Williams sets Edmonton record with nine points in season opener

Edmonton, AB -- The Edmonton Rush opened their 2012 season in the new-look National Lacrosse League Friday night, but it was a couple of wily veterans who stole the show as the Colorado Mammoth edged Edmonton 13-12 before 8,191 fans at Crystal Glass Field at Rexall Place.

Rush newcomer Shawn Williams, entering his 15th NLL season, broke teams records for both assists (8) and points (9) in his debut with the club, however Colorado's John Grant Jr., third all-time in league points, notched his fifth goal -- the game-winning tally with only 15-seconds remaining on the clock -- to ice the Mammoth victory.

Despite Williams' efforts, the Rush (0-1) dropped their opener and Colorado improved to two wins against zero losses in the tightly-contest matchup between West squads that featured five lead changes.

"They were a little bit better than us," said Rush head coach and general manager Derek Keenan. "At the end of the game, after we battled back and got it in a position to win it, and John Grant gets the last two goals.

"As usual in this league, it was a one-goal game. And that's what you see a lot of."

Edmonton started strong in the contest showing quality over quantity in the opening five minutes as the Rush fired goals on the first four shots on net past Colorado's Chris Levis to lead 4-2 after one quarter of play, however the Mammoth rallied back the rest of the half, scoring five times and blanking the hosts to lead 7-4 at halftime.

The third quarter saw the tide turn again as Edmonton posted five tallies against Colorado's two goals as the Mammoth held a 10-9 edge into the final frame, before Grant Jr. assisted on one goal and buried two goals in the fourth quarter to earn the win.

Williams (1G, 8A) paced Edmonton's attack, while Ryan Ward (3G, 3A), Zack Greer (3G, 1A), Corey Small (2G, 2A), Scott Evans (1G, 1A), Tom Johnson (1G, 1A) and Bret Mydske (1G) also scored. Grant Jr. (5G, 4A) had nine-points and rookie Adam Jones (5G, 3A) had an eight-point night.

Obviously, we've been around a long time," said Williams of him and Grant Jr. "You know how to get it done and whatever it takes to get the job done."

Chris Levis made 29 saves for the win and Edmonton's Aaron Bold, despite making 41 saves, was tagged with the loss.

"I thought he was great," said Keenan of Bold's play. "In the first half, (he saw) 33 shots. If he's not in there standing on his head it could've got really ugly. He was solid throughout the night."

Small started the scoring just 52-seconds into the contest, followed by tallies from Greer and Evans in the first 4:59 of carpet time, before Colorado got on the board less than two-minutes later.

Greer notched his second goal of the night at 10:03 on another tremendous feed from Edmonton's, who had assists on Edmonton's first four goals.

Rookie Jones got the Mammoth back into the game with a natural hat-trick in just over 16-minutes of action to make the score 4-3 and then Colorado continued the run with four more goals in the second frame to take a 7-4 lead.

Rush Captain Quinlan showed toughness seconds into the third quarter after taking a Jamie Lincoln blast off the side of the helmet that sparked the club as Edmonton gained momentum culminated by Greer's hat-trick marker, a top-corner blast four-minutes in, to draw the hosts within two goals.

The Mammoth answered back with two more goals over the next four minutes before Williams ripped his first goal in Rush silks, on the power-play at 8:40, to start a run for the home team as Edmonton took advantage of Colorado infractions.

As part of the four-goal run over 3:36, Small fired his second goal of the night on a delayed penalty and then Ward added another power-play marker before Mydske tied the score 9-9 with his crease dunk.

Grant then nailed his third of the night on a Colorado power-play with under four-seconds in the quarter to put the Mammoth up 10-9 after three stanzas of play.

Jones rifled his fifth tally just 32-seconds into the fourth quarter before Edmonton exploded for three goals over the next six-minutes when Johnson scored off a deft backhand pass from Williams and then Ward collected two consecutive goals, including a short-hander marker with less than five minutes remaining, to put Edmonton up 12-11.

'Junior' tied the game at 12-all with just over three-minutes remaining and then the prolific scorer nailed the game-winner, his fifth of the night, with only 15-ticks left on the clock.

The Rush travels to Everett, Wash., next Saturday, Jan. 28 to face the Washington Stealth in another key West matchup as Edmonton begins a four-game away trek before returning to Edmonton Feb. 24 to battle the Philadelphia Wings.

Rush mush: EDM is 4-3 in home openers ... COL holds an 12-5 edge head-to-head with EDM ... both clubs went 2-3 on the power-play ... COL outshot EDM 54-41 ... Edmonton scratched F Scott Tinning, T Jesse Fehr and G Brodie MacDonald.

By Bruce Rakoczy