Colorado Extends Win Streak in Overtime with Thriller Against Saskatchewan

The Colorado Mammoth secured an 11-10 overtime victory against the Saskatchewan Rush Friday night before an electric Loud House fanbase.

On a night which saw defenseman Brett Craig log his first action since the end of the shortened 2019-20 season and which the team welcomed back forward Zed Williams from the Physically Unable to Perform List, Colorado started the night on a good note when Eli McLaughlin accepted a nice pass and instantly sent a shot toward the net, which found its way past netminder Alex Buque to create an early lead.

Brett McIntyre got his legs moving just under four minutes into the opening quarter, beginning on Buque’s left, faking there and running all the way around to his right, went top side over a screen and buried a saucy bid low to double down for Colorado.

Ryan Keenan reduced the deficit to one roughly halfway through the session after getting some space coming around the top on a set play. With just under two minutes to play in the first, Connor Robinson had Ke$ha ringing through the Ball Arena loudspeakers, but the Rush’s Dan Lintner was able to strike back with 56 seconds remaining to trail the Mammoth by one heading into the second.

Saskatchewan got right back to work, this time via a Robert Church conversion to tie the game.

Not to fear for Colorado, as the recently-returned Zed Williams recaptured Colorado’s advantage a minute later. Unfortunately for the home team, Keenan picked up his second tally of the contest to knot the game at fours.

After seeing Church net a second of his own, Colorado was ready to return fire. With defenseman Brett Craig drawing a penalty in the middle of the turf, the Mammoth quickly converted the extra-man ask when Williams struck for his second as well.

As the Rush’s power play was expiring with just under three minutes to play in the first half, Lintner continued the two-goal trend by finishing the extra-pass effort on Ward’s backside, granting Saskatchewan a 6-5 lead. But again, the relentless Mammoth squad struck back, this time via a diving Dylan Kinnear score, who scooped up an errant pass that was actually intended for a teammate, but took advantage and converted anyway. The teams entered the break tied at six a piece.

But it was Saskatchewan that came out of halftime firing, as Mark Matthews got on the board for the green and black squad less than a minute into the third.

The back and forth battle continued less than a minute later when Williams quickly provided a rebuttal, only to be met with another strike from Church. Williams went on to complete his hat trick during the brief scoring barrage. With five minutes left in the quarter, Robinson retook the lead for Colorado, but Lintner would tie it before the session expired, bringing a tightly contested 9-9 score into the final 15.

During a fourth quarter which saw a combined two goals, Robinson made the difference for Colorado, recording his fourth goal of the evening and ninth in his past two contests. Church was on fire though and eventually re-knotted the game, forcing overtime.

Despite losing the opening faceoff and exchanging a few possessions, Colorado eventually prevailed victoriously, as Rhys Duch was left wide open on the back side, executed a set of fakes before beating Buque and queueing the eruption of Loud House applause.

Rhys Duch paced Mammoth scorers with seven points (1g, 6a), while Connor Robinson recorded five (4g, 1a) and Zed Williams enjoyed a hat trick evening (3g, 0a). Mammoth goaltender Dillon Ward racked up 44 saves while limiting the conference rival to 10 scores on the evening.

Colorado will now endure a bye session during the NLL’s Week 8 window before hosting the San Diego Seals at Ball Arena Saturday, Jan. 28 for Grateful Dead Night. Be sure to stay tuned to coloradomammoth.com and Colorado Mammoth social media channels for the latest team updates, transactions, fan events and beyond as the 2022-23 NLL campaign rages on!

Tickets for Colorado’s Jan. 28 Grateful Dead Night matchup against the San Diego Seals can be purchased here.