The Colorado Mammoth overcame a six-goal halftime deficit to defeat the New Jersey Storm, 16-14, Saturday night at Pepsi Center.

The win kept Colorado unbeaten at home this season, at 4-0, and allowed it to avoid losing to two of the league's weaker teams in a 48-hour span, following Thursday's 20-12 debacle at New York.

For a long time, New Jersey was hellbent on dragging the division-leading Mammoth below .500 on the season.

Blake Miller opened the game with a goal in the opening minute, with Roy Colsey following suit in the third minute. By the midpoint of the first quarter, the Storm led 5-0, having chased Tom Still out of the Colorado goal on five shots.

That's right -- Still departed without a single save.

Enter Erik Miller, who usually starts in goal for the Mammoth but was planning to take the night off with a sinus infection. Not looking good, right?

Not at first, it wasn't. Although Gary Gait put Colorado on the board with 44 seconds to go in the first quarter, New Jersey opened the second with three straight goals, including the first of four from Marc Morley.

Colorado began to show signs of life with about five minutes to play, when Fred Jenner scored shorthanded. Two minutes later, Ben Prepchuk accomplished the same feat and the Mammoth was working with a more manageable deficit, 8-3. However, Morley potted one with 71 seconds to play in the half, for a lead at intermission of an even half dozen.

What happened in the Colorado locker room at halftime, we may never know. However, it is doubtless that something was said or done, because the Mammoth not only was getting more chances at the offensive end, it was cashing in on those opportunities.

Del Halladay started the fireworks at 3:43 of the third, followed by Tom Phair a minute later and Jenner two and a half minutes after that. A Morley goal stopped the run, but Colorado rumbled on, with Halladay and Jenner each repeating on the scoresheet.

By the end of the quarter, the Mammoth had trimmed away almost all of New Jersey's lead, trailing just 11-10.

Morley opened up a bit of breathing room when he scored 92 seconds into the final period, but within three minutes, the lead was gone. Gait, Phair, and Brian Langtry had all connected in a 61-second span and the Mammoth had its first lead of the night, 13-12.

Colsey tied the game on a power play marker at 6:54, but Prepchuk swung momentum back to the Mammoth little more than a half minute later. Gait scored his hat trick goal a minute later, and that was all Colorado needed.

Cam Bomberry made it a game in the closing minutes, scoring a man-up goal with four and a half minutes to play. However, New Jersey never found the equalizer, and Josh Sims scored into an empty net with 23 seconds left, sealing the game.

Gait was named the Game MVP for his three-goal, four-assist night. Prepchuk and Jenner also had hat tricks for the Mammoth. Morley led the Storm with four goals and one assist. Colsey also had five points, on two goals and three assists.

New Jersey goaltender Ginny Capicchioni served as the backup to Derek General, thus becoming the first woman in league history to dress for a game, but did not play.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
New Jersey Storm (2-6)                5  4  2  3  --  14
Colorado Mammoth (4-3)                1  2  7  6  --  16

NEW JERSEY STORM              COLORADO MAMMOTH
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Morley         4 - 1     5    Gait           3 - 4     7
Colsey         2 - 3     5    F Jenner       3 - 1     4
Ca Bomberry    2 - 2     4    Prepchuk       3 - 1     4
B Miller       1 - 3     4    Halladay       2 - 1     3
Horsey         1 - 1     2    Sims           1 - 2     3
M Ladouceur    1 - 1     2    Phair          2 - 0     2
Leigh          1 - 1     2    Langtry        1 - 1     2
Stewart        1 - 1     2    Stewardson     1 - 1     2
Sombrotto      1 - 0     1    Oglesby        0 - 2     2
General        0 - 1     1    Ethington      0 - 1     1
Laurano        0 - 1     1    Gallant        0 - 1     1
Purdie         0 - 1     1    Reese          0 - 1     1
                              Truant         0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           37    Shots on goal           53
Saves made by (GA)      37    Saves made by (GA)      23
   General (15)      37          E Miller (9)      23
                                 Still (5)          0
Penalties                6    Penalties                6
Penalty Minutes         12    Penalty Minutes         12
Power Play Chances       6    Power Play Chances       3
Power Play Goals         2    Power Play Goals         2
   Ca Bomberry        1          Gait               1
   Colsey             1          Sims               1
Shorthanded Goals        0    Shorthanded Goals        2
   (None)                        F Jenner           1
                                 Oglesby            1
Loose Balls             64    Loose Balls             81
   General           13          E Miller          12
   Colsey             5          Sims              11
   Leigh              5          Gait               9
   B Miller           5          
Faceoffs Won             7    Faceoffs Won            27
   Lefeuvre     ( 4- 9)          Hanford      (27- 7)
   Purdie       ( 3-16)          
   Laurano      ( 0- 1)          
   B Miller     ( 0- 1)

 *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH COLORADO MAMMOTH ***