The Saskatchewan Rush took on the Colorado Mammoth as part of a home-and-home series over the weekend. The black and green looked to capitalize on the opportunity to not only take over first place in the West division, but to earn a bye into the division final. They did so in convincing fashion.
The win Friday marked the first time of the season a road team had come into Colorado to defeat the Mammoth in front of their own fans. The Rush ended up taking the low-scoring game by a score of 11-5. The five goals allowed is the second lowest in franchise history.
A big part of the low-scoring affair was the play of Rush netminder Aaron Bold, who walked away with a 42-save performance on one of his best games of the campaign.
Ben McIntosh kicked off the scoring with the lone goal in the opening quarter after taking a pass from Jeremy Thompson and finding the back of the net. The tally was his 26th of the season, but the forward wouldn’t be done there. McIntosh went on to score three more, with two critical goals in the fourth quarter to eventually ice the game. He also added an assist to his five-point game.
After three quarters of play, it was a tight-knit contest, with Saskatchewan barely edging the Mammoth by a score of 5-4.
In the fourth, the Rush pulled away with six unanswered goals.
Robert Church scored his second of the tilt and his 31st of the year, while Kyle Rubisch, Jarrett Davis and Ryan Dilks finished off Colorado, also chipping in with goals in the final quarter.
In game two of the home-and-home, Saskatchewan played in front of a sold out crowd at SaskTel Centre.
The defence continued to stand tall, allowing just eight goals in an 11-8 victory.
In front of a record-setting audience of 15,027, the Rush scored five unanswered marks in the third quarter to lead them to a first place finish.
McIntosh, again, had a huge night, tallying a hat trick and two assists while Mark Matthews and Dan Taylor finished the night with a combined ten points. Curtis Knight also beat Dillon Ward three times for his 20th goal of the campaign.
For the second straight night the Mammoth played Saskatchewan close for two quarters before the Rush were able to find another gear late into the tilt.
Both teams were disciplined throughout, combining for one penalty on the night.
Bold has been having a campaign to remember, grabbing his second win in as many nights with a 36 saves. The netminder now tops the league leaders with an 11-4 record, a 10.15 GAA and has one of the best save percentages (.760) in the NLL.
We are now on the “100-point watch” for Mark Matthews, who now sits at 95 with 34 goals and 61 assists. He will look to get the milestone as the Rush travel to Vancouver for a date with the Stealth this Saturday.
