Saskatchewan Rush vs. Rochester Knighthawks
(Saskatchewan leads best-of-three series 1-0)
6:00PM (CST), Saturday, June 2nd 2018
Blue Cross Arena, Rochester NY
Watch: Twitter, SaskTel maxTV Ch. 49/349
Listen: 98 COOL FM Saskatoon
Overview: The Saskatchewan Rush are one win away from claiming their third National Lacrosse League championship, and they can make it happen in Game 2 of the 2018 NLL Cup Final.
Saskatchewan jumped out to the 1-0 series lead last Saturday in Saskatoon, utilizing a seven-goal run that included a natural hat trick from Robert Church to notch a 16-9 win over the Rochester Knighthawks. The Knighthawks now host Game 2 and will be looking to force the series to a third and deciding matchup back in Saskatchewan on June 9th.
The NLL Cup matchup brings together two teams that have won five of the last six league titles. Rochester has a total of four NLL titles and are the only team to win three consecutive championships when they were crowned champs in 2012, 2013, and 2014. In 2012, the Knighthawks faced the Rush for the Cup and battled back from a 5-1 deficit at halftime to beat the Rush 9-6.
Statistically Speaking: Thanks for his six-point effort (4 goals, 2 assists) in Game 1 of the Cup Final, Robert Church moved into the lead on the Rush’s scoring list and into a tie for third in the league alongside Rochester’s Joe Resetarits and Cody Jamieson, both of whom have played one more game. Church and Rochester’s Austin Shanks are tied for third with seven goals apiece … The Rush’s Mark Matthews and Marty Dinsdale are for fifth with seven assists each … The Rush’s Ben McIntosh is tied for tops in the playoffs with two power-play goals alongside Cody Jamieson of the Knighthawks … Mark Matthews of the Rush is tied for the league-lead in the playoffs with four power-play assists … The Rush were just 1-for-7 with the man-advantage in Game 1 though a number of those power plays were cut short due to their own penalties and four were assessed on K-Hawks Billy Dee Smith very late in the fourth quarter … Rush goalie Evan Kirk is tied for the lead in playoff wins with two and stands second with an 11.00 goals-against average. His counterpart Matt Vinc of Rochester is tops in the NLL playoffs with an .803 save-percentage ... 2018 Regular Season: Rush star Mark Matthews completed the regular season in style as he set a new NLL record for assists in a single season with 84, and captured the league scoring title with 116 points, which also broke his own team record for points in a season. Matthews led the NLL with 33 power-play assists and was tied for the league-lead with three game-winning goals … The Rush’s Robert Church finished second in league scoring with 107 points and tied for second in the league with 47 goals, one up on teammate Ben McIntosh. Church also finished sixth with 60 assists … Rochester’s Joe Resetarits finished fourth in league scoring with 100 points and tied for third with 63 assists. His teammate Cody Jamieson tied for eighth in league scoring with 89 points … Saskatchewan finished the regular season with the top-ranked power play at 67.8% (59-for-87). Robert Church, Ben McIntosh and Ryan Keenan all tied for third in the league with 14 power-play goals, and Church also finished second with 27 power-play assists … The Rush finished with the fifth-ranked penalty kill at 52.8% with eight shorthanded goals … Rochester finished the season with the second-ranked power play at 59.7% but the Knighthawks had the second-worst penalty kill at 48.8% … Rush goalie Evan Kirk led the league with 12 wins and finished with the second-best goals-against average at 10.82. He also had the fourth-best save-percentage at .777 … Knighthawks goalie Matt Vinc, a five-time winner of the Goaltender of the Year award, finished second in the league with a .782 save-percentage … Saskatchewan finished with a league-best 19.9% shooting percentage. Rush captain Chris Corbeil ranked fourth at 38.9% (7 goals on 18 shots) and fellow transition Adrian Sorichetti was 10th at 31.8% (7 goals on 22 shots).
By the Numbers: Rush defenceman Ryan Dilks, who has had two terrific games in the playoffs, leads the NLL with five caused turnovers. His teammate Kyle Rubisch is tied for second and just one behind … A group of Knighthawks holds down the top-four spots in the playoffs when it comes to loose ball scoops - Graeme Hossack (first, 26); Jake Wither (second, 22); Luc Magnan (third, 17); Scott Campbell (fourth, 16). Rush captain Chris Corbeil leads his team with 13 … Despite the individual numbers, the Knighthawks were badly beaten in loose-ball scoops in Game 1 as the Rush held a 80-55 advantage and Saskatchewan transition Jeff Cornwall led all players with 10 … 2018 Regular Season: Saskatchewan won the NLL’s attendance derby with an average of 14,639 - 458 better than Buffalo. The Rush finished the season 6-3 on their home turf … The Rush led the NLL with 254 goals scored and just 196 goals allowed. Saskatchewan topped the league with 14.11 goals scored per game and 10.89 goals allowed per game. Rochester finished third in both goals scored per game (13.11) and goals allowed per game (11.67) … The Rush’s Mark Matthews, Ryan Keenan and Robert Church all finished the regular season with 18-game assist streaks … Jeremy Thompson of the Rush finished second in the league with 164 loose balls and fourth in faceoff wins with 234 … Rochester had one of the NLL’s best rookie classes in recent memory. Austin Shanks finished second in rookie scoring with 52 points along with first in goals (27) and second in assists (25) as well as first in rookie power-play goals (7). Fellow first-year pro Eric Fannell finished third in rookie scoring with 37 points, while fellow rookie Jake Withers led the entire NLL with 279 faceoff wins and was fifth in loose balls with 148 … Rush defenceman Kyle Rubisch finished seventh with 25 caused turnovers and 10th with 130 loose balls … Knighthawks defenceman Graeme Hossack finished first in the league with 34 caused turnovers and wound up third with 163 loose balls … Saskatchewan was the only team in the league with three players in the top 10 of the Three Star Award voting. Robert Church was fifth with 26 points (3 x First Star, 3 x Second Star, 2 x Second Star), Mark Matthews was sixth with 24 points (3 x First Star, 2 x Second Star, 3 x Third Star), and Evan Kirk was eighth with 21 points (3 x First Star, 2 x Second Star) … The Rush outscored their opposition 62-30 in first-quarter play … The Rush were 12-2 when leading after the first quarter, 13-1 when leading at halftime, 13-1 when leading after three, and 11-0 when outshooting their opponents … The Knighthawks were 8-0 when leading at halftime and after three quarters, but they were 0-8 when trailing after three.
(SaskRush.com)
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