Rush on Road Trip for Two Games, Face Mammoth and Roughnecks
April 9, 2014 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release
Edmonton, AB---Having already locked up first overall throughout the National Lacrosse League playoffs, the Edmonton Rush are out to keep their undefeated streak intact as they head out this weekend for road games against the Colorado Mammoth and Calgary Roughnecks.
Last Saturday night, the Rush's 12-11 victory over Colorado secured home-turf advantage for Edmonton during the Champion's Cup playoffs. Edmonton will have a first-round bye and then start their quest for the title in the West Division Final. Still unbeaten on the year, the Rush will first look to extend their record-breaking streak to 15 games when they are in Denver this Friday, and one night later, the Rush return to Alberta to face the arch-rival Roughnecks. Calgary has already secured home-field advantage for the West Division Semifinal and will host either Colorado or Vancouver in a one-game showdown. Colorado holds a one-half game lead over Vancouver in the West standings.
The Rush have also won 13 consecutive road games dating back to last season, and Edmonton has won five of its last seven meetings in Denver against the Mammoth including the 2014 season-opener by a 13-10 count. One week later, the Rush dominated the Mammoth with a 17-6 victory in their home-opener at Rexall Place. The Rush jumped out to a 6-1 lead in that game and rolled to the win behind a 10-point game from Mark Matthews (five goals, five assists), a five-goal effort from Zack Greer, and seven points from Jarrett Davis (three goals, four assists). Riley Loewen, with a pair, and a single from Cory Conway rounded Edmonton's scoring in what set a club record for the largest margin of victory in a regular-season game.
Cory Conway's six points (one goal, five assists) along with two goals apiece from Curtis Knight, Riley Loewen, and Zack Greer paced the Rush in the 12-11 win last weekend. Brett Mydske, Jeff Cornwall, Jarrett Davis, Mark Matthews, and Jeremy Thompson all added a goal each. Early in the second quarter of the game, the Rush set a team record scoring four goals in just 1:36.
In the season-opening win in Denver, Curtis Knight had a six-point game (3+3), while Zack Greer (3+2), Jarrett Davis (1+4), and Cory Conway (2+3) all had five-point efforts. Alex Turner and Riley Loewen notched two goals apiece to complete Edmonton's scoring, while Aaron Bold managed 30 saves.
The Rush have blasted the Roughnecks in two meetings so far this season, outscoring their provincial rivals 30-15. The two teams will round out their regular-season set on Saturday, April 19 at Rexall Place.
In the last matchup, the Rush scored seven goals in the second quarter on their way to a 15-7 win. Zack Greer led the Rush with a first-half hat trick with one coming on the power play, while former Roughneck Cory Conway haunted his former mates, registering five points including a pair of goals coming 1:53 apart (one on the power play). Chris Corbeil, with two unassisted goals, Mark Matthews and Curtis Knight, with two apiece, Ryan Dilks, Jeff Cornwall, Nic Bilic, and Jeremy Thompson added goals to the Rush attack.
In the first clash of the season, the Rush scored five goals in both the second and third quarters on their way to a 15-8 victory. Curtis Knight and Mark Matthews each scored four goals with Matthews picking up his fourth of the night on a fourth quarter penalty shot. Chris Corbeil notched a hat trick for Edmonton with Robert Church adding a pair, and singles going to Jarrett Davis and John Lafontaine.
The two wins this season by the Rush ended their three-game losing skid to the Roughnecks who had previously boasted winning 10 straight regular-season games against the Rush. However, Edmonton is a perfect 2-0 in playoff meetings against Calgary, taking the West Division Semifinal in both 2010 and 2012.
Mark Matthews, last season's NLL Rookie of the Year, leads the Rush with 63 points, and is tied for the team lead with Cory Conway with 39 assists. Curtis Knights is tops on the Rush with 26 goals, one up on Zack Greer and two ahead of Matthews.
