Edmonton goes 1-1 in back-to-back road games

Denver, Colo. -- Gavin Prout's return to Denver was successful for Edmonton as the Rush edged the Colorado Mammoth 14-13 in National Lacrosse League action Jan. 16 at the Pepsi Center.

Ryan Ward lead the Rush with four goals and three assists in the club's first victory of the season and Prout dished out seven assists in his first stop back to the Mile High City after an off-season transaction.

Edmonton improved to 1-1 on the season after dropping a 15-7 decision to Washington one night earlier in Everett, Wash., and Colorado fell to 0-2 with the loss.

Brodie Merrill (1G, 5A, and 14 loose balls), Ryan Powell (1G, 4A), Andy Secore (3G), Dean Hill (3G) and Jimmy Quinlan (2G) also scored for Edmonton Saturday night.

Ilja Gajic (4G, 3A), Brian Langtry (3G, 4A) and Jamie Shewchuk (2G, 5A) paced the Mammoth with seven points apiece in the loss, while Alex Gajic (2G, 4A) and Cory Conway (1G, 7A) both had big nights for Colorado.

The see-saw battle had the clubs locked at 4-4 after the first quarter before a five-goal second quarter from Edmonton sparked the Rush attack with a 9-6 lead at half-time.

Colorado answered back with a five-goal run in the third frame to hold an 11-10 lead before Edmonton went on a four-goal run of their own to lead 13-11 into the final quarter and was able to hold off a late Mammoth rally to earn the 14-13 victory.

Matt Disher was strong in net for the Rush, earning the win, while Andrew Leyshon was tagged with the loss for Colorado.

The Mammoth outshot Edmonton 54-37 in the contest and Colorado's power-play was on fire going 4-8, while Edmonton's was no slouch hitting the mark twice (2-6).

"It feels great," said Rush head coach/general manager Derek Keenan on the club's first win. "It was a difficult game and we didn't play very well last night."

"The guys just showed their character and we really got timely goals tonight. That was really key," he said. Although Keenan was impressed with many players, the play of Prout, caught his eye.

"He was really good on a very emotional night for him," said Keenan. "He battled really hard tonight. He was a warrior out there. He quarterbacked us and gave us some grit in a tough building to play in."

The Mammoth opened the scoring as Langtry found the mark at 56 seconds in, before Hill answered back at 3:10 as he found himself alone in front. The Rush went up 2-1 as Ward converted from the left side of the goal at 4:53 from Prout.

Shewchuk tied the score 2-2 at 5:23, then Powell's one bouncer beat Leyshon just 26-seconds later put Edmonton up 3-2.