Goals are few in narrow victory
You don’t need goals to be happy, it turns out.
The lowest-scoring game of the National Lacrosse League season happened Saturday night at SaskTel Centre — an 8-7 decision, 15 measly markers, the visiting goalie hotter than a frying pan.
The host Saskatchewan Rush — who scored 21 times the week before against Rochester — potted just enough goals against the Colorado Mammoth to eke out a tight victory, as the sold-out arena got louder, and louder, and louder.
“(Coach Derek Keenan) said at halftime (that) it’s going to be one of those games you’re going to have to grind out, and get an ugly win, because the ball just wasn’t falling,” said Rush forward Adam Jones. “And that’s what we did.”
The Rush outshot Colorado 6434; they endured rampant frustration as Colorado netminder Dillon Ward repelled 56 lacrosse balls, many in spectacular fashion. But they wore grins at game’s end.
The combined 15 goals was the smallest total of the 32 NLL games played this season, thanks mostly to the goaltenders. Saskatchewan led 4-0 early in the second quarter, allowed four goals in a 2:02 span, and the teams then settled into an offensive quagmire.
It’s not that they didn’t have chances.
“That’s the frustrating part; we really had a lot of real quality looks,” said Keenan, whose team pulled out the win before a crowd of 15,037. “Dillon Ward was outstanding. You’re not going to see many better goaltending performances than that.”
The two teams were separated by just half a game atop the West Division standings heading into the night, with Colorado trying to pull into the passing lane. But Saskatchewan built a nice little cushion, running their record to 5-2 — also their fifth-straight win — while the Mammoth fell to 4-4.
Colorado led just once all night; that was when Jacob Ruest scored 35 seconds into the fourth quarter to give his team a 6-5 edge. Curtis Knight tied it six minutes later, and Ben McIntosh scored the go-ahead marker with 5:46 left in the game. Jeff Cornwall potted an empty netter for an 8-6 edge with 13 seconds to play, only to have Colorado’s Eli McLaughlin contribute some drama when he tallied with four seconds on the clock and Ward on the bench.
The sellout crowd got increasingly noisy through the final frame. They made a concerted effort to break the world record for loudest cheer late in the contest — the mark was 130.4, set earlier this month at a Kansas Jayhawks basketball game — but clocked in around 112.
Other outbursts during that frame got close to the 112 mark. The response was appreciated by Jones, who played with Colorado five seasons before getting traded to Saskatchewan this summer.
“We were trying to draw up a play, and we couldn’t hear; our coach had to yell at us to tell us what we were doing,” he said. “The fans here are awesome. It’s super loyal; it’s almost like everyone in the stands has some sort of Saskatchewan swag on. It’s nice and loud, and it’s the best place to play.”
Jones collected two assists Saturday night, running his career points total to an even 400 — not that he’s counting.
“Was that tonight? I had no idea,” Jones said.
The Mammoth, meanwhile, played without sniper Zack Greer, who has a lower-body injury. Greer, who was traded from Saskatchewan to Colorado in the same deal that sent Jones to Saskatchewan, was honoured before the game, and watched proceedings from the press box.
“An interesting one,” he later assessed. “Low-scoring, both teams got great defence, we got great goaltending tonight, as did the Rush. I knew it was going to be a battle; top place in the West on the line. They came out on the winning end, but we see them three more times in the regular season.”
McIntosh collected two goals and an assist for the Rush, who also got three-point nights from Mark Matthews and Curtis Knight. McLaughlin picked up a goal and three assists for Colorado.
Saskatchewan’s next action is this coming Saturday, when they host the Calgary Roughnecks.