Rush vs. Mammoth - Season-by-Season Glance
2014
12-11 Rush win at Edmonton (Cory Conway registers six points including five assists)
17-6 Rush win at Edmonton (Mark Matthews & Zack Greer each score five goals)
13-10 Rush win at Colorado (Curtis Knight tallies three goals and three assists)
2013
9-7 Mammoth win at Edmonton (Tye Belanger makes 48 saves)
14-7 Rush win at Colorado (Mark Matthews tops Rush scoring with five goals)
2012
14-11 Rush win at Colorado (Zack Greer leads Rush with two goals and one assist)
11-7 Mammoth win at Colorado (Adam Jones, John Grant Jr. and Jordan McBride all notch hat tricks)
13-12 Mammoth win at Edmonton (John Grant Jr. leads with five goals and four assists)
2011
13-6 Mammoth win at Edmonton
14-13 Rush win at Edmonton (Scott Evans leads the way with four goals and two assists)
7-6 Mammoth win at Colorado (John Grant notches two goals and two assists)
2010
14-13 Rush win at Colorado (Ryan Ward scores four goals and adds three assists)
13-9 Rush win at Colorado (Ryan Ward notches hat trick plus four assists)
14-10 Mammoth win at Edmonton (Jamie Shewchuk collects nine points including four goals)
2009
11-9 Rush win at Colorado (Ryan Benesch has eight-point night featuring five assists)
10-9 Rush win at Edmonton (Callum Crawford nets four goals and adds two assists)
10-9 Mammoth win at Colorado (Jamie Shewchuk scores twice and adds two assists)
2008
14-11 Mammoth win at Colorado (Dan Carey pots hat trick plus three assists)
15-4 Mammoth win at Colorado (Jamie Shewchuk notches seven points)
13-8 Mammoth win at Edmonton (Jamie Shewchuk produces seven points)
2007
16-9 Mammoth win at Edmonton (Jamie Shewchuk notches hat trick plus two assists)
16-7 Mammoth win at Colorado (Dan Carey leads with two goals and three assists)
2006
15-10 Mammoth win at Colorado (Dan Stroup collects six points including hat trick)
13-7 Mammoth win at Edmonton (Ben Prepchuk racks up six points including four helpers)
Rush vs. Roughnecks - Season-by-Season Glance
2014
15-7 Rush win at Calgary (Zack Greer notches first-quarter hat trick)
15-8 Rush win at Edmonton (Mark Matthews tallies seven points including four goals)
2013
12-11 OT Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Shawn Evans caps 10-point game with OT winner)
18-13 Rush win at Calgary (Ryan Ward sets Rush reg. season record with 10 points)
9-8 Roughnecks win at Calgary (Curtis Dickson scores four goals including game-winner)
18-15 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Jeff Shattler tallies two goals and adds six assists)
2012
*19-11 Rush win at Calgary (Ryan Ward sets Rush record with 11-point game)
9-6 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Shawn Evans racks up four goals and two assists)
16-9 Roughnecks win at Calgary (Shawn Evans pots five goals including penalty shot tally)
13-10 Roughnecks win at Edmonton (Curtis Dickson with four goals and three assists)
12-8 Roughnecks win at Calgary (Curtis Dickson nets hat trick plus two assists)
*denotes playoff game
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
*11-7 Rush win at Calgary (Ryan Ward notches nine points including eight assists)
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)
14-11 Rush win at Edmonton (Dean Hill notches hat trick and adds one assist)
*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: The Rush are tops in the NLL having allowed only 117 goals so far this season, and are also first in average goals allowed per game at just 8.36. The Rush offense has put up 174 goals and is averaging 12.43 per game which is second in the league ... Calgary has the league's top offense with 198 goals and first averaging 13.20 goals per game ... Kyle Rubisch broke his own NLL record for forced turnovers in a season and now stands with 46 on the year. In the same category, the Rush's Jeff Cornwall is tied for fourth with 22, while Ryan Dilks and Brett Mydske are tied for sixth with 21 ... Rubisch had a big all-around game last weekend against Colorado picking up three assists while adding 12 loose balls and eight forced turnovers ... Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson is fourth in the league with 186 faceoff wins, and fifth with 136 loose balls. Kyle Rubisch is right behind in seventh with 114 loose balls ... The Rush are facing some of the NLL's best offensive players this weekend. Calgary's Shawn Evans leads the league with 69 assists and is third with 88 points. Colorado's John Grant Jr. is fourth in points with 81, tied with Calgary's Curtis Dickson for fourth with 33 goals, and is tops in the NLL with 12 power-play goals ... Edmonton is 10-0 when leading at halftime while Calgary is 6-0, but Colorado is 1-8 when trailing at halftime and 0-8 when behind after three quarters.
