Rush Heading to Philly to Take on the Wings Saturday, March 24
Published on March 16, 2012 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release
Edmonton, AB---The Edmonton Rush will make their first-ever trip to the City of Brotherly Love for a clash with the Philadelphia Wings in National Lacrosse League action this Saturday.
The Rush are coming off a difficult home-and-home weekend series with the Calgary Roughnecks that saw Edmonton drop both games and fall to fifth in the NLL's West Division. Edmonton still holds two games in-hand on fourth-place Washington, and the Rush are just two games behind third-place Minnesota.
Philadelphia, which downed Toronto 12-10 last Friday, leads the tight East Division standings with a one-half game lead on second-place Rochester.
The matchup with the Wings will be the second meeting between the clubs in less than three weeks. The Rush snapped a three-game losing skid by topping the Wings 12-10 at Rexall Place on Feb. 24. Defensive stalwart Derek Suddons made a rare offensive impression in that clash as he struck for a shorthanded marker along with the game-winner. Zack Greer notched the hat trick for the Rush while Shawn Williams, Corey Small, Brett Mydske, Tom Johnson, Aaron Wilson, and John Lafontaine added singles.
The win pushed the Rush to 2-1 all-time against Philadelphia. The Wings took the lone meeting of the teams in 2009 while the Rush won the only other contest - Edmonton's home-opener of the 2007 campaign which was also the Rush's first-ever home-floor victory at Rexall Place.
Edmonton enters the game in Philadelphia on a low after being swept by Calgary last weekend, leaving the Rush with seven straight regular-season losses to their provincial rival.
Last Friday, Scott Evans became just the second Rush player to score six goals in a game - the sock trick as it's known in lacrosse circles - but his phenomenal effort wasn't enough as the Roughnecks eared a 13-10 win at Rexall Place. Tom Johnson, Aaron Wilson, Kyle Rubisch, and Zack Greer all added singles for the Rush, while Shawn Williams chipped in four assists.
One night later at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, the Roughnecks turned a tight game into a rout as they outscored the Rush 7-0 in the fourth quarter en route to a 16-9 victory. The outcome spoiled a historic night for the Rush's Shawn Williams as he became just the ninth player in NLL history to reach the 1,000-point plateau in the midst of his second consecutive four-assist effort. Zack Greer, with the hat trick, led the Rush scoring while Scott Evans had a pair, and singles went to Derek Suddons, Corey Small, Ryan Ward, and Kyle Rubisch.
With his 11-point weekend, Scott Evans moved into a tie with Shawn Williams atop the Rush scoring chart. Evans leads the Rush with 16 goals while Williams is the top set-up man with 26 assists. Zack Greer is second on the Rush with 15 goals, and Ryan Ward is second in assists with 20.
Philadelphia is led offensively by a powerful trio. Dan Dawson leads the NLL with 46 assists and is second in the league with 57 points. Kevin Crowley is second in the league with 25 goals, closely followed by teammate Drew Westervelt who is fifth in goals with 23.
Rush vs. Wings - Season-by-Season Glance
2012
12-10 Rush win at Edmonton (Zack Greer notches the hat trick)
2009
19-14 Wings win at Edmonton (Merrick Thompson scores six goals)
2007
13-12 Rush win at Edmonton (First home-floor win in Rush history)
Statistically Speaking: Last season, Scott Evans became the first Rush player to lead the team in both goals and penalty minutes, and the power forward is on his way to pulling off that feat again. Evans has 16 goals and an NLL-leading 50 penalty minutes ... Hot on Evans's heels in penalty minutes are the Philadelphia duo of David Brock (second with 40 PIM) and Paul Dawson (third with 38 PIM) ... The Rush have scored a league-low 83 goals but still have the NLL's top defense having surrendered just 90 goals in eight games ... Edmonton's power play stands at 37.8% while the penalty killing is at 53.3%. The Rush, however, were bit for a three shorthanded goals in the third quarter of last Saturday's game against Calgary ... Rush defender Kyle Rubisch is having a strong season as he leads the NLL with 19 forced turnovers and is fifth in loose balls with 75. Rubisch had three assists and 11 loose balls against Philadelphia on Feb. 24 which earned him the NLL's Defensive Player of the Week award for Week #8 ... Brett Mydske stands fifth in the league with 12 forced turnovers.
By The Numbers: The losses to Calgary set back the breakout season of Rush goaltender Aaron Bold, who was yanked twice during the Saturday defeat. Bold now sits second in the NLL with a 10.68 goals-against average after leading the category for the entire season. Bold, who is fifth in the league with 292 saves, gave way to Brodie Macdonald whose first appearance of the season resulted in five goals on 13 shots in just over 20 minutes of action ... Philadelphia goalie Brandon Miller is fourth in the NLL in both goals-against average (11.66) and saves (324) ... Edmonton continues to struggle in the second and fourth quarters of games. The Rush have been outscored 24-15 in second quarters and 31-21 in fourth quarters. The Rush did outscore Calgary 6-5 in the fourth quarter of last Friday's game after trailing 6-3 at the half and 8-5 after three quarters. Edmonton was tied with Calgary 9-9 after three quarters in Saturday's loss ... Former Rush MVP Brodie Merrill, playing in his first season with the Wings, is third in the NLL with 88 loose balls.
Edmonton takes on the Philadelphia Wings Saturday, March 17 at Wells Fargo Center before returning to Rexall Place for a two-game homestand starting Saturday, March 24 against the Washington Stealth.
National Lacrosse League Stories from March 16, 2012
- Rock Fall 21-14 to Buffalo - Toronto Rock
- Washington Stealth to Hold Pink in the Rink Facebook Contest Next Week - Washington Stealth
- Rob Marshall Moved to Active Roster - Toronto Rock
- Rush Heading to Philly to Take on the Wings Saturday, March 24 - Edmonton Rush
- Washington Stealth's Tyler Richards Adds to Pink in the Rink Fundraising Efforts - Washington Stealth
- Celebrate Kids Day with Knighthawks - Rochester Knighthawks
- Minnesota Swarm's Ryan Benesch and Callum Crawford to Host Social Media Chats - Minnesota Swarm
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