File this one under "Only in the National Lacrosse League" -- Gary Gait had a sock trick Saturday night in the Colorado Mammoth's 17-10 home victory over the Anaheim Storm.

Pepsi Center public address announcer Willie B is promoting the novel concept that six goals in a lacrosse game merits a hailstorm of socks, much like three goals in a hockey game brings down a torrent of hats.

So, when Gait scored his sixth goal of the game, a meaningless last-minute strike that padded the Mammoth's margin of victory to seven, hundreds of socks landed on the turf.

Once the arena crew finally cleared the floor, a delay of game penalty was assessed against the Mammoth -- and guess who strolled over to the box to serve it.

"That's not my doing, trust me," Gait said of the flying footwear, after spending the last 45 seconds of the game chilling out in the sin bin.

"That's Kroenke Sports group's doing, they pushed it all along and it was great to see. Any time you can get the fans involved, that's a good thing."

And were the fans ever involved! A capacity crowd of 18,024 cheered the hometown Mammoth to early 2-0 and 5-2 leads in a game that meant absolutely nothing to either team -- Colorado already clinched the best record in the league, Anaheim the worst.

The lone star of the first quarter for Anaheim was Casey Powell, who continued his sizzling late-season run with back-to-back goals in the middle of the period.

Colorado spread the offense around, with five players scoring in the first fifteen minutes. The third of those goals, and the one which gave Colorado the lead it never relinquished, was a shorthander from Mr. Sock himself.

Gait kept on going as the second quarter began, scoring twice in the first 52 seconds. Tack on a power play marker at 6:54 and a five-on-five goal at 14:04, and Gait struck five times in the first half.

Anaheim, as a team, only scored four times in the opening 30 minutes, and trailed 11-4 at the break.

The highlight of the third quarter came when Colorado's Josh Sims grabbed a loose ball, sprinted coast-to-coast with no defender in position to stop him, and roasted poor Matt Roik for his fourteenth goal allowed.

Colorado's lead was up to 15-7 by the end of the third quarter, but the game proved costly to the Mammoth nonetheless -- late in the period, Gavin Prout took a hit which knocked him out of the game with groin and back pain.

In typical Storm fashion, Anaheim went on a tear late in the game which did little except make the game seem not quite as lopsided as it was.

Then came Gait's sixth goal, and Willie B gave the signal.

"The fans think Willie is God -- anything he says goes," Mammoth goaltender Erik Miller said. "I wasn't surprised at all. They might have to make a rule for that, like in Florida when they had the Stanley Cup and the rats."

Miller, making his first appearance seemingly since last season (in reality, 25 January), stopped 29 of the 39 shots he faced. Roik didn't fare so well, getting tagged for all seventeen Mammoth goals, on 62 shots faced.

Colorado (13-3) is off now until the Western Division final, to be held in three weeks at Pepsi Center. Anaheim (1-14), which tonight set a new record for losses in a season, finishes its disastrous season Friday night in Calgary.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Anaheim Storm (1-14)                  2  2  3  3  --  10
Colorado Mammoth (13-3)               5  6  4  2  --  17

ANAHEIM STORM                 COLORADO MAMMOTH
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
C Powell       4 - 1     5    Gait           6 - 2     8
Wittman        0 - 3     3    Langtry        1 - 6     7
Law            2 - 0     2    Sims           2 - 3     5
T Jenner       1 - 1     2    C Smith        3 - 1     4
Panos          1 - 1     2    Halladay       2 - 2     4
Stewart        1 - 1     2    B Self         0 - 4     4
O'Keefe        0 - 2     2    Jalbert        0 - 3     3
Seller         1 - 0     1    Prepchuk       1 - 1     2
Davis          0 - 1     1    Stilley        1 - 1     2
MacFarlane     0 - 1     1    J Wilson       1 - 1     2
R Morgan       0 - 1     1    Gallant        0 - 1     1
Roik           0 - 1     1    Prout          0 - 1     1
                              Stapleford     0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           39    Shots on goal           62
Saves made by (GA)      45    Saves made by (GA)      29
   Roik (17)         45          E Miller (10)     29
Penalties                8    Penalties                9
Penalty Minutes         22    Penalty Minutes         21
Power Play Chances       5    Power Play Chances       4
Power Play Goals         0    Power Play Goals         2
   (None)                        Gait               1
                                 Stilley            1
Shorthanded Goals        1    Shorthanded Goals        1
   Stewart            1          Gait               1
Loose Balls             62    Loose Balls             94
   Stewart            8          Jalbert           11
   Rosa               7          B Self            11
   T Jenner           6          Hanford           10
   Law                6
   Seller             6
Faceoffs Won             8    Faceoffs Won            23
   Purdie       ( 8-23)          Hanford      (23- 5)
                                 Prout        ( 0- 3)

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