GAME NOTES: CALGARY AT SASK IN NLL WEST FINAL

SaskRush.com

Sunday, May 13/2018, 5:00 pm
SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon
Watch: Twitter, NLL TV
Listen: 98 COOL

For the fifth time in their storied rivalry, the Saskatchewan Rush will meet the Calgary Roughnecks in the National Lacrosse League playoffs.

The two-time champion Rush enter the one-game, winner-take-all West Division Final with a sizeable advantage in playoff history against the Roughnecks, having won four of the five series and holding a 7-3 record in games. Calgary does enter the West Final with a bit of momentum coming off a 15-12 upset win over Colorado this past Saturday in the West Semi-Final. The winner of Saskatchewan-Calgary West Final will move on to the best-of-three NLL Cup Final against the winner of the East Division Final between the reigning league champion Georgia Swarm and the Rochester Knighthawks.

The Rush have also won 11 of the past 12 regular-season games against the Roughnecks, including the second season-series sweep in the past three years as they went 3-0 against Calgary in 2018. That 3-0 mark against the Roughnecks helped the Rush go a perfect 10-0 against West Division rivals this season, marking the first time a team has gone undefeated against its division rivals in the NLL’s 18-game season era. Mark Matthews helped Saskatchewan complete the season-series sweep just two weeks ago as he registered six assists setting a new NLL single-season record with 84 assists on the way to the Rush’s 11-10 victory. Back on January 27th, Ben McIntosh scored his second goal of the game 46 seconds into overtime to lift the Rush to a 13-12 win despite a furious second-half comeback by the Roughnecks. On February 24th, the teams clashed in Saskatoon with the Rush coming away with a 10-6 win behind 37 saves from Evan Kirk.

The Rush playoff success over the Roughnecks started in 2010 season. The two teams met in the West Semifinal and the defending league champion Roughnecks were heavy favorites, but the Rush got a nine-point game from Ryan Ward plus a record-setting performance from goalie Matt Disher (most saves in a playoff game with 60) as they registered an 11-7 win in Calgary. Two seasons later and Calgary was favored again in the West Semifinal but Ward set a Rush playoff record with 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists) as the Rush captured a 19-11 road victory.

The prairie rivals finally squared off in a playoff series in the 2014 post-season, and this time the Roughnecks managed to come out on top. After the winning the opening game in overtime, the Roughnecks lost Game 2 and then needed a deciding 10-minute mini-game to take the series and they did with a 2-1 win. One year later, the Rush exacted a measure of revenge in the playoffs. Ben McIntosh gave the Rush a 1-0 series lead when he scored the game-winner with 2:10 left in regulation to lift the Rush to a 10-8 win. Calgary bounced back to with Game 2 by a 12-9 count, which forced the mini-game for a second straight season. In the mini-game, it was a stellar individual effort from Jeff Cornwall that provd to be the difference as he scored on an unassisted breakaway opportunity and the Rush went on to a 4-1 win. The Rush would use that series win to propel themselves into the Champion’s Cup Final where they would defeat Toronto in two straight to claim their first NLL title.

For a third straight season, the Rush and Roughnecks meet in playoff action, but the Rush made short of their opposition in the 2016 West Final. Game 1 was knotted 8-8 at halftime and then the Rush exploded, outscoring the Roughnecks on their own turf in Calgary 8-2 in the fourth quarter to take the opener 16-10. The Rush returned home for their first-ever playoff game in Saskatoon and they didn’t disappoint a sold-out crowd at SaskTel Centre as Zack Greer scored four goals and Mark Matthews notched five assists in a 12-9 victory for Saskatchewan. The Rush used that series win to jump into the league final where they dropped the Buffalo Bandits to claim their second consecutive Champion’s Cup.

(Brandon Urban/SaskRush.com)

Tweet

Subscribe to receive free email updates: