It didn’t matter that blood dripped down Connor Robinson’s nose as he departed the Ball Arena floor Saturday night. He was still happy, and he had good reason to be. His Colorado Mammoth are absolutely rolling.

“The nose is not pretty, but we didn’t get into this game to look good,” Robinson said. “So, we got the win, which is so important. We’ll get it patched up later.”

Robinson notched a sock trick with six goals in addition to an assist, as the Mammoth bested Calgary 14-10 for a fourth straight victory. That outcome pushed the team to 5-1 and into a tie with the San Diego Seals for first in the National Lacrosse League’s West Division.

THROW THE SOCKS! What a night for Connor Robinson as the Mammoth take down the Roughnecks 14-10.

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6 Goals
1 Assist
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WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS pic.twitter.com/BwpAWiUFI0

— NLL (@NLL) February 6, 2022

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a sock trick,” Robinson said. “Maybe when I was 9 years old. So, it was pretty special.”

To move into first, Colorado rode a 7-0 game-closing run which featured four of Robinson’s goals. That helped negate a period of play during which Calgary outscored the Mammoth 8-2 to take a 10-7 advantage midway through the third quarter.

From there it was all Mammoth, who have solidified themselves among the league’s contenders.

ANOTHER LATE RUN PROVES DECISIVE

Colorado wasn’t the only team to close out a night with a 7-0 run. The Toronto Rock did the same, doubling up the Philadelphia Wings in the process in a 14-7 final. Rock goalie Nick Rose shut the Wings out in the second half to help his squad pull away.

“I don’t know if I’ve seen Rosie better,” Toronto coach Matt Sawyer said.

Dan Craig had nine points, five coming in the second half, while Tom Schreiber added six in the comeback effort. Philadelphia took early 4-1 and 5-3 advantages before the Toronto onslaught.

SHORTHANDED WARRIORS FIND GROOVE

The Warriors suffered a major setback this week when the team was forced to place Mitch Jones — Vancouver’s leading scorer who finished second in the league in points last season — on long-term injured reserve. An injury suffered in practice required surgery, a serious damper on the squad’s chances at success this winter.

Yet Vancouver’s first outing without its star still went according to plan. A 5-5 game midway through the second quarter against Panther City turned into a 17-11 game by the final buzzer.

An 11-4 run stretching from the second to fourth quarters helped the Warriors pull away and move back to .500 at 3-3. Keegan Ball had eight points, while Logan Schuss and Ryan Martel each had five. Kyle Killen scored four times, and Reid Bowering had an eye-popping 17 loose balls.

“We’ve got some key guys out,” Killen said. “So, other guys have got to step up. I think as an offense we all stepped up and got the job done.”

SPLIT SERIES

The Albany FireWolves and Georgia Swarm played a rare home-and-home on back-to-back nights this weekend, with each winning on their home floor.

Georgia hosted first on Friday night, overcoming an 11-point outing from Joe Resetarits in a 14-13 triumph. Albany came back from a 7-2 hole to tie it at 11, but Shayne Jackson responded by scoring the Swarm’s final three goals to put it away. He finished with seven points, while Lyle Thompson led the way with eight.

“It’s a cliché that it’s a game of runs, but that’s exactly what it is,” Jackson said. “We know our ‘D’ deserves this one, they’ve been playing lights out for us all year. As an offense, we wanted to keep swinging the ball, keep moving our feet, and I think we did a pretty good job of that.”

A night later, it was Albany’s turn to walk off the floor happy. Resetarits continued his stellar weekend with eight points in a 13-11 FireWolves outing.

Albany got out to a 9-4 advantage at the start of the third quarter before Georgia clawed the deficit down to 9-8. Resetarits scored twice in a game-closing 4-3 FireWolves run to secure the split.

“It was a big test for both teams,” said Resetarits, who reached 200 goals in his career. “A lot of positives came out of this weekend. First time really we faced adversity last night, and we knew obviously the travel today. We bounced back and had a heck of a game.”

BANDITS REMAIN UNBEATEN

The Buffalo Bandits have been 6-0 or better twice before in the franchise’s storied history. In both those occurrences, 1993 and 1996, the squad went on to win a championship.

After moving to 6-0 again with an 11-8 win against Rochester on Saturday night, Buffalo hopes history repeats itself this season.

The Bandits survived a late 4-0 Knighthawks push after going up 10-4 at the end of the third quarter to retain their perfect record. Dhane Smith, tied for second in the league in assists, dished out three helpers in addition to scoring four times to continue his stellar campaign. Tehoka Nanticoke and Kyle Buchanan each added four points.

“Being 6-0 is great, but we are going to go through rough patches,” Smith said. “It’s just challenging to play at this level all the time, and these past two games were kind of our wake-up call. Coming out with the wins are great, but they were great lessons for us.”

THUNDERBIRDS BOUNCE BACK

Halifax was with Buffalo in the ranks of the unbeaten until last week when Albany handed the Thunderbirds their first defeat of the season. This weekend, they bounced back from that showing in a game relocated from their home nest to Hamilton, Ontario, due to COVID-19 restrictions. New York once again kept things close with a contender, but Halifax prevailed 13-10.

Austin Shanks had seven points thanks to five assists for the T-Birds, who went on a pair of 5-1 runs in the game. Callum Crawford, who finished with seven points for the Riptide, tied the score at 7 before Halifax’s second 5-1 spurt reestablished a cushion.

NOTEWORTHY

Rochester’s Holden Cattoni returned from injured reserve. Heading to IR were Albany’s Andrew Kew and Rochester’s Cory Vitarelli. … Panther City released Taylor Stuart, who quickly found a new home with the Vancouver Warriors. … Rochester’s Shawn Evans passed Josh Sanderson to move into ninth in all-time goals. … Georgia’s Lyle Thompson returned to Albany, the city where he had an outstanding collegiate career with the Great Danes. … New York Riptide jerseys are being auctioned off to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

POWER RANKINGS

Last week’s rankings in parentheses:

1. Buffalo Bandits (1)
2. San Diego Seals (2)
3. Colorado Mammoth (3)
4. Halifax Thunderbirds (4)
5. Toronto Rock (6)
6. Albany FireWolves (5)
7. Vancouver Warriors (8)
8. Philadelphia Wings (7)
9. Georgia Swarm (9)
10. Saskatchewan Rush (10)
11. New York Riptide (12)
12. Rochester Knighthawks (11)
13. Calgary Roughnecks (13)
14. Panther City Lacrosse Club (14)

UP NEXT
ALL TIMES EASTERN

Friday

Mammoth at Roughnecks, 9:30 p.m.
Rush at Warriors, 10:30 p.m.

Saturday

Bandits at Rock, 5 p.m.
Riptide at Swarm, 6 p.m.
FireWolves at Knighthawks, 7 p.m.
Seals at Panther City, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday

Wings at Thunderbirds, 1 p.m.