Game Notes: Champion's Cup Game 1
May 25, 2015 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release
The Edmonton Rush begin a quest for their first NLL Champion's Cup title on Saturday night when they are hosted by the Toronto Rock in Game 1 of the Final.
Edmonton will host Game 2 of the NLL's first-ever All-Canadian championship on Friday, June 5 on Crystal Glass Field at Northlands. If Game 3 is necessary, the series will head back to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on June 13.
This will be the second trip to the Final for the Rush after falling short to the Rochester Knighthawks in the 2012 Champion's Cup - a victory which marked the first of three straight championships for the K-Hawks. This series marks Toronto's ninth trip to the Champion's Cup and the Rock will be in search of their seventh title.
The Rush earned their way back to the Cup Final by eliminating the Calgary Roughnecks in the West Final last Saturday, while Toronto ousted Rochester in the East Final.
Game 1 of the Cup Final will be the third meeting of the season between the Rush and Rock, with both teams coming away with victories on their opponent's home turf. In fact, the Rush have won three straight games in Toronto after losing their first seven appearances at the ACC. Toronto captured the first meeting of this season, handing the Rush their first of two straight home-turf overtime losses with a 16-15 win back on Feb. 27th. Mark Matthews (2 goals, 6 assists) and Zack Greer (5 goals, 3 assists) both notched eight points for the Rush, while Robert Church and Ben McIntosh both added two goals. Jarrett Davis and Adrian Sorichetti rounded out the Rush scoring with Aaron Bold supplying 26 saves. The Rock's win snapped a three-game losing streak to the Rush.
The Rush returned the favor by beating the Rock 11-9 in Toronto on March 21st behind a seven-point game from Mark Matthews (2 goals, 5 assists). Edmonton's star of the game, though, was an unlikely source as defender Nik Bilic scored two crucial unassisted back-to-back goals. Bilic's first goal, coming on the power play, tied the game 9-9, and he then fired home the game-winner less than three minutes later. Robert Church (3 goals, 2 assists) added five points for the Rush, and goals from Ryan Dilks, Zack Greer, Jarrett Davis, and Tyler Melnyk completed the Rush scoring.
With that win, Edmonton closed the gap on the all-time record between the teams with the Rock still holding the edge at 11-8. The Rush swept both games from the Rock in 2014 on their way to a record-setting 14-0 start to the season.
The Rush led the West Final 1-0 over Calgary heading into Game 2 last Saturday but the Roughnecks staved off elimination with a 12-9 win behind an outstanding relief performance by goaltender Mike Poulin. Calgary took an early 3-0 lead but the Rush responded with seven straight goals in the first quarter, forcing Roughnecks starter Frankie Scigliano to the bench. Poulin came on and stonewalled the Rush to the tune of 29 saves and holding Edmonton off the scoreboard for more than 23 minutes. Robert Church, with a hat trick, and two goals each from Riley Loewen and Zack Greer paced the Rush attack with singles coming from Ryan Dilks and Jeremy Thompson.
Though momentum appeared to be with Calgary heading into Game 3, the Rush dominated the 10-minute mini-game. After a quiet Game 2, Mark Matthews came alive in the extra time by scoring Edmonton's first goal with a great move, setting up Ben McIntosh's goal, and rounding things out with an empty-netter. But it was defender Jeff Cornwall who came up with the biggest goals, notching the game-winner with an unassisted breakaway marker just 46 seconds after Matthews had tied the game 1-1.
