lacrosse world indoor championships since the box event was added to the international calendar in 2003. The next tournament will take place in 2019 in Langley, British Columbia, in the same arena in which Adams just scored his first three NLL goals.

On Feb. 1, US Lacrosse hired former Rochester Knighthawks player and general manager and Six Nations (Ontario) junior coach Regy Thorpe to lead Team USA while helping to develop box lacrosse in the U.S.

Asked if he had thoughts about representing his country in Langley, Adams, who suited up for the U.S. field team at US Lacrosse's grand opening event in September, replied, “Absolutely. I fully intend on going out for that team.”