By The Numbers: Chris Corbeil is tops in the NLL with five shorthanded goals on the year. He leads all NLL defenseman with 12 goals and is tied for third in points with 20. The Rush's Nik Bilic is seventh in points by a defenceman with 15 while Ryan Dilks is 10th with 12 points. Jeff Cornwall is tied for third amongst defenders with six goals ... Rush goalie Aaron Bold leads in the NLL with 13 wins and an 8.51 goals-against average. He is second with a .797 save-percentage ... Rush 2013 first-round pick Robert Church is third in rookie scoring with 36 points, while Rush second-rounder Riley Loewen is fourth with 27 points. Church ranks fourth in goals (14) and third in assists (22) and Loewen is fifth in both categories (13 goals, 14 assists) ... The Rush power play is ranked third in the NLL at 46.7% (35-for-75) and Edmonton's penalty kill sits second at 58.3% (25 goals in 60 shorthanded situations). Calgary's special teams sit first in both power play (54.1%) and penalty kill (65.5%), while Colorado is fourth on the power play (46.1%) but eighth on the penalty kill (48.2%) ... The Rush have dominated their opponents in the first three quarters of games this season, outscoring them by a combined 45-31 in firsts, 48-26 in seconds, and 42-26 in thirds ... Calgary's Geoff Snider leads in the NLL in loose balls (180) and faceoff wins (272), and teammate Dane Dobbie leads the league with 45 goals.
Rush Clinch NLL Regular Season Title
First overall and home field advantage in playoffs
First Franchise Playoff Game at home ~ Friday, May 16
Rush Season Ticket Holders will have the first opportunity to purchase the franchises' first ever playoff game, Friday, May 16 on Crystal Glass Field at Rexall Place until Friday, April 11 until 5:00 pm. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Monday, April 14 starting at 10:00 am. Tickets are available by calling the Rush Office at 780 732-RUSH.
2014 NLL Champions Cup Playoff Format
2nd and 3rd place in each division will play the weekend of May 2nd/May 3rd one game series, winner of that will play 1st overall in a two game series starting the following weekend.
The Rush will start the playoff series on the road the weekend of May 9th /May 10th pending other team's building availability.
The second game will be played on Crystal Glass Field at Rexall Place, Friday, May 16, if there is tie, the teams will play a ten minute overtime to determine the winner of the series.
Should the Rush continue into the NLL Champions Cup Series, they will start on the road May 23rd/May 24rd and the second series NLL Champions Cup game will be held on Crystal Glass Field Friday, May 30.
National Lacrosse League Stories from April 9, 2014
- Rush on Road Trip for Two Games, Face Mammoth and Roughnecks - Edmonton Rush
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- Undefeated Rush Invades Pepsi Center on 'Fan Appreciation Night' - Colorado Mammoth
- Knighthawks' Offense in High Gear - Rochester Knighthawks
- Philadelphia Wings Travel North of the Border for Battle with Playoff Implications - Philadelphia Wings
- Toronto Rock FanFest Saturday - Toronto Rock
- Philadelphia Wings and NXTsports Host Trashcan Lacrosse Experience - Philadelphia Wings
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