Rush All In
March 12, 2014 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release
Edmonton, AB---The Edmonton Rush are the top team in the NLL and off to the best start in league history for one single reason.
More so than any other time in the franchise's existence, the Rush are playing as a team. And every member of the team will need to step up as they face a huge threat to their perfect 9-0 start when they clash with the Calgary Roughnecks in the NLL's Battle of Alberta. The second of four installments in the provincial rivalry takes place on Friday at the Saddledome.
"Everyone has put the team first and we have 20 guys willing to do whatever is asked of them," said Rush assistant coach Jimmy Quinlan.
"There are no agendas, no complaints. Everyone is pulling the rope."
Quinlan singled out forward Cory Conway as one of the biggest examples of this philosophy.
"He's been willing to be a role player at times and then at other times he's the guy taking the ball and leading the way," said Quinlan.
"He's been very dynamic and versatile and he's been better each games. He's got a lot of confidence and shooting the ball more and when he fires the ball from the outside it pays off for our lefties and our other righties. He's excellent at creating space.
"The coaches have been preaching for everyone to buy in and he's really done that."
It won't be easy for the Rush to lasso the Roughnecks, who boast the NLL's most-potent offense including top shooters like Dane Dobbie, Jeff Shattler, and Shawn Evans. But the Saddledome has been where the Rush have mustered up some of the biggest wins in franchise history. Among them, the first win in Rush history came in Calgary and the Rush shockingly dropped the Roughnecks in a pair of West Division Semifinal matchups in the only two playoff clashes between the rivals.
The Rush are also on a serious tear of being the NLL's most dominant road warriors. Edmonton has won 10 regular-season road games in a row dating back to last season. That streak includes a win in Calgary, but the Rush's last road loss came on the Roughnecks' home turf last February.
"It's a very tough place to get a win," said Rush leading scorer Mark Matthews. "We have not started well or finished that well of late so we need to sharpen things up to get a big win there."
Most of that sharpening will come in the lead-up to Friday's game and was strong pointed out in head coach Derek Keenan's post-game synopsis after the Rush slipped past Vancouver 10-9 last Saturday at Rexall Place. The win was a good one as the Rush showed plenty of grit in dominating most of the fourth quarter, but they wouldn't have needed the late surge if they'd have beared down the fundamentals. Repairing those minor breakdowns starts in practice and shoot arounds and then carries right into the heat of battle come game time.
"He was eluding to missing simple swing passes and not getting the ball back inside when we have a guy open, defensively having some breakdowns in our principles, or just throwing a couple of balls away or over-running a loose ball," said Quinlan.
"It's about getting back to the basics and making sure we've got the ball before we leave the zone or taking pride in our passes whether it's a breakout pass or a pass that start our offense.
"It's all correctable and if we start to make those corrections we'll see some better results. It's simply a matter of focusing and putting a little more attention to the details."
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