Champions Cup: Game 2- Rush Ready to Rock

June 2, 2015 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release


All it will take is one more win. Easier said than done, that's for sure, but the Edmonton Rush are a win away from being crowned champions of the National Lacrosse League.

It's a good feeling to be up 1-0 in the best-of-three Champion's Cup series against the Toronto Rock with Game 2 slated for your home turf - Crystal Glass Field at Northlands in Edmonton. Taking that feeling from good, to great means winning the most important game in franchise history, this Friday night.

"Our team knows exactly what's on the line and how we have to play to be able to achieve it," said Robert Church, who helped orchestrate the 15-9 victory in Toronto last Saturday with a stellar three-goal, three-assist effort.

The Rush's Game 1 verdict at the Air Canada Centre - their fourth win in a row on the Rock's home floor - was perhaps the best game ever played the men in black and silver. They racked up goals, many of the highlight variety. They stonewalled the talented Rock shooters with solid defense and strong goaltending. They outran, outhit, and outworked the best team in the league. All of that led to a dominating performance and the opportunity for the Rush to win their first NLL title.

"Work ethic, 50/50 battles ... just work ethic and determination," said Rush goalie Aaron Bold after the win in Toronto. "We came in with a game plan of outworking them. They're an older team, they're very, very talented, they've been in situations where they're down a bit at half so they got back into it a bit. We had to steamroll just a little bit forward and were fortunate to do that. Take advantage of their slow transition a little bit and just keep on running. It caught up to them and we capitalized on transition and the opportunities we had."

It won't be an easy task as the Rock have won on the Rush's home turf as well, and they have a lineup that has been through many an NLL war. Yet the Rush have a plan. It's worked before and they don't plan on deviating from it with a Champion's Cup within reach.

"I would say sticking to our system and playing as one unit all season has played a major role into our success thus far," said the Rush's Adrian Sorichetti, who scored on one of the transition chance Bold spoke about - netting a terrific goal on Saturday taking the ball down the floor on a 3-on-1 break and finishing with a quick shot.

"We know Toronto is a great team and this next game will be our toughest challenge all season. Trust, commitment, and hard work are what we all buy into as a team, and carrying that into this next game will create the momentum we need."

Time To Recognize: The Rush have long been known as one of the NLL's premier defensive teams, and how could they not be when they boast four of the league's best defenders including three-time reigning Defensive Player of the Year Kyle Rubisch.

But after leading the NLL in goals this season, while continuing to boast a stellar defense, the Rush are finally getting their due on the offensive side of the ball. The offense has definitely stepped up its game in the 2015 playoffs as well. There was a brief hiccup in Game 1 of the West Final, but the attack has been steady since and even spectacular against Toronto in Game 1 of the Champion's Cup.

"I think that teams definitely know that we have a very capable offense but this team's identity all season, and playoffs long is our defense and goaltending. Defense wins championships," said Rush forward Robert Church.

Defensively in Game 1, the Rush did a number on the Rock's top guns especially veteran scoring whiz Josh Sanderson who was held to just two points. Edmonton held Toronto off the scoreboard for a stretch of over 15 minutes in the first half while scoring six straight goals to take command of the game.

"It's all about taking away time and space and not letting him turn around to make passes," said Rush GM/head coach Derek Keenan of limiting Sanderson's output. "We had a bunch of different guys on him at times, but basically it was team defense."



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