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Steve Fryer waited six years for his first NLL goaltending start so the way it ended — with 16,000 spectators on their feet applauding his 45-save heroics for the Colorado Mammoth in an 8-7 victory over the Buffalo Bandits — created a memory he will never forget.

He was interviewed on the floor of Denver’s Pepsi Centre before heading to the showers.

“My first start,” said the 27-year-old goalie. “Six years in this league. I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

Colorado had won 11-10 on the road over the Georgia Swarm the previous night thanks to No. 1 goalie Dillon Ward’s superb goaltending and a goal by Stephen Keogh with five seconds remaining. The players flew in the morning from Atlanta for 2.75 hours to Denver to complete a two-win weekend that improved their record to 7-3, good for second place in the NLL West. Fryer was unaware he’d be the starting goalie until just before game time.

His teammates were determined to give him all the support they could muster. Colorado led 5-2 at halftime and 8-4 after three quarters. Ryan Benesch and Chris Wardle scored two goals each for the Mammoth. Buffalo came on strong in the fourth with Dhane Smith scoring his second and third goals. It was 8-7 when Buffalo called a time out and pulled goalie Alex Buque for an extra runner with 52 seconds left but the Bandits could not put another ball behind Fryer.

“When our backs were against the wall, we answered the bell and that shows the character in our locker room,” Fryer said. “We could have used excuses galore, like we were tired from traveling, but the character of our locker room wouldn’t let that happen.”

Fryer was drafted in the fourth round, 28th overall, by Philadelphia in 2011. He dressed four nine games in 2012 as a backup and saw 47 minutes of action. The Wings released him in December 2012. He had a 2013 tryout with Buffalo. He was with Toronto in 2014, dressing for two games and seeing action for just under 13 minutes. His stats sheet then shows him dressing for one game for Toronto in 2016 and in action for only 66 seconds. Nick Rose and Brandon Miller were 1-2. He was an unrestricted free agent when Colorado included its backup goalie, Buque, in a deal to get Ryan Benesch from Buffalo. He signed with Colorado on Aug. 3, 2017.

“I was at a point in my career where I’d rather play than be a third-string goalie,” he said. “When Colorado made the trade to get Benny, a spot opened up so I reached out to them.”

He was impressive enough at training camp to earn the backup job behind Ward. The only playing time he had in Colorado’s first nine games this season before Saturday was 6:36 in relief of Ward to close out a home loss to Saskatchewan on Jan. 13. Getting his first start triggered a flood of thoughts, but he kept things simple as he prepared for the opening faceoff.

“To be honest, I was thinking just go out there and play,” he said. “I’ve taken more than enough shots, watched more than enough game film, to know what to do. I just wanted to go out and play and be confident.”

He had kept working hard to be the best goaltender he could be and, when he finally got his start, he earned first-star honors. His teammates presented him with the lunch pail that goes to the player deemed by the group to be the game MVP.

“There were a lot of great performances in that game so it was nice to receive that,” he said.

He soaked up the crowd’s reaction as time expired.

“It’s a moment I’m definitely going to cherish forever,” he says. “Hopefully, going forward, I can have a few more of those moments. It made the long wait that much more worth it.”

So, 6.5 years after being drafted he gets his first NLL start and his first win. What’s the moral of his story?

“Don’t give up. Some people question why I do this just to be a backup goalie but I knew if I kept working my chance would come,” he said. “If you have a dream, set your mind to it, put in the work and, eventually, your time will come.”

Always be ready, he adds. He’s usually first on the floor and last off for practices because he knows he always has to be ready should he get his chance.

His nickname is Deep, as in deep fryer.

He studies Ward, watches his every move from the end of the bench. They are the only two goalies in the NLL who hold their stick in the left hand.

Fryer commutes to Mammoth games from Milton, Ontario, where he is project manager for a home renovations company. Kitchens, bathrooms, basements and additions are his weekday concern.

As for his future in the NLL, it might be influenced by a July expansion draft to stock two new teams. Should he get picked up, “I’ll keep answering the bell like I did the first time.”

Bloody Debut

Dan Dawson scored a goal, assisted on two and required 15 stitches to close a shin wound sustained in a crease scramble in his debut with Saskatchewan, a 16-10 home win over Vancouver on Saturday night.

“All I know is that, when I tried to get up, I saw a lot of blood,” Dawson told Kevin Mitchell of the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. “As I walked off, the trainer said, ‘We’re going to need some stitches.’ And she said, ‘You can see down to the bone.’”

Dawson, 36, fifth in the league in career points, was acquired from Rochester for a pair of draft picks five days earlier.

Robert Church and Matthew Dinsdale scored four goals each. Mark Matthews did not score a goal but he picked up nine assists and is first in the league scoring race with (23-50) 73 points. Church is second with (28-41) 69. 

The NLL West and overall leaders improved to 10-2. The league’s No. 1 power play struck four five goals on seven chances. It’s efficiency rate through 12 games is a fabulous 75.9 percent.

Big Crowds

Can’t remember last time there were five-digit crowds for every game on the same night: Colorado 16,062, Saskatchewan 14,057, Toronto 10,679.

