The New England Black Wolves improved to 2-0, with both wins coming on the road, as they defeated the Saskatchewan Rush 12-8 in NLL Week 2 action.
Coming off a 12-8 win in Toronto last week, the Black Wolves attack was hot early, running up a quick lead, while goalie Doug Jamieson made key stops to allow his team to maintain momentum.
The Rush fall to 1-1 on the season and continue to struggle offensively, having only scored 17 times in their first two contests.
The Black Wolves got out to a lead early, with Dave Emala and Reilly O’Connor sniping goals in the first five minutes. Mark Matthews got the Rush on the board at the 6:54 mark on a penalty shot, but Saskatchewan was unable to add anything else for the remainder of the first quarter.
Meanwhile, New England added to their lead, scoring twice more in the first and two more early in the second to build up a 6-1 lead and chase Rush starting netminder Evan Kirk from the game.
Matthews scored again for the Rush to stop the run, but the home town squad would go to halftime down 9-4 after trading goals the rest of the quarter.
Saskatchewan appeared to be shifting the momentum back in their favour in the third period when they scored the only goals of the quarter and reduced their deficit to three. But the Black Wolves were able to regain their composure in the fourth quarter, trading goals until the final buzzer.
Callum Crawford (3 goals, 3 assists) and Andrew Kew (2 G, 4 A) paced the New England attack with six points each, while Matthews led Saskatchewan with five points (4 G, 1 A).
Jamieson had an outstanding game, turning aside 44 shots in the win. Adam Shute made 25 saves, against 5 goals allowed, in relief of Rush starter Kirk who gave up 6 goals on 18 shots.
The Black Wolves’ next game is on Dec. 27 when they host their home opener against the expansion New York Riptide. The Rush face that same Riptide squad the following night in New York.
