The Saskatchewan Rush survived a late-game run by the Vancouver Warriors on Saturday night to pull off a 12-11 overtime win. The victory snapped a five-game losing skid by the Rush and improved their record to 6-8, good for fifth place in the West Conference. The Warriors drop to 4-11 on the season and remain in last place in the conference.
Lacrosse is often a game of runs and this contest was no exception. Vancouver started the night off with a pair of goals from Chase Scanlon, more than 10 minutes apart. The Rush responded in the dying minutes of the quarter by getting two of their own, including Rhys Duch’s first goal as a member of the Rush—a crease dive to get the team onto the scoreboard.
Saskatchewan then scored their third in a row early in the second quarter to take the lead. The Warriors responded with another two-goal run of their own, retaking the lead, followed by a four-goal run by the Rush in the span of a little over three minutes. Vancouver answered back with their fifth of the night with less than a minute on the clock and went to the locker room behind by two.
Thirty seconds into the third quarter, Kyle Killen scored for the Warriors, making it another two-goal run for their squad, but the Rush took over again, scoring three more times in the quarter and adding a fourth in a row to open the final period. With the game seemingly well in hand, Vancouver began the biggest run of the night, potting five straight goals, including the game-tying quick-stick goal by former Rush forward Riley Loewen with only 1:19 left on the clock.
Saskatchewan was finally able to break the run and seal the deal 2:06 into overtime when Mark Matthews found Robert Church in front of the net for the quick-stick winner.
Matthews led all scorers with eight points on the night (3 goals, 5 assists) while Killen paced the Warriors attack with six points (3 G, 3 A). Aaron Bold made 39 saves for the Warriors while Alex Buque stopped 35 shots for the Rush.
Next weekend the Rush travel to Georgia to face the white-hot Swarm on Saturday night, while the Warriors visit the Colorado Mammoth.