Good Deal

To get Stephen Keogh from Rochester in February 2017, Colorado relinquished a first-round 2018 draft pick and a 2019 second-rounder. It has turned out to be a good deal for the Mammoth. In Georgia on Friday, Keogh’s goal with 2:57 remaining tied the score 10-10 and the Syracuse grad’s third goal of the night with five seconds left gave the Mammoth an 11-10 victory. If Colorado retains second place in the overall standings at the end of its 18-game schedule, Rochester’s 2018 pick from Colorado will be 10th overall. Rochester selected Keogh second overall in 2011.

Poulin Sharp

Georgia rebounded to win 12-7 in Toronto on Saturday. Mike Poulin made up for his miscue on the Keogh goal the previous night by playing a starring role with 44 saves. Lyle Thompson scored three goals and Miles Thompson two. The brothers from the Onondaga Nation had a dynamic presence reminiscent of the way they played in helping the Swarm win the championship last spring.

Georgia has won the season series with Toronto, meaning the Swarm will own the standings tiebreaker should the two teams finish with identical records.

Offense Fails

After going up 5-3 in the second quarter at home, Toronto allowed six straight Georgia goals and went 32 minutes 30 seconds without a goal of its own in the loss to the Swarm. During that stretch of futility, Georgia’s Jordan Hall was assessed a major penalty and was ejected for a high hit on Damon Edwards. Toronto failed to score during the five-minute advantage.

“Our effort wasn’t where it needed to be,” head coach Matt Sawyer said. “It was disappointing to put in that kind of effort coming out of the bye [week] with the important that this game held. You’re not going to win any games with the kind of production we got out the front door.”

Toronto defenseman Brock Sorensen might face further discipline after being ejected for a dead ball hit that sent Ethan O’Connor crashing to the floor with 17 seconds remaining.

Georgia and Toronto have met eight times since Georgia’s inaugural 2016 season and the Swarm have won seven times.

One Assist for Evans

Shawn Evans, acquired last Wednesday along with a second-round draft pick from New England for Callum Crawford and a fourth-round pick, did not score a goal in his debut with Buffalo. He picked up one assist in the Bandit’s 8-7 road loss to Colorado. Evans has the eighth-best career points total in pro indoor lacrosse history with 1,062.

He Gets Around

Callum Crawford will make his debut with New England in Toronto on Sunday afternoon. It’s the eighth NLL team for the 33-year-old native of Ottawa. He previously played for Calgary, San Jose, Chicago, Edmonton, Minnesota, Colorado and Buffalo. Crawford’s points total of 829 puts him 15th on the all-time list.

WEEK 14

It’s a light schedule with only three games. Two of them loom large since in each case they will decide the season series.

Saturday

GEORGIA (5-6) at ROCHESTER (5-6) 7:30 p.m. ET

Georgia played twice last weekend. The Swarm lost 11-10 at home to Colorado and flew to Toronto where they defeated the Rock 12-7.

Rochester had last weekend off after winning three in a row.

This will be the third and final meeting. The first two were played in Georgia. The Swarm won 14-11 on Dec. 30 and the Knighthawks won 17-10 on Feb. 11. The season series rides on the outcome.

“Rochester is playing really well,” said Swarm coach Ed Comeau. “Their offense is scoring a ton of goals and their goaltending has been good. We’re going to watch some film on them. We played them earlier in the year and beat them and we played them a few weeks ago and they beat us. We’ll have to replicate the type of effort and execution we had (in Toronto on Saturday).”

Offense: Rochester has scored an average of 13.45 goals a game (3rd) to Georgia’s 11.91 (6th).

Defense: Rochester has allowed an average of 11.55 goals/game (3rd) to Georgia’s 12.82 (6th).

Georgia is 3-3 on the road and Rochester is 3-3 at home so where they are playing should have no bearing on the outcome.

CALGARY (4-6) at COLORADO (7-3) 9 p.m. ET

Calgary had last weekend off after losing 10-6 in Saskatoon.

Colorado played twice last weekend, winning 11-10 at Georgia and 8-7 at home over Buffalo.

This will be the third and final meeting. The first two were played in Calgary. The Mammoth won 11-7 on Dec. 29 and the Roughnecks won 13-9 on Feb. 10. The season series is at stake so the Mammoth would all but clinch second place with a win.

Offense: Colorado has scored 12.3 goals/game (5th) to Calgary’s 11.5 (7th).

Defense: Colorado has allowed 11.0 goals/game (2nd) to Calgary’s 12.0 (5th).

Calgary is 1-3 on the road and Colorado is 3-2 at home. That’s enough to make the Mammoth the favorite in this one.

Sunday

NEW ENGLAND (5-4) at TORONTO (5-5) 3 p.m. ET

New England had last weekend off after winning 12-11 in overtime at Vancouver on Feb. 24.

Toronto lost 12-7 at home to Georgia last Saturday.

This will be the second off three meetings. The Rock won 21-9 at home on Jan. 27. They’ll play in Connecticut on March 16.

Offense: Toronto has scored an average of 14 goals/game (2nd) to New England’s 11.33 (8th).

Defense: Toronto has allowed 11.9 goals/game (4th) to New England’s 14.4 (8th).

With New England 2-2 on the road and Toronto 3-3 at home, the venue won’t be a factor.

Special teams loom large. Toronto is the most penalized team and New England’s power-play efficiency rate is 50 per cent (4th).

Tom Schreiber remains out of Toronto’s lineup with partially torn posterior cruciate ligament.

BYES: Buffalo (6-5), Saskatchewan (10-2), Vancouver (1-11)