The Saskatchewan Rush wrapped up 2022 with a win, defeating the Panther City Lacrosse Club 11-9 on New Years Eve. The win improves the Rush to 2-1 on the season while PCLC drops to 2-2.
Saskatchewan opened the scoring with a power play goal from Dan Lintner at the 11:49 mark. The Rush would add two more in the next three minutes to quickly extend their lead, but Panther City were not going to roll over and die on this night. Phil Caputo scored on the power play for PCLC with four minutes left in the first quarter to break the shut out and Cameron Wengreniuk added another a minute later to bring them within a single goal.
A minute and 17 seconds into the second quarter, PCLC tied the game when Mathieu Gautier scored a bouncer past Rush netminder Alex Buque. Back at the other end, Saskatchewan was absolutely robbed by PCLC goalie Nick Damude on what might be an early contender for Save of the Year. But a minute after that, Mark Matthews found a wide-open Marshall Powless for an easy goal, allowing the Rush to retake the lead. Once again, that goal was the first of a three-goal run for the Rush and, once again, Panther City ended the run by scoring three of their own to knot the score at 6-6 early in the second half.
Powless scored his second of the game to begin another three-goal run for the Rush and again PCLC responded with two goals late in the quarter to get them right back in the game. But this time Saskatchewan was able to get back on track and hold the lead. Marty Dinsdale scored his second of the night for the Rush at the 6:41 mark of the fourth quarter, and, although PCLC answered back quickly, the Rush were able to shut them down in the dying minutes of the game. Mark Messenger added am empty net power play goal with less than a minute to play to seal the deal, giving Saskatchewan the win in front of their home fans.
Robert Church led the Rush offense with six points (1 goal, 5 assists), while PCLC was paced by Will Malcolm (1 G, 4 A). Buque turned aside 38 shots for Saskatchewan, while Damude made 48 saves.
PCLC travels to Rochester to take on the undefeated Knighthawks next Saturday while Saskatchewan gets a bye week before heading the Denver to face the Colorado Mammoth on Friday, the 13th.
