Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: S. Hiscock
On Saturday December 3, 2022 the NLL opened up the 2022-23 season and fans would see several lopsided games, including the contest between these Western Division rivals the defending NLL Champion Colorado Mammoth (0-1) going up against the Saskatchewan Rush (1-0) in front of over 10,000 Rush fans at Sasktel Centre in Saskatoon. It was a frigid -3 degrees outside and the Mammoth offense was as frozen as the Canadian tundra. Alex Buque former Mammoth net-minder would be in the opposing cage as the new starting net-minder for the Rush and his night was spectacular. He faced 48 shots and made 42 saves for an .875Sv%; while his counterpart Dillon Ward wasn’t as successful. Ward faced 32 shots and made 21 saves for a .656Sv%. He was pulled from the cage at the 4:05 mark in the third after having given up 11 goals. The Rush jumped out to a quick four goal lead in the first and never looked back, they also had four players notch hat-tricks in the contest. Final Score: Saskatchewan 18—Mammoth 6.
The Mammoth would win the opening draw but that was the only real positive for them in the first. Saskatchewan would jump out to a quick two goal lead with Dan Lintner (4G) and Ryan Keenan (3G-3A) getting them on the board in the first three minutes 2-0 Rush. The teams would exchange shots on cage for another five before Lintner would come from the outside and fire a low bounce shot far pipe with 8:37 left in first 3-0. With 4:56 on the ticker, Mark Matthews (2G-10A) notched the final tally of the first on a power-play marker. First Quarter Stats: SOG Rush 21—Mammoth 10; FO Rush 2-5 Mammoth 3-5; Saves Rush 10—Mammoth 17. Score at the end of one: Saskatchewan 4—Colorado 0.
The Rush would take their run into the second notching another two. Robert Church (4G-6A) with a quick stick shot hit the inside pipe to ring both posts at 1:11 and it was 5-0. Matthew Dinsdale (3G-5A) would cap the six-goal run at the 2:10 mark when he got Ward to drop to his knees and got the bouncer shot to hit far pipe 6-0. The Rush defense was keeping the Mammoth offense from getting in close so most of their shots from the outside had hit Buque in the logo and he’s was a brick wall so far. The Mammoth would finally halt the run on a power-play tally at 4:25 with one from Connor Robinson (1G) on the outside when he went five-hole on Buque and halted his 12 consecutive saves 1-6 Colorado. Colorado would get a nice transition goal from Jordan Gilles (1G) on the run and he’d fire one over the shoulder 2-6 Mammoth at 5:56. About five ticked off the timer and the Rush would break the scoring silence. Marshall Powless (1G-4A) on the power-play had a behind-the-back shot top shelf over the shoulder of Ward with 4:18 left and it was 7-2 Rush. But they weren’t done as Church would use the screen to sting the corner low and inside with 1:41 to go increasing the lead to six. Colorado would be the last to score in the half. Zed Williams (2G) would come at the cage, crease dive and bring it back near side with 42 seconds on the timer 3-8 Mammoth. First Half Stats: SOG Rush 37—Mammoth 21; FO Rush 9-13 Mammoth 4-13; Saves Rush 18—Mammoth 28. Score at the end of two: Saskatchewan 8—Colorado 3.
The third quarter wasn’t much different than the first and second. Saskatchewan would notch three in a row to get things started. Keenan got things going at 1:25 with a fake far side and put one in near pipe 9-3 Rush. The Mammoth would get hit with their sixth penalty of the game and Lintner would take advantage notching his hat-trick power-play tally at 3:44 and the Rush had hit double digits 10-3. They’d get their back-to-back hat-tricks when Church sent a high-to-low shot far side corner sending Ward to the bench at the 4:05 mark 11-3 Saskatchewan. Tyler Carlson headed to the cage and for the remaining 10:55 he held the Rush scoreless and Mammoth fans were hopeful this would spark some sort of offense. Unfortunately they would only be able to put one up on the board with 7:35 left in the half. Williams from the outside went five-hole on Buque closing the gap to seven. Score at the end of three: Saskatchewan 11—Colorado 4.
With 15 to go, it wasn’t looking good for the reining champs. They needed to put up some offense if they had any hopes of a comeback. But the Rush had different ideas as they would outscore the Mammoth 7 to 2. They came out firing and put up four in a row with Lintner barreling out of the box and catching Carlson off guard he’d fire a low to high shot and hit twine only 31 seconds in; Keenan notched his hat-trick only 27 seconds later with an over the top shot short side; Matthews from the middle would go five-hole at 1:33; and Dinsdale on the fly with a low-to-low bounce shot put them up 15-4 at the 2:00 mark of the fourth. Brett McIntyre (1G-2A) would fire a low shot five-hole on Buque 37 seconds later and it was 15-5 Rush. Another three goal run ensued for Saskatchewan when Holden Garlent (1G) in transition faked and got Carlson to drop then fired it over the right shoulder for a short-handed tally at 3:56; Dinsdale drove to the crease, went airborne and dunked it far side at 4:59; and Church notched his third power-play marker on the night at 6:04 the last tally of the night for the Rush and they were up 18-5. The Mammoth would get one more from Dylan Kinnear (1G) with 5:08 left on a perfectly placed shot just outside the left leg and glove of Buque but that would be it. Final Score: Saskatchewan 18—Mammoth 6.
The Mammoth offense was mostly flat throughout the game with a few highlights here and there. The Rush were spectacular in keeping the Mammoth from getting in close so their top scorers Robinson (1G); Williams (2G) and McLaughlin (0-G) were held to a total of 3 goals in total.
FINAL STATS:
Colorado Mammoth: SOG 48; FO 13-28; Saves 51; Sv% .739%; PP 1-3; PIM 16
Saskatchewan Rush: SOG 69; FO 15-28; Saves 42; Sv% .875; PP 6-6; PIM 10
Stars of the Game:
Alex Buque—Saskatchewan Rush: 42 Saves; .875Sv%
Robert Church—Saskatchewan Rush: 4G; 6A
Mark Matthews—Saskatchewan Rush: 2G; 10A
NEXT UP:
The Colorado Mammoth (0-1) have a bye week and will play again on Saturday December 17, 2022 when they head to Dickie’s Arena in Ft. Worth, TX. Game time 8:00 p.m. EST. The game can be seen on ESPN+ in the USA and TSN.ca in Canada.
The Saskatchewan Rush (1-0) will head to Pechanga Arena to face the San Diego Seals (1-0) on Friday December 9, 2022. Game time 10:00 EST. The game can be seen on ESPN+ in the USA and TSN.ca in Canada.
Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©