Rochester Runs Past Rush 9-6 in Champion's Cup
Published on May 19, 2012 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release
Rochester, NY - After a dominating opening half of play the Edmonton Rush fell victim to an impressive seven-goal Rochester run in the second half as the Knighthawks earned the Champion's Cup with a 9-6 victory Saturday night in National Lacrosse League playoff action at Blue Cross Arena.
The two teams combined for two completely opposite halves of play as Edmonton dominated the first two quarters and Rochester in the final two as the Knighthawks overcame a 5-1 deficit at halftime en route to the victory.
The Knighthawks won their third NLL crown following up on league titles in both the 1997 and 2007 Champion's Cup game.
Highlights of the game are available at: http://www.nll.com/page/show/470900-game-highlights
Edmonton, in its first ever trip to the NLL final, had both offensive and defensive breakdowns in the second half Saturday after routing the Minnesota Swarm 15-3 in the West Division Final last Saturday in Minnesota and stopping the Calgary Roughnecks 19-11 May 5. Rochester made the Champion's Cup game by beating the defending champion Toronto Rock 17-13 in Toronto last weekend and Philadelphia 14-13 on May 4.
The title matchup featured a defensive struggle early on in the contest as the clubs combined for only one goal in the opening 15 minutes and after Edmonton led 5-1 at halftime, Rochester went on their run to grab a 8-5 lead early in the fourth quarter.
The Rush went 26:22 of scoreless play from late in the second quarter to the fourth frame that led to Rochester's dramatic turnaround.
"It was a tale of two halves. They were real good in the second (half) and we weren't as good," said Rush head coach and general manager Derek Keenan. "Our offense went stagnant. We kind of stopped doing the things that we did well in the first half and we had done all through the playoffs.
"That happens in lacrosse. Credit to them (Rochester). They were real good defensively and offensively in the second half, no doubt about it."
Cody Jamieson paced the Knighthawks with eight points (4G, 4A) to lead all scorers and was named the game's most valuable player.
Zack Greer (2G, 2A) led the Edmonton attack with four points, while Ryan Ward (1G, 2A), Aaron Wilson, Jarrett Toll and Chris Corbeil added singles.
Rochester's Mike Accursi (2G, 1A), Johnny Powless (2G, 1A) and Stephen Keogh (1G, 2A) all had three points in the win.
Knighthawks' goalie Matt Vinc stopped 46-of-52 shots, including 26 in the first half, to earn the win, while Rush goaltender Bold stopped 26-of-35 shots in the loss.
"Coach said, 'you have to play 60-minutes in these games', and we obviously didn't do that," said Greer. "The offense slowed up a little bit in the third and they went on that run and then we got some looks in the fourth but Vino made some good saves and we hit some bars, so credit goes out to him and they buried their chances when they had to and ours didn't go in.
"I'm proud of the our guys, but it's not the way we wanted to end it."
Vinc, with several huge stops in the opening half, kept the game closer than the score looked and helped turn the game around in Rochester's favour with a tremendous performance in the cage.
"It's always a concern coming into a game that a goalie can steal one and perhaps he did it tonight," said Keenan of Vinc's effort. "You know Aaron's (Bold) stole a few for us this year as well, so it can go both ways.
"We weren't able to answer on offense. Keep in mind, we kept a team to nine goals and the best way to answer a run is to score and we just weren't able to.
"You kind of look back and maybe we should have saved a couple of goals for tonight the last two weeks because we put up a pile but fell short tonight," he added.
"I was in the dressing room before the game and the guys so badly wanted to win a championship for Edmonton," said Rush owner Bruce Urban. "To win the city over and win over the hearts of our fans, the small-knit group of loyal people you see at every game. And we need to grow that into a larger group. We badly wanted to win a championship for this city and just didn't get it done."
The Rush opened the scoring 92-seconds into the opening quarter when Greer fired from 25-feet out past Vinc and that would stand as the only tally as Edmonton outshot the Knighthawks 13-6.
Greer made it a 2-0 lead for the visitors on his spinner 2:44 into the second quarter and Corbeil made it a three goal spread with a transition marker two minutes later before Jamieson hit the board for Rochester at 7:13.
Wilson regained the three-goal bulge for Edmonton with his quick-stick tally on the power-play two minutes later for a 4-1 lead and the Rush added to the score with another transition marker as Toll ran the floor and beat Vinc with 2:22 left in the half.
Edmonton outshot Rochester 31-11 in the first two quarters.
The Knighthawks turned the tide in the third quarter with a four goal run on markers from Accursi, Powless and Jamieson second two in a row to tie the score 5-5.
Rochester went ahead for the first time in the game on Accursi's power-play marker and Keogh put the 'Hawks up 7-5 less than a minutes later to take the lead into the final quarter.
Powless made it an eight goal run for Rochester three minutes into the fourth frame to move ahead 8-5 and Ward stopped the bleeding by notching Edmonton's first goal in 26:22 with his shot from Vinc's right side at 9:00.
Trailing 8-6 late in the fourth Edmonton pulled Bold for the extra attacker and despite Edmonton's pressure, Rochester weathered the storm and scored a late tally to win the 2012 Champion's Cup.
Despite the loss in the Champion's Cup, it was a dramatic turnaround for Edmonton in 2012 after a series of calculated acquisitions over the past year by Keenan that netted the Rush leading scorer Shawn Williams, goaltender Aaron Bold and defenders Kyle Rubisch and Chris Corbeil along with Aaron Wilson, Tom Johnson, Jeff Cornwall and Steve Toll.
Edmonton was 2-7 midway through the 2012 season and then the Rush went 4-3 down the stretch and two consecutive road playoff wins earned Edmonton a trip to the league final.
The Rush also hold the No. 1 pick in the 2012 NLL Draft after Keenan traded Athan Iannucci to Washington for the Stealth's first-round pick and Paul Rabil. The Rush has another first round selection in the draft, as well.
National Lacrosse League Stories from May 19, 2012
- Knighthawks Are World Champs - Rochester Knighthawks
- Rochester Runs Past Rush 9-6 in Champion's Cup - Edmonton Rush
- Rochester Runs Past Rush 9-6 in Champion's Cup - Edmonton Rush
- NLL Champions's Cup presented by Reebok - Tonight at 5:30 p.m. Shaw Cable 303 HD - Edmonton Rush
- National Lacrosse League Championship Game Tonight at 7:30 Et; Watch - NLL
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