MAMMOTH OUTLAST RUSH 12-10

Ryan Lee’s five-goal performance helped propel the Colorado Mammoth to a 12-10 comeback victory over the Saskatchewan Rush in a Sunday matinee in Denver.

The victory kept the Mammoth (6-2) squarely in second spot in the NLL’s West Division. The two teams will complete a home-and-home series this Saturday at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

The Rush (2-6) dominated the first quarter in Denver with Robert Church opening the scoring with a top-shelf shot on a power play and Josh Currier following with back-to-back goals just over two minutes apart. Currier tied the game 2-2 with a sidearm shot through a screen that beat Mammoth goalie Dillon Ward and then got behind the Colorado defence to take Church’s slick pass after an offensive zone steal. Ryan Keenan made it 4-2 before the end of the first as he stepped back from two Mammoth defenders and whipped a shorthanded tally past Ward.

Saskatchewan extended its lead early in the second as Mark Matthews struck for two in a row – the first of which marked the 300th goal of his NLL career. Matthews’ milestone goal came when he flipped a cross-crease pass to Keenan, who in turn got the ball right back to Matthews, and the former Denver University star slipped a diving shot home. Matthews put the Rush up 6-2 with his trademark swim move, beating the Mammoth defender with ease and firing a shot in. But the Mammoth started to swing the momentum, getting two before the half, including Lee’s second of the night to make it 6-4 at the break.

Dan Lintner put the Rush in front 7-4 only 1:39 into the third with a one-touch finish on a spectacular string of breakout passes from Matthews and Mike Mallory. The Mammoth, however, ramped up their offence and turned the tide in their favor. Lee scored two in a row, both on wicked sidearm shots that eluded Rush goalie Adam Shute, and former Rush Connor Robinson picked up his second of the night on a long-range rocket with 29 seconds left in the third to tie it up 7-7.

Again, Lintner scored early in the fourth with a quick-thinking finish off a rebound and scramble in front of the Colorado net, but the Mammoth roared back with three straight goals. After Eli McLaughlin put the home side in front, Lee registered his fifth of the night with a long-distance laser inside the near post past Shute. Currier earned his hat-trick tally and made it 10-9 when he faked an attempt and then wired a shot inside the post on Ward. 

The two teams fought through a furious closing. Warren Jeffrey’s empty-netter with 56 seconds to go restored a two-goal cushion for Colorado, but the Rush’s Mike Messenger won the ensuing faceoff, rumbled down the turf and put his shot home to close the gap to one with 41 seconds left. The Mammoth were finally able to ice the result on Jordan Gilles’ empty-netter with 19 seconds remaining.

Shute finished with 28 saves while Ward, who robbed Matthews on a hat-trick effort late in the fourth, totaled 47 saves. 

(SaskRush.com)