Champion's Cup: Game 1 Setup
May 26, 2015 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release
Derek Keenan didn't need many words to sum up the West Final for the Edmonton Rush, and in turn, offer a prelude to the Champion's Cup Final.
"It's always better when it's not easy," offered Keenan
It definitely wasn't easy getting past the Calgary Roughnecks in the West Final last Saturday night but the Rush, who won Game 1 on their home turf, neatly recovered from a setback in Game 2 and dominated Game 3 by a 4-1 score to take the series. And the six-time champion Toronto Rock aren't going to be a walk in the park either as the Rush return to the Cup for the first time since 2012 still in search of their crowning glory in the NLL.
The NLL's first-ever All-Canadian final begins on Saturday night as the Rush travel to Toronto for Game 1 of the best-of-three Champion's Cup. Game 2 will be on Crystal Glass Field at Northlands on Friday, June 5, and if necessary, Game 3 will be back in Toronto on Saturday, June 13.
But why should it be easy? Nothing has been for the Rush in 2015. On the turf, it's been a more difficult climb to the top than it was a year ago when the Rush won 14 straight, finished the regular season 16-2, and then were ousted by Calgary in the West Final.
This season, particularly off the turf, it's been a grind.
The Rush started the season 0-2 while Coach Keenan was away from the club dealing with his ailing wife. Then they lost back-to-back overtime games at home to their biggest rivals - the Roughnecks and the Rock. In the midst of the season, Rush goalie Aaron Bold revealed that his life partner Michelle was contending with severe breast cancer. Though the games paled in comparison to the battles in the Keenan and Bold households, they still had to be won. And the Rush did win, earning top spot in the West and now a trip to the Cup Final series.
After all that, it was easy for Keenan to give his opinion on the Rush's best quality.
"I like our resiliency," he said. "We've been through a lot together but we seem to relish the adversity and embrace it. We had to do it again this past weekend but we bounced back and did it.
"I think this team just really loves to be together and now we have two or three more weeks together. They love to compete together and battle together. They like to pat each other on the back and kick each other in the butt."
The Rush will need more patting and kicking against the Rock as the NLL's two best teams during the regular season fittingly clash for the title. There's very little separating the teams as illustrated by their split of two meetings during the regular season with both teams winning on their opponent's home floor. Three goals was the total margin of victory in the two games, and both teams are loaded with talent at both ends of the floor.
"It's going to come down to who wants it more," said Robert Church, the Rush's second-leading scorer during the regular season with a career-high 92 points.
"The team that is going to battle harder for loose balls and is willing to put everything on the line is probably going to be the team that comes out holding the Champion's Cup. This series is going to be a battle from the first whistle to the last, and this is exactly what we have been preparing for all season long."
Perhaps even longer.
For the Rush, getting back to the Cup Final has been at the top of team's season goals since they lost the winner-take-all one-game championship back in 2012. It was a dramatic loss as the Rush were in total control for the opening half only to see it all far apart in a 9-6 setback to Rochester - a win that sparked the first of three straight championships for the Knighthawks.
Three strong regular seasons, a record-setting winning streak, and a host of individual accolades have come to the Rush since that title game of 2012 but the only thing the collective group has really wanted was to get back and this time come away with the Cup.
Now it's there for the taking. Time to seize the moment.
"We are excited for sure. This group we have right now has gone through so much together, it's made us stronger," said Rush defender Brett Mydske.
"This is the closest team I've been a part of and it really is a family. At the beginning of the year we were thinking of something to put on the back of our warm up shirts, and we came up with 'Brothers'."
Great Goal: Jeff Cornwall managed just one goal during the regular season so he was about the last guy on the Rush you'd expect to be the offensive hero of Game 3 of the West Final. But when he put the ball behind Calgary goalie Mike Poulin in the 10-minute mini-game, Cornwall instantly claimed the honor of the Rush's Goal of the Year.
Cornwall put together a colossal individual effort, scooping up a loose ball, squirming past three Calgary defending in the midst of a line change in front of both benches, and beating Poulin on a clear-cut breakaway. The goal stood as the game-winner and propelled the Rush to the Champion's Cup Final.
"Just an outstanding goal, to get out of traffic like that, and a great finish," said Keenan.
Rush-ing to the Worlds: The Edmonton Rush will be well-represented with three-time defending champion Team Canada at the 2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship coming up in September.
Rush GM/head coach Derek Keenan is an assistant coach on the national team and part of the selection group which ultimately chose seven members of the Rush - forwards Mark Matthews and Zack Greer, defenders Kyle Rubisch, Chris Corbeil, Brett Mydske and Ryan Dilks, and goaltender Aaron Bold.
Canada's first game on Sept. 20th should be a good one as they take on the host Iroquios Nationals at the Onondaga Nation Arena near Syracuse, New York. Canada's pool includes the United States and England.
National Lacrosse League Stories from May 26, 2015
- Fans Take to Social Media to Thank Team - Rochester Knighthawks
- Champion's Cup: Game 1 Setup - Edmonton Rush
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
