What began as a highly-anticipated matchup between two West Conference rivals quickly became, and stayed, a one-sided affair in favor of the home team, as Saskatchewan opened the contest with six-consecutive goals.
Nearly five minutes into the second, after failing to score in the opening quarter, Mammoth forward Zed Williams drew a double-team and eventually a penalty after backing his defender down toward the crease and attempting to shoot before being pulled down. 22 seconds later, Connor Robinson took advantage of the extra-man opportunity, firing a shot past Saskatchewan netminder Alex Buque for the first of the night for the burgundy and black squad.
Continuing the momentum, Colorado sparked its transition game as captain Robert Hope sent a nice pass to a streaking Jordan Gilles, who quickly beat Buque for the Mammoth’s second goal in less than two minutes.
Following a penalty called on Jalen Chaster, the Rush’s power-play unit got to work, but only for a brief time, as Marshall Powless buried a sick behind-the-back bid with four minutes to play in the half.
Rush captain Robert Church picked up his second of the half by finishing during the extra-man effort after Warren Jeffrey was called for a penalty with just under three minutes to play.
Williams brought Colorado back within five a minute later, creating an 8-3 score heading into the half.
The Rush opened the second half with a pair of markers, the first from Ryan Keenan and the second nearly four minutes into, from Lintner.
Church completed his hat-trick effort 30 seconds later, extending Saskatchewan’s lead to eight.
Williams stopped the bleeding with a quick goal, sending one past Buque halfway through the third.
Courtesy of a little strategic cherry-picking, Lintner picked up his fourth of the night after receiving a long lob pass from the other end of the floor from Matt Beers and beat Carlson. Keenan added another for Saskatchewan, his third of the night.
Matthews pulled up and sent a fierce bid past Carlson on the team’s next possession, creating a 14-4 contest. Dinsdale added another, coming around a high screen and rolling toward the net, converting.
Working the ball around and coming back to an open Brett McIntyre and the back side, the second-year forward, in just his third regular season game, got the Mammoth back in the scoring column.
Holden Garlent was the recipient of a long pass from Buque before slamming one home to create a 16-5 game.
Williams stopped the bleeding with a quick goal, sending one past Buque halfway through the third.
Mammoth forward Dylan Kinnear pulled up with a low bouncer past Buque’s left with five minutes to play to give Colorado its sixth goal of the night and solidify an 18-6 final.
Eli McLaughlin led Mammoth scorers with four points (0g, 4a), while Zed Williams (2g, 0a) and Brett McIntyre (1g, 2a) represented the only players to record more than one point for Colorado Saturday.
Mark Matthews (2g, 10a), Robert Church (4g, 6a) Ryan Keenan (3g, 3a) and Dan Lintner (4g, 0a) highlighted scoring efforts for the Rush, who improved to 1-0 on the season-opening weekend.
Colorado will now endure a week off before travelling to Fort Worth Dec. 17 to face Panther City Lacrosse Club in another West Conference showdown.
