Di Miller, Correspondent Colorado Mammoth
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Colorado Mammoth
The Colorado Mammoth (1-0) hosted the Saskatchewan Rush (1-0) on Friday November 29 in front of 12,132 fans. It was a frigid night in the Mile High City and Teddy Bear Toss Night at the Pepsi Center. There were new faces on the Mammoth squad and many returning veterans, along with hopeful fans that their team would start out the new season with a “W”. The Rush would get on the board first one minute in and the Mammoth would tie the game at the end of the first; and even take a 5-3 lead half way into the second, but they could not hold on and Saskatchewan would come away with the victory. Final Score: Rush 9—Mammoth 8.
Saskatchewan would jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first both coming from Robert Church (3G, 5A), the first at the one minute mark. There were very few shots on goal for the next 10 minutes as each team had multiple turnovers and both net minders held strong in their respective cages. Church would score again at 11:39 and the red light behind the cage would spin once more. The Mammoth found some momentum getting themselves on the board with two of their own the first from Ryan Lee (2G, 1A) at 12:00; and the second on a power-play goal by Kyle Killen (1G, 1A) with 14 seconds left on the ticker off the illegal cross checking penalty against Mike Messenger to tie the game at two apiece.
Scoring started out slowly in the second, and on another man-up. This time for the Rush on a slashing penalty against Robert Hope in front of the cage as Mark Matthews (1G, 4A) would break the tie at the 4:20 mark. But Colorado would go on a three-goal run giving them some great momentum. Chris Wardle (2G); Jacob Ruest (3G, 2A); and Lee would all score between the 5:04 and 6:32 mark putting Colorado up 5-3. But within 30 seconds, the Rush would score to close the gap with Ben McIntosh (1G, 2A) closing the gap to 5-4; and on another man up opportunity, they’d put another on the board to tie it back up with Ryan Keenan (2G, 4A) putting it in between the pipes at the 11:58 mark. Score at the end of two: Mammoth 5—Rush 5.
After the break, the third was all Saskatchewan. Even though the Mammoth would put one up on their own man-up situation with Wardle teaming up with Ruest and Eli McLaughlin; the Rush would put up three in a row, the first from Connor Robinson (2G) at 2:47; another man-up goal by Keenan at 6:18; and another by Church at 9:30. Score at the end of three: Rush 8—Mammoth 6.
The fourth was yet another low scoring quarter, with the Rush opening it up at 1:41 with Robinson giving them their final goal of the contest and it turned out to be the game winning goal as the Mammoth tried, but could only muster two more in the frame. Both coming from Ruest, the first at 4:59 on a power-play; and the final in the contest at 12:25. After the Mammoth cut the Rush’s lead down to one, Kyle Killen was all alone in front of the net with two minutes to go in regulation and Evan Kirk robbed him of a shot to keep him from tying the game which sealed the fate of the Mammoth. Final Score: Rush 9—Mammoth 8.
In total, the Rush would see three players with five or more points: Robert Church with eight (3g, 5a); Ryan Keenan with six (2g, 4a); and Mark Matthews with five (1g, 4a).
For Colorado, they would have two players with five points: Jacob Ruest (3g, 2a); and Eli McLaughlin (5a).
Goalie Stats:
Mammoth—Dillon Ward: 9 GA: 63 SOG; 54 Saves; .857 Sv%
Rush—Evan Kirk: 8 GA; 42 SOG; 34 Saves; .809 Sv%
Team Stats:
Mammoth: 42 SOG; 13 SOFF; 76 LB: 8-21 FO; .381 FO%; 3-4 PPG
Rush: 63 SOG; 23 SOFF; 88 LB: 13-21 FO: .619 FO%; 3-4 PPG
NEXT UP:
The Colorado Mammoth (0-1) have three weeks off and will head west to face the 2019 NLL Champion Calgary Roughnecks (1-0) on Saturday December 21, game time 9:39 p.m. EST.
The Saskatchewan Rush (1-0) have two weeks off and have their home-opener against the New England Black Wolves on Saturday December 14, game time 8:30 p.m. EST.
Di Miller, Correspondent Colorado Mammoth
Lacrosse is Awesome©