The Washington Stealth defeated the Edmonton Rush 12-10 on Friday night to pick up their third win and move into first place in the Western Conference by a full game over the Colorado Mammoth.
The Stealth overcame an early four goal deficit and held the Rush scoreless in the third quarter of the game to pick up the tight win. They were led by the three goal night from Lewis Ratcliff and also a five point night (four assists) from league leading point getter Cliff Smith.
Tyler Richards, in his first game since their week one win over Rochester, made 37 saves on 47 shots in the win. “At about 10-7 we had the game under a reasonable amount of control,” said Richards on StealthLax.com “At that point we started to make good decisions with the ball,”
The Rush scored three of the last five goals to rally and cut the Stealth lead to three, but were ultimately not able to pull off the victory. Athan Iannucci tied the game at seven in the third quarter and after that they did not trail again.
Justin Salt, just signed from the practice squad, scored the first goal of the game while Dean Hill scored his 101st NLL goal to pass the century mark.
Combined the Stealth won 65% of their faceoffs led by Bob Snider, who still leads the league in faceoffs won. However, the Rush picked up three more shots with their 47 to the Stealth’s 44.
Leading the Rush was a three goal performance from Corey Small and also a five point night from Mark Matthews. Ryan Ward also picked up two goals while Curtis Knight had three assists.
Aaron Bold and Brodie MacDonald split time in net. Bold allowed nine goals in nearly 40 minutes of play on 31 shots, while MacDonald allowed two goals in 20 minutes. He faced twelve shots.
Washington struggled on the power play in this game, going 0-for-3 while Edmonton scored on three of their four man up chances, those goals coming from Alex Turner and Ward scoring two in the fourth.
Washington turns around and plays the Minnesota Swarm on the road today. Minnesota fell to the Toronto Rock on the road last night, so they will be looking to pick up their first win of the season in their home opener.
