The Colorado Mammoth and Calgary Roughnecks continue their rivalry in the first round of playoffs at Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta on Sunday, May 3. The post season match-up marks the third time the Mammoth and Roughnecks will meet this season, which each team having won in their home arenas.

The Mammoth seized the final playoff spot on April 17 as they beat the Edmonton Rush, 10-9. With the win, Colorado finished the season 7-9. Having finished the season with a league-best 12 regular-season victories, the Roughnecks enter the playoffs as the league’s top seed for the first time since they won the Champion’s Cup in 2004.

The Mammoth beat the previously undefeated Roughnecks in the first meeting of the season by a score of 13-12 at Pepsi Center on February 14. On March 22, Calgary got its revenge by knocking off Colorado, 13-10.

The Colorado-Calgary West Division rivalry has grown into one of the league’s best, with the Mammoth leading the all-time series 10-8. In 18 total matchups, the Mammoth are 5-5 in Calgary and 5-3 at home. There have been three overtime games and 14 games have been decided by three goals or less.

Last year, the Roughnecks knocked the Mammoth out of the playoffs in the first round, beating them by a score of 15-13 at Pepsi Center. Early in the fourth quarter, with Colorado clinging to a two-goal cushion, Calgary reeled off five straight goals in a span of seven-minutes-and-twenty-five seconds to take a 15-12 lead, one it wouldn’t relinquish. The Roughnecks advanced only to lose to the Portland LumberJax on their home turf (16-12) in the West Division Finals.

In franchise history, the Mammoth are 1-2 against the Roughnecks in the playoffs. The Mammoth’s only victory against Calgary in the playoffs came in the opening round of 2006 – the year they won the Champion’s Cup.

Calgary second-year forward Dane Dobbie led the Roughnecks in regular-season goals scored with 41, good for third in the NLL. Not far behind was Brian Langtry, whose career-high 38 tallies were sixth in the league.

Calgary forward Josh Sanderson is the player to watch in Sunday’s matchup. He recorded 103 points in the regular season, good for third in the league. Sanderson’s 74 assists tied Boston’s Dan Dawson for a new single-season record, one which Sanderson himself previously set in 2005 when he registered 71 helpers.

With the NLL’s single elimination format in the playoffs, the outcome of Sunday’s game will determine who moves on to the second round. Should the Mammoth earn a victory, they will take on either San Jose or Portland. Colorado is 1-2 this season against both the Stealth and the LumberJax.