The Saskatchewan Rush had to come from behind late in a see-saw battle against the Panther City Lacrosse Club to earn a 10-9 win. The victory improves Saskatchewan’s record to 2-4 and vaults them from dead last in the NLL to 12th place. Meanwhile, PCLC drops to 3-4, in a three-way tie for eighth place.
Nathaniel Kozevnikov opened the scoring for the Rush four-and-a-half minutes into the game. It took four more minutes for Panther City to respond when Jason Knox potted one. Callum Crawford pushed PCLC ahead at the 2:59 mark, but Saskatchewan got it right back, leaving the game tied after one period.
The second quarter was all about Zach Manns for the Rush and Wil Malcolm for Panther City. Manns scored twice and assisted on a third, while Malcom responded with a pair of goals of his own. But that left Saskatchewan with a one-goal lead at the break.
Malcom completed a natural hat trick early in the third quarter to tie the game at 5-5. But Saskatchewan came right back with a three-goal run, giving them their biggest lead of the night. Phil Caputo finally stopped the bleeding by tallying one for anther City late in the quarter, quickly followed by a goal by Tony Malcom.
PCLC opened the fourth quarter with two more goals, giving them a four-goal run and taking the lead back, but the Rush were not to be denied on this night. Robert Church tied the game again with his fourth goal of the night, followed by Mike Triolo with his lone goal on the night and the game winner.
Frankie Scigliano made 42 saves en route to the win while Nick Damude stopped 32 shots for Panther City.
Panther City hosts the Colorado Mammoth on Friday for their next action, while the Rush travel to Vancouver to face the Warriors on Saturday.
