Rush Rise up to Take Down Roughnecks
February 4, 2017 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Saskatchewan Rush News Release
The Saskatchewan Rush turned their game up a notch in the second half and used that effort to propel them to a 15-11 win over the Calgary Roughnecks in National Lacrosse League action on Saturday night.
With their first road victory of the season, the Rush (3-2) are now winners of three straight after an 0-2 start to the season, and have tied Calgary (3-2) atop the NLL's West Division. More impressively, though, the Rush have now beaten the Roughnecks in six consecutive regular-season meetings and eight in a row overall including last year's two-game sweep in the West Division Final.
Calgary had not lost when leading at halftime in three previous games this season, but the Roughnecks were completely shut out in the third quarter as they Rush overcame a one-goal deficit at the break. Rookie Matt Hossack, playing in his first game of the season, brought Saskatchewan even with a strong solo dash through the open floor and then firing a shot behind Calgary goalie Frank Scigliano. The Rush then took the lead when Mark Matthews strong-armed past a Calgary defender and put a low shot into the net to make it 9-8.
Saskatchewan took a 10-8 lead just over a minute into the fourth as Adam Jones collected the 200th goal of his NLL career. After a brief Calgary rally tied the game 10-10, the Rush scooted ahead to a lead they would not relinquish. Ben McIntosh collected his hat-trick goal when he drove to the net and got his shot to trickle in, and only 54 seconds later, Robert Church rifled a shot over Scigliano's shoulder on a breakaway set up by Chris Corbeil's stretch pass.
Jones then put the Rush up 13-10 as his long-range laser found the five-hole. The Roughnecks inched closer with a power-play goal from Dane Dobbie, but right off the ensuing faceoff, Nik Bilic snared a loose ball, went in all alone, and gunned a high shot into the net. If that wasn't enough of a backbreaker, the Rush made sure they locked down the positive result when Matthews picked up his fourth goal of the game with a hard shot that powered through Scigliano with 3:03 remaining.
The arch-rivals flexed their offensive weapons in the game's opening quarter, combining for 11 goals. Calgary scored twice on a five-minute power play early in the second and used that to help stake them to the halftime lead.
McIntosh (3 goals, 3 assists) and Church (1 goal, 5 assists) anchored the Rush attack along with Matthews' four-goal effort. Marty Dinsdale, Jeremy Thompson, and Adrian Sorichetti also scored for Saskatchewan, while Aaron Bold totaled a season-high 46 saves.
The Rush return to the road next Saturday when they held east to take on the Rochester Knighthawks.
National Lacrosse League Stories from February 4, 2017
- Georgia Swarm Handed First Loss of Season - Georgia Swarm
- Undefeated No More Mammoth Takes Down Swarm - Colorado Mammoth
- Rush Rise up to Take Down Roughnecks - Saskatchewan Rush
- Wheat Ridge, Colo. Native to Make NLL Debut Tonight for Mammoth - Colorado Mammoth
- Rock Dominate Bandits in 18-10 Win - Toronto Rock
- Knighthawks' Rally Falls One Goal Short - Rochester Knighthawks
- Black Wolves Top Knighthawks in Overtime - New England Black Wolves
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