Rush vs. Bandits Game Notes
March 16, 2018 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Saskatchewan Rush News Release
Saskatchewan Rush vs. the Buffalo Bandits
(Saskatchewan Rush)
With a bit of revenge on their minds, the Saskatchewan Rush continue their drive to stay atop the NLL standings on Saturday night when they visit the Buffalo Bandits.
The Rush wrapped up a recent two-game homestand that concluded with a 16-10 victory over Vancouver. Saskatchewan, which had a bye last weekend, holds a 1.5-game lead over Colorado for the overall and West Division leads, while the Bandits, who lost 8-7 to Colorado last week, are a half-game behind East-leading New England and a half-game up on third-place Rochester.
The Bandits are the lone team to beat the Rush at home this season, mounting a furious comeback on January 19th to win 16-15 in overtime in Saskatoon. The Rush held a 6-0 lead after the first quarter and were up 9-3 at halftime, but the Bandits stormed back, forcing OT with 19 seconds left in regulation. Pat Saunders would go on to score the stunning game-winner 1:46 into overtime, marking the second time in three seasons that the Bandits beat the Rush in overtime at SaskTel Centre. Ben McIntosh and Robert Church each posted hat tricks in the loss with Mark Matthews, Chris Corbeil and Ryan Keenan adding two goals each. Rounding out the Rush scoring were Mike Messenger, Jeremy Thompson, and Jeff Shattler with a goal apiece.
The Rush hold an all-time regular-season record of 5-4 against Buffalo. The two teams met just once last season with Saskatchewan notching a 17-14 home-turf victory behind hat tricks from Ryan Keenan and Adam Jones. Scoring twice for the Rush were Curtis Knight, Mark Matthews, Adrian Sorichetti and Ben McIntosh with Mike Messenger, Robert Church and Marty Dinsdale adding a goal apiece.
That game was the first since the Rush and Bandits collided in the 2016 Champion's Cup Final with the Rush winning the second straight league title with a stunning two-game sweep in the best-of-three series.
The Rush won Game 1 of the series by taking an 11-9 verdict a week earlier in Buffalo. Saskatchewan got goals from Robert Church, Ben McIntosh, and Zack Greer in the fourth quarter, and then the Rush played strong defence late to halt any threat of a comeback by the Bandits. Church, McIntosh, Greer, and Mark Matthews each scored twice for the Rush with singles going to Adrian Sorichetti, Jarrett Davis, and Jeff Cornwall. Saskatchewan claimed the Cup in Game 2 which came down to the very last moments with Rush transition Jeff Cornwall scoring the game-winning and series-clinching goal on a breakaway with just two seconds left in regulation time to give Saskatchewan an 11-10 victory before a sold-out crowd of more than 15,100 at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. Robert Church, Curtis Knight, Mark Matthews, Ben McIntosh, and Zack Greer each scored twice for the Rush while Aaron Bold mustered 47 saves and was named Champion's Cup MVP.
The Rush had won four consecutive regular-season meetings against Buffalo until the Bandits finally found some measure of revenge by winning the lone meeting between the teams in both 2015 and 2016. The 2016 loss was a tough one for the Rush to swallow as the Bandits got an overtime winner from Mitch Jones to take a 19-18 verdict in Saskatoon. That loss spoiled nine-point outings by Rush forwards Robert Church (5 goals, 4 assists) and Mark Matthews (2 goals, 7 assists). Also scoring for the Rush were Ben McIntosh, with four, two each for Nik Bilic, Adrian Sorichetti, and Dan Taylor, and one from Jarrett Davis. Church forced overtime with his fifth of the game coming with 35 seconds remaining.
Last weekend's victory over Vancouver maintained the Rush's unbeaten record against West Division foes this season. After falling behind 3-1 early, the Rush posted 10 of the game's next 11 goals to pull away from the Stealth. Robert Church led the Rush attack with an eight-point effort (4 goals, 4 assists) while Mark Matthews racked up nine assists and Marty Dinsdale racked up four goals. Jeff Shattler had his biggest night as a member of the Rush with six points (3 goals, 3 assists) with Ben McIntosh and Ryan Keenan each scoring twice. Seven-time All-Pro Dan Dawson made his debut with the Rush after a trade last week from Rochester and picked up a goal and an assist.
Statistically Speaking: The Rush continue to stand tall amongst the giants in NLL scoring. Mark Matthews leads the league with 73 points with teammate Robert Church right behind in second with 69. Ben McIntosh is just outside the top 10 with 55 points ... The Rush's Ben McIntosh leads the NLL with 31 goals with Robert Church second at 28 and Mark Matthews in a tie for 10th at 23 ... Mark Matthews of the Rush is tops in the NLL with 50 assists while teammate Robert Church is fourth with 41 ... The