Rush vs. Rock - Season-by-Season Glance
2015
11-9 Rush win at Toronto (Mark Matthews racks up seven points including five assists)
16-15 OT Rock win at Edmonton (Rob Hellyer caps 10-point game with overtime winner)
2014
13-10 Rush win at Toronto (Zack Greer scores hat trick in five-point effort)
11-10 Rush win at Edmonton (Cory Conway racks up two goals and three assists)
2013
17-12 Rush win at Toronto (Mark Matthews and Zack Greer each notch hat tricks)
10-9 Rock win at Edmonton (Garrett Billings leads Toronto attack with six points)
2012
12-11 Rock win at Edmonton (Colin Doyle racks up one goal and seven assists)
12-8 Rock win at Toronto (Garrett Billings registers one goal and six assists)
2011
13-7 Rock win at Toronto (Blaine Manning notches one goal and five assists)
18-14 Rush win at Edmonton (Corey Small registers seven points including hat trick)
2010
16-7 Rock win at Toronto (Blaine Manning pots 10 points on five goals and five assists)
14-13 Rush win at Edmonton (Ryan Powell notches eight points including four goals)
2009
16-12 Rush win at Edmonton (Andy Secore fires in five goals plus three assists)
16-9 Rock win at Toronto (Lewis Ratcliff scores four goals with three assists)
2008
14-9 Rock win at Edmonton (Josh Sanderson picks up one goal and six assists)
14-9 Rock win at Toronto (Aaron Wilson registers four goals and one assist)
2007
12-9 Rock win at Edmonton (Aaron Wilson racks up one goal and four assists)
2006
14-8 Rock win at Toronto (Blaine Manning scores once and chips in 10 assists)
Rush vs. Rock Head-to-Head in 2015
Rush Rock
Mark Matthews - 4 goals, 11 assists Josh Sanderson - 3 goals, 13 assists
Robert Church - 5 goals, 4 assists Rob Hellyer - 5 goals, 6 assists
Zack Greer - 6 goals, 3 assists Brett Hickey - 5 goals, 4 assists
Ben McIntosh - 2 goals, 5 assists Stephan Leblanc - 3 goals, 5 assists
Aaron Bold - 69 saves Brandon Miller - 81 saves
Smart Moves: The Rush and Rock both crafted effective moves at the NLL Trade Deadline. Edmonton acquired former first-round pick Matthew Dinsdale from Calgary, and he managed 18 points (9 goals, 9 assists) in the final five regular-season games. In the playoffs, Dinsdale has mustered seven points, including six assists, in three games. Toronto swapped holdout Garrett Billings to New England for Kevin Crowley who managed 12 points in four regular-season games and has since added six points in the playoffs. Toronto also got a boost from the return of injured veteran Colin Doyle, who has put up six points in the playoffs. Doyle was the Champion's Cup MVP in the Rock's first title win back in 1999, and he added two more Cup MVP's to his trophy case in 2002 and 2005.
Statistically Speaking: After ending the regular season second in the league in scoring, the Rush's Mark Matthews sits fifth in playoff scoring with 13 points. Matthews and teammate Zack Greer are tied for seventh in goals with five apiece. Playing the set-up man, Matthews sits tied for fourth in playoff assists with eight, and he has a league-leading five helpers on the power play ... Edmonton's Matthew Dinsdale is tied for 12th with six assists in the playoffs ... Robert Church, who missed Game 1 of the Calgary series with an knee injury, and teammate Riley Loewen are tied for first in the playoff with two power-play goals ... The two best goaltenders in the playoffs will meet in the Champion's Cup series. The Rush's Aaron Bold has a 9.29 goals-against average while Toronto's Brandon Miller sports a 9.23 GAA. Bold has a .783 save-percentage and Miller's sits at .826 ... The Rush went 6-for-11 (54.6%) on the power play against Calgary and killed four of six shorthanded situations (66.7%). The Rock were 4-for-7 (57.1%) on the power play against Rochester and killed six of seven penalties (85.7%).
By The Numbers: Rock goalie Brandon Miller has a one-point lead on Edmonton's Mark Matthews for top spot in the playoffs Three-Star Voting. Miller has 11 points (2 x First Star, 1 x Third Star) and Matthews has 10 points (2 x First Star). Rush goalie Aaron Bold and Toronto's top scorer Josh Sanderson are tied for second with six points each (each with 2 x Second Star) ... Jeremy Thompson of the Rush, who scored a terrific individual effort goal in Game 2 against Calgary, is fifth in the NLL playoff with five caused turnovers, and he is tied for sixth with 16 loose balls ... Rush captain Chris Corbeil is tied for 12th in the playoff with 13 loose balls ... After losing three of their first four games against East Division foes this season, the Rush won their next three, including a victory in Toronto, to end the year 4-3 against the East.
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National Lacrosse League Stories from May 25, 2015
- Game Notes: Champion's Cup Game 1 - Edmonton Rush
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