SASKATOON – Mitch Jones scored his fifth goal of the game 3:44 into overtime to lift the Buffalo Bandits to a 19-18 victory over the Saskatchewan Rush on Friday in National Lacrosse League action. Dhane Smith and Ryan Benesch each scored four times for the Bandits (5-4), while Benesch added four assists for an eight-point outing.
Mitch Wilde had a pair of goals, Mark Steenhuis had a goal and six assists, Alexander-Kedoh Hill scored once and set up four more, Anthony Malcolm had a goal and three assists and Daryl Veltman struck once to round out the Buffalo offence.
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Robert Church led the Rush (4-3) with five goals and four helpers while Mark Matthew matched Church’s nine-point performance with two goals and seven assists.
Saskatchewan also got four goals and two assists from Ben McIntosh, two goals and three assists from Dan Taylor, a pair of goals apiece from Adrian Sorichetti and Nik Bilic and a single from Jarrett Davis.
Davide DiRuscio earned the win for the Bandits after stopping 38-of-52 shots. Anthony Cosmo replaced DiRuscio for 7:52 of floor time and allowed four goals on 12 shots. Rush goalie Aaron Bold took the loss after giving up 12 goals on 34 shots in 42:50. Tyler Carson didn’t fare any better, giving up seven goals on 15 shots.
Buffalo went 2 for 6 on the power play while Saskatchewan was 3 for 8.