By: Di Miller, Beat Writer Colorado Mammoth
Lacrosse is Awesome
On Friday April 15, the Colorado Mammoth (10-5) hosted their Western Division rivals the Saskatchewan Rush (11-4) at the Pepsi Center in Denver. The 11,544 Mammoth fans were hoping to see their team, the only undefeated team at home, take a one game advantage over the Rush. Prior to the game, the Rush were statistically half a game ahead of the Mammoth and a victory for either team would give them a one game lead in the West and the best record in the NLL. The Mammoth would be without Adam Jones, and although John Grant Jr., Jeremy Noble, and Dillon Ward who had just returned from an injury were back on the field, it wasn’t enough as the Mammoth would suffer their first loss at home. Final Score: Saskatchewan 11—Mammoth 5.
The first quarter was a defensive battle with spectacular net minding from both goalies. There would be no goals until 13:30 had ticked off the clock and the Rush would see Ben McIntosh break the deadlock (assist Jeremy Thompson and Nik Bilic). Not only was the period virtually scoreless, but there would be only one penalty and it would go against the Rush as the quarter ended with a two minute holding call against Kyle Rubisch. Score 1-0 Rush.
Going into the second, it would start off almost as slowly as the first with almost eight full minutes of scoreless lacrosse. Then at 7:55 the Rush would go on a three goal run starting off with the feed from Mark Matthews to Zack Greer; followed by McIntosh with his second of the night (8:06); and Matthews (10:03) assist to Ryan Dilks and Thompson. It took the Mammoth almost 25 minutes to get their first point on the board. Mike Burke would blow one past Aaron Bold top right (10:56) off a nice pass from Joey Cupido to Callum Crawford to Burke. The final goal of the half was the first of two by Crawford when he would go airborne 
and hit net stick side top left at 12:48 (assist Cupido). Score at the end of the first half: Rush 3—Mammoth 2.
The game was definitely under the control of the defense and goalies as there would be only three points put on the board. The Rush would open up the third with a shot from Robert Church (3:23) assist to Jarrett Davis and Dan Taylor. The Mammoth would chalk up the next two and final goals in the period with another one from Crawford on a power play (8:11); followed by John Grant, Jr. with a sweet around the world shot at 13:16 (assist Jordan Gilles and Robert Hope). The Mammoth were still in the game at this point, only down by one. Score: Rush 5—Mammoth 4.
The fourth quarter was all Rush. Church would start a six goal barrage only 1:42 in, the quickest goal scored in a period during the game. It didn’t take long for the Rush to put up another as a quick pick up on the face-off would allow Rubisch to score only nine seconds later. Davis would get his first of the game with a feed from across the floor in front of the net from Matthews to put it in right top corner almost perpendicular to the net. Although the Rush had extended their lead by four, they weren’t going to relax and allow the Mammoth back into the game. McIntosh would score back-to-back goals at 6:17 and 7:59 giving him the hat-trick and four on the night. Both goals were assisted by Taylor and Greer. Another six minutes would wind down on the clock and the Rush would put the nail in the coffin with Dilks scoring unassisted at 13:36. The only Mammoth goal in the fourth and final goal of the game would come from Eli McLaughlin only 26 seconds later (assist Grant, Jr.), a goal that would be contested by the Rush. However after further review it was obvious that McLaughlin’s foot was outside the crease and the ball would clear the plane of the goal before taking his next step. The Mammoth have overcome deficits before, but with less than two minutes remaining, it was obvious a win wasn’t in the cards. Final Score: Rush 11—Mammoth 5.
The Mammoth would be held to five goals, their lowest tally of the season; and only won six of 20 face-offs for a .300 FO%.
Colorado needs to regroup and figure out what has gone wrong over their past two losses. Against the Rush, they seemed out of sync during the contest, making bad passes, poor shots and not taking advantage of numerous scoring opportunities.
Game Stats:
Colorado Mammoth—47 SOG; 17 SOFF; 67 LB; 6-20 Face-offs; .300 FO%; 45-56 Saves; .804 SV%;
1-3 PP
Saskatchewan Rush—56 SOG; 13 SOFF; 69 LB; 14-20 Face-offs; .700 FO%; 42-47 Saves; .894 SV%;
0-3 PP
In tonight’s contest against the Rush on their home turf in Saskatoon, the Rush will have not only home field advantage, but momentum coming off such a huge victory. The game also has major consequences as far as the play-offs and who will be the number one seed in the West. Therefore, the remaining three games for the Mammoth are do or die if they want to advance beyond game one of the play-offs.
Di Miller, Beat Writer Colorado Mammoth
Lacrosse is Awesome