The Saskatchewan Rush overcame an early deficit to take a 9-8 overtime victory over the Vancouver Warriors on Saturday night. With the win, the Rush improve to 9-1 on the season, remaining solidly in first place in the NLL. The Warriors drop to 6-3 and sit in a tie for third place with the Georgia Swarm.
Saskatchewan opened the scoring two and a half minutes into the contest with a goal from Levi Anderson. Adam Charalambides responded for the Warriors three minutes later, then assisted on two more goals to give Vancouver the early lead after one quarter.
Anderson scored again to open the second quarter, followed by two more Vancouver goals, giving the Warriors their biggest advantage of the evening. That three-goal lead was short lived, however, with Saskatchewan responding a minute and a half later and then adding another to get to within one. The teams traded goals to round out the quarter, sending the Warriors to the locker room at half time with a one goal lead.
The Rush gained more momentum in the third quarter, tying the game three and a half minutes in, then taking the lead with 2:54 left in the quarter.
Charalambides tied the game again less than a minute into the fourth quarter and the Warriors retook the lead seven minutes after that. But with just 1:42 left on the clock, Zach Manns tied the game again on a dunk from behind the net, forcing overtime.
Saskatchewan wasted no time sealing the deal in overtime, with Robert Church sniping the game winner just 44 seconds into extra time.
Manns led the offence for the Rush, with three goals and three assists while the Warriors were paced by Charalambides, also with three goals and three assists.
Between the pipes, Frankie Scigliano had another excellent game, stopping 32 shots to earn the win. Christian del Bianco made 31 saves in the losing cause.
Next Friday, the Warriors host the defending champion Buffalo Bandits (4-5) who have been inconsistent so far this season. The Rush travel to Philadelphia to face the Wings (2-7) on Saturday, a team currently sitting in second-last in league standings.
