Rush Look to Set Record for Best Start

March 4, 2014 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release


Edmonton, AB--- The Edmonton Rush will take another step towards history as they look to extend their undefeated start to the 2014 NLL season on Saturday night against the Vancouver Stealth.

With their 11-10 victory over the Toronto Rock last Friday, the Rush equaled the best-ever start to an NLL season, originally set by the 1993 edition of the Buffalo Bandits when they completed the regular season with an 8-0 mark. The Bandits added two more wins in the playoffs to win the Champion's Cup and end the year at a perfect 10-0. The Rush need two more wins to match the best unbeaten campaign in NLL history.

The victory gives the Rush a 2.5-game lead in the West Division on the second-place Calgary Roughnecks with one game in-hand. Vancouver is last in the West, six games behind Edmonton and the Rush have two games in-hand on the Stealth. While the Rush have won eight in a row, the Stealth have lost six of their last seven. Vancouver's last win came Feb. 14 with a 19-9 victory in Colorado, but the next night they were bombed 20-9 in Calgary.

This will be the second of three meetings between the Rush and Stealth this season with the third matchup being the regular-season finale at Rexall Place on April 25. One of the Rush's stiffest tests during their unbeaten start came against Vancouver back on January 25 but they battled back from a 7-2 deficit at halftime to top the Stealth 9-8. The victory was aided by backup goalie Brodie Macdonald who came on in relief and made 23 saves to pick up in the win in his only appearance of the season so far. Curtis Knight and Mark Matthews each had two goals and three assists for the Rush. Zack Greer added a pair of goals, Jarrett Davis and Cory Conway each had a goal and three assists, and Robert Church notched a goal to round out the Rush scoring.

Mark Matthews, Cory Conway, and rookie Riley Loewen each had two goals for the Rush against Toronto, with singles going to Brett Mydske, Curtis Knight, Robert Church, Jarrett Davis, and Jeremy Thompson. Conway and Knight also both had three assists, while goaltender Aaron Bold earned his league-leading seventh win with 37 saves.

Mark Matthews continues to lead the Rush in scoring with 37 points, seven up on Curtis Knight who is tied with Matthews for the team lead in goals with 16. Zack Greer is next with 12 goals. Matthews is tops on the team with 21 assists, one ahead of Cory Conway who is also third on the team with 28 points.

Rush vs. Stealth - Season-by-Season Glance

2014

9-8 Rush win at Vancouver (Curtis Knight, Zack Greer, & Mark Matthews each score two goals)

2013

*12-11 Stealth win at Washington (Rhys Duch notches four goals and two assists)

15-10 Rush win at Edmonton (Mark Matthews registers "˜sock trick' with six goals)

12-10 Stealth win at Edmonton (Rhys Duch collects two goals and two assists)

18-10 Rush win at Washington (Mark Matthews ties team record with nine points)

*denotes playoff game - West Division Semifinal

2012

10-9 Rush win at Edmonton (Zack Greer paces Rush with four goals)

16-5 Rush win at Washington (Corey Small ties team record with nine-point game)

2011

14-12 Rush win at Edmonton (Scott Evans scores one goal and adds seven loose balls)

15-14 Rush win at Washington (Corey Small notches three goals and three assists)

18-10 Stealth win at Edmonton

2010

*12-11 Stealth OT win at Washington (Paul Rabil notches game-winner eight seconds into OT)

15-7 Stealth win at Washington (Lewis Ratcliff scores twice and adds five assists)

14-13 Rush OT win at Edmonton (Gavin Prout connects for seven points including three goals)

14-13 Rush win at Washington (Ryan Ward leads the way with four goals)

*denotes playoff game - West Division Final

2009

16-6 Stealth win at San Jose (Cam Sedgwick scores four goals and adds two assists)

11-10 Stealth win at San Jose (Jeff Zywicki racks up seven points including three goals)

2008

11-8 Stealth win at Edmonton (Colin Doyle notches four goals and adds two assists)

12-5 Rush win at Edmonton (Jimmy Quinlan picks up the hat trick)

14-6 Stealth win at San Jose (Colin Doyle chips in four assists)

2007

11-9 Stealth win at Edmonton (Jeff Zywicki counts five points including three goals)

14-7 Stealth win at San Jose (Jeff Zywicki notches nine-point game including five goals)

9-8 Stealth win at San Jose (Colin Doyle paces attack with five points)

2006

10-9 Stealth OT win at Edmonton (Jeff Zywicki scores three goals including game-winner)

12-11 Stealth win at San Jose (Jeff Zywicki picks up hat trick plus two assists)

Statistically Speaking: The Rush have the NLL's top defense, having surrendered just 64 goals in eight games. Edmonton goalie Aaron Bold leads the NLL in wins (seven) and goals-against average (8.25) and is third with an .808 save-percentage ... Edmonton has the lowest goals-against average in the NLL at 8.00 and the Rush are tied for third with Buffalo averaging 11.9 goals per game. Vancouver is giving up an average of 12.6 goals per game ... Reigning NLL Defender of the Year Kyle Rubisch leads the Rush and is tied with Vancouver's Tyler Garrison for the league-lead with 18 forced turnovers ... The Rush's Chris Corbeil is tied for first among NLL defender with five goals ... Edmonton's power play is fifth in the league at 45.0% (18-for-40) while Vancouver's power play is second-last in the league at 38.3% (18-for-47) ... The Rush have given up only one shorthanded goal this season ... Vancouver goalie Tyler Richards is tops in the league with 372 saves ... The Stealth's Rhys Duch is fifth in the NLL with 50 points.

By The Numbers: When the Rush entered the NLL they lost nine of their first 10 meetings against the Stealth when the team was located in San Jose. But of late the Rush have won seven of the last eight regular-season games against the Stealth when they were located in Washington and Vancouver ... The Stealth are 2-0 against the Rush in playoff matchups. Both games - the 2010 West Final and the 2013 West Semifinal - ended 12-11 for the Stealth with the '10 tilt needing overtime ... Rush transition Jeremy Thompson is ranked sixth in the NLL in both loose balls (83) and forced turnovers (13), seventh in faceoff wins (100), and ninth in shooting percentage (40.0% - six goals on 15 shots) ... Riley Lowen of the Rush is third among NLL rookies in goals (11) and points (23). Robert Church is fourth in rookie points with 20 ... The Rush have outscored their opposition 22-11 in second-quarter play and 24-13 in third quarters. The opposition has slipped past the Rush 22-21 in fourth quarters ... The Stealth are second in the league with an average of 19.3 penalty minutes per game and lead the NLL with 13 majors ... Vancouver is 0-3 when trailing at halftime and 0-5 when trailing after three quarters.



National Lacrosse League Stories from March 4, 2014


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