Di Miller, Correspondent Colorado Mammoth
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: ckom.com
In a frigid night in Saskatoon, the Colorado Mammoth (4-3) went head to head against their West Division rivals the Saskatchewan Rush (3-2) on Saturday January 18. The Sasktel Centre was packed with 12,542 faithful Rush fans ready to see their team get their first win at home this season. While the Mammoth having just come off an embarrassing loss in Vancouver the night before were looking for redemption. The Rush expected a tired Mammoth squad and although they jumped out to a quick three goal lead, they underestimated their opponent as Dillon Ward and his teammates would come surprise everyone and control the game from the midway in the first all the way until the last buzzer sounded. Final Score: Mammoth 12—Rush 6.
The Rush jumped out quick only 35 seconds in with a cross crease pass from Robert Church to Ryan Keenan (1g) for the quick stick through the legs of Dillon Ward to get them on the board. The home team would put up two more in the next five minutes; a couple of power-play tallies. The first when Mark Matthews faked the shot pulling Ward from the net, then made the pass to Ben McIntosh (2g, 1a) on the backdoor and he’d zip one in from the side through the open net at 2:56; and the second Matthews (1g, 2a) would make Ward pay drawing him up from the goal line, and fire one straight up the middle through the five-hole at 5:09 giving them a 3-0 lead. Mammoth Forward Chris Wardle (5g) would halt the run and get Colorado on the board at the 7:27 mark on a nice off ball cut on top of the crease as Wardle would tip toe the crease and slam dunk it to find twine and break the goose egg. Colorado would score again with Mammoth Defenseman Josh Sullivan (1g) getting his first goal of the season off the rebound on the Eli McLaughlin shot. After Evan Kirk made the save, Sullivan who was left in front of the crease untouched got the rebound and found a piece of the net with 6:51 left in the first to close the gap to one. With 5:03 left in the frame Saskatchewan would increase their lead back to two with a goal from Jeff Shattler (2g, 1a) on the two-man game hip high on the door step glove side on Ward. Shots on goal favored the Rush 11-10; but loose balls favored the Mammoth 23-19. Score at the end of one: Rush 4—Mammoth 2.
The second was all Colorado as they would shut out the Rush 5-0. Eli McLaughlin (3g, 4a) got it going 2:22 in with the four-on-four situation and the two-man game. Dylan Kinnear with the pass on the run to McLaughlin who made the stretched out one-handed catch and would go horizontal across the crease and released it top corner. This would be the last time the Rush would have the lead. McLaughlin would score again 15 seconds in on the man-up off the tic-tac-toe and feed from Lee far side for the equalizer at 4:20 to tie the game at four apiece. Wardle who was left wide open on the left side, would grab the Mammoth their first lead on the contest with a low shot far side. The Mammoth had battled back from a three goal deficit and didn’t look back. With 1:05 left in the half, Wardle would notch his hat-trick with one of his signature crease dive goals laying out to hit far side pipe. The Rush threw the challenge flag and the goal was reviewed, but the evidence was inconclusive so the goal stood. With 40.8 left in the frame, Joey “Lightning” Cupido (1g, 1a) on the break fired one from the restraining line and caught Kirk off guard to beat him stick side giving them a three goal lead heading into the locker room. Shots on goal favored Colorado 15-14; and they also still held the lead in loose balls 22-18. Saskatchewan led in the face-off category 7-14. Score at the end of two: Mammoth 7—Rush 4.
The fans would see a low scoring third and their team with little urgency on the floor. The Rush were looking flat footed and definitely not playing their best lacrosse. While the game plan Pat Coyle had brought to Saskatoon for his Mammoth after their loss in Vancouver was working as planned. The Mammoth were stretching out the Rush defense and Ward was denying shot after shot. At the 2:07 mark in the third, Warren Jeffrey (1g, 1a) the first round draft pick for the Colorado Mammoth would score his first career NLL goal off the pass from Scott Carnegie. He’d head down the floor on the break and with a couple of left-right-left fakes he’d bury it short side on Kirk. McIntosh would notch his second and 200th career goal at the 3:35 mark off the give and go with the quick release, getting Ward to move back and forth to stop the six goal run and their first goal since the 9:57 mark in the first. After a couple of minutes, the Mammoth would hit back with another from Wardle on the man-up. Wardle would line up on the backdoor right side for his fourth on the night with 7:44 left in the third and the final goal in the frame. Shots on goal favored the Rush 14-13; they also took the lead in loose balls 20-18. Face-offs were tied 2-4. Score at the end of three: Mammoth 9—Rush 5.
With 15 left, the Mammoth had momentum going and took it into the fourth putting up another three; controlling the clock and possession for the first half of the final frame. Wardle notched his fifth of the night at 2:50 straight up the middle with a ¾ side arm shot and skipped it in the back of the net putting Colorado into double digits 10-5. Ward continued to deny shot after shot and was probably having one of the best games of his career. Ryan Lee (1g, 6a) who leads Colorado in goals would finally get on the board with 6:03 off the ticker. Lee would squeak one through the wickets with a stinger side arm whip; and McLaughlin would notch his hat-trick and put the nail in the coffin for any sort of comeback for the Rush at 6:59 coming around from the wing, fighting off his defender and dove in front of the crease to bury it far side 12-5. Saskatchewan would put their last point on the board with 3:35 remaining. Shattler would notch his second off the give and go with Matthews dunking it glove side, and that was it for the Rush as they would fall to the Mammoth. Final Score: Mammoth 12—Rush 6.
TEAM STATS:
Colorado: 47 SOG; 16 SOFF; 79 LB; 10-23 FO; 2-4 PP
Saskatchewan: 60 SOG; 11 SOFF; 75 LB; 13-23 FO; 2-4 PP
NET-MINDER STATS:
Colorado—Dillon Ward: 59 SOG; 53 Saves; 6 GA; .898 Sv%
Saskatchewan—Evan Kirk: 47 SOG; 35 Saves; 12 GA; .745 Sv%
The Mammoth played one of their best games so far; while the Rush played one of their worst. Colorado figured out what needed to be done to turn around and come back from a lackluster performance the night before where the combined goals total equaled the goals scored by the Mammoth in the contest tonight. Saskatchewan needs to figure out why they can’t win at home this year. They have three weeks to figure it out before the head back to Colorado to face the Mammoth once more.
NEXT UP:
The Colorado Mammoth (4-3) head back home to host the Buffalo Bandits (3-1) for the only meeting of the two teams during the regular season on Saturday January 25, game time 7:30 p.m. EST. Both teams are coming off division wins and will be looking to keep the streak alive.
The Saskatchewan Rush (3-2) have three weeks off to regroup and will head to Colorado to face the Mammoth (4-3) on Saturday February 8, game time 8:30 p.m. EST.
Di Miller, Correspondent Colorado Mammoth
Lacrosse is Awesome©