Rush Battle Roughnecks Friday, March 9

March 7, 2012 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release


Edmonton, AB--- The Edmonton Rush will look to end a five-game losing skid head-to-head against the arch-rival Calgary Roughnecks as the National Lacrosse League's Battle of Alberta heats up with a home-and-home series this weekend.

The Rush will play host to the Roughnecks on Friday night, and the teams meet against Saturday night in Calgary where the Roughnecks won the inaugural foray into the season series with a 12-8 verdict in mid-February.

Edmonton is coming off a bye week in the schedule that leaves them with two games in-hand on the rest of the West Division. The fourth-place Rush are four games behind league- and division-leading Colorado, but just two back of both Calgary and Minnesota. Calgary took a tumble this past weekend by dropping a 15-11 decision to Minnesota.

Prior to the bye, the Rush snapped a three-game losing streak by taking out the Philadelphia Wings 12-10 at Rexall Place on Feb. 24. It was a well-rounded attack for the Rush as eight different scorers hit the back of the net with Zack Greer leading the way as he notched a hat trick. The biggest surprise of the night, however, came from veteran defender Derek Suddons, who scored a shorthanded marker and registered the game-winner.

Shawn Williams and Corey Small potted power-play goals for Edmonton with singles also supplied by Brett Mydske, Tom Johnson, Aaron Wilson, and John Lafontaine. Kyle Rubisch also had a big game for the Rush as he chipped in three assists plus 11 loose balls - an effort that earned him the NLL's Defensive Player of the Week honor of Week #8.

Calgary holds a significant edge with a 17-4 all-time record against Edmonton. The Roughnecks have won five straight against the Rush, including a sweep of last season's season series, and they have taken 10 of the last 12 encounters.

The Roughnecks and Rush were battling it out in the first meeting between the clubs this season, with Calgary holding a narrow 7-6 lead after three quarters of play. But the Roughnecks bolted away in the fourth quarter, outscoring Edmonton 6-2 in the final 15 minutes to salt away a one-sided victory. Scott Evans led the Rush with two goals and three assists, while Corey Small supplied a pair of goals and two helpers. Jarret Toll, Tom Johnson, Aaron Ward, and Zack Greer also scored for the Rush in the loss.

The last Edmonton victory in regular-season play against Calgary came in the 2010 season, and the Rush still hold the lone playoff win over the Roughnecks as they bounced the defending league champions out of the 2010 post-season with an 11-7 win in the West Division semifinal.

The Rush nearly ended their slump against the Roughnecks in the final meeting of last season's set, but Edmonton couldn't hold leads after the first and third quarters, and surrendered nine goals in the fourth quarter. A bright spot for the Rush was Ryan Ward as he led the Rush attack with two goals and five assists, and set a team record for points in a quarter with six as he fired in both of his goals and chalked up four helpers in the opening period. Scott Evans also had a seven-point effort for the Rush (4 goals, 3 assists) while Corey Small supplied five assists.

Among last season's Roughneck wins over the Rush was a 12-11 victory in Edmonton's first-ever matinee game on February 20. Calgary took an early-season home-and-home series by counts of 15-11 at Rexall Place and then 12-11 in OT back on the Roughnecks' home floor.

Three of the Rush's biggest franchise wins have come against the Roughnecks - all of them coming on the Roughnecks' home floor at the Saddledome. Edmonton earned its first playoff win in franchise history with an 11-7 victory over the defending league champs in the 2010 West Division semifinal. While a number of players stepped up in the playoff win, it was a dominating outing from goaltender Matt Disher that made the biggest difference as he set an NLL playoff record with a 60-save performance. Edmonton's history against Calgary includes the Rush's first-ever win in franchise history, coming seven games into the inaugural 2006 season. Cam Bergman scored the game-winner with less than one second remaining in regulation time as the Rush stunned the Roughnecks with a 12-11 upset. One year later, the Rush did it again to the Roughnecks on their home floor as Chris Gill set a Rush team record for goals in a game with a six as Edmonton slipped away with a 13-12 decision.

The Rush are anchored this season by the NLL's stingiest defense. Edmonton has given up the fewest goals (62) in the league with much of the credit belonging to goaltender Aaron Bold, who racked up 37 saves against Philadelphia. Bold, who has started every game this season since coming over in an off-season trade with Rochester, leads the NLL with 9.83 goals-against average and a .795 save-percentage. Kyle Rubisch has also played a huge part in Edmonton's defensive play as he is second in the league with 14 forced turnovers and leads the Rush with 57 loose balls.

Aaron Ward, the Rush's leading scorer in 2010, and Shawn Williams, who came with Aaron Bold in the trade with Rochester, are tied atop Edmonton's scoring list with 24 points. Williams has 18 assists to top the Rush, one up on Ward, and three on Corey Small. Zack Greer is the only Rush shooter so far this season to reach double-digits with 11 goals, with Corey Small and Scott Evans next at eight apiece.

Jeff Shattler leads Calgary in scoring with 36 points, two up on Shawn Evans. Curtis Dickson, a constant thorn in the side of the Rush, leads the Roughnecks with 16 goals. Former Rush Ryan McNish has appeared in just one game for Calgary - the clash earlier this season with Edmonton.

Rush vs. Roughnecks - Season-by-Season Glance

2012

12-8 Roughnecks win at Calgary (Curtis Dickson nets hat trick plus two assists)

2011

19-14 Roughnecks win at Calgary (Jeff Shattler totals nine points with one goal and eight assists)

15-11 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Dane Dobbie collects three goals and six assists)

12-11 Roughnecks OT win at Calgary (Mike Scherman pots the game-winner)

12-11 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Jeff Shattler notches hat trick plus five assists)

2010

14-11 Rush win at Edmonton (Dean Hill notches hat trick and adds one assist)

13-8 Roughnecks win at Calgary (Josh Sanderson picks up three goals and three assists)

14-13 Roughnecks OT win at Edmonton (Josh Sanderson earns hat trick including game-winner)

*11-7 Rush win at Calgary (Ryan Ward notches nine points including eight assists)

*denotes playoff game

2009

10-9 Roughnecks OT win at Calgary (Curt Malawsky notches the game-winner)

22-10 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Dane Dobbie collects 11 points including seven goals)

14-13 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Tracey Kelusky racks up eight points including four goals)

2008

11-9 Rush win at Edmonton (Jimmy Quinlan pots four goals plus one assist)

18-7 Roughnecks win at Calgary (Kaleb Toth registers nine points including four goals)

12-8 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Curt Malawsky registers four goals and one assist)

2007

13-12 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Kaleb Toth and Lewis Ratcliff each with four points)

13-12 Rush win at Calgary (Chris Gill sets club record with six goals)

17-11 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Tracey Kelusky collects two goals and seven assists)

2006

11-9 Roughnecks win at Calgary (Lewis Ratcliff scores five goals)

12-9 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Kaleb Toth and Tracey Kelusky each with seven points)

12-11 Rush win at Calgary (Pat Campbell earns player of the game with 54 saves)

16-9 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Lewis Ratcliff notches four goals and two assists)

Statistically Speaking: While sporting the league's best defense and goals-against, the Rush have the weakest offense with only 64 goals scored ... Calgary has the third-ranked offense in the entire NLL with 106 goals-for, and the second-best goals-against the West Division with 90 goals-against ... The Rush boast one of the league's best penalty-killing units which is running at a 57.1% clip. Edmonton's power play is sitting at 44.0% ... Shawn Williams leads the Rush with four power-play goals ... Roughnecks transition standout Geoff Snider leads the NLL with 124 loose balls and 160 faceoff wins.

By The Numbers: The Rush are 1-4 vs. the rest of the West Division while the Roughnecks are 4-2 against the West. The Rush's lone win against the West was on the road at Washington ... Second-year pro Jarret Toll is second on the Rush with 32 loose balls, and is tied with Chris Corbeil with eight forced turnovers ... Kyle Rubisch's Defensive Player of the Week honor for Week #8 was the Rush's second such award of the season. Aaron Bold was the DPW for Week #4 ... The Rush are outscoring their opposition in the first (19-10) and third quarters (19-12).



National Lacrosse League Stories from March 7, 2012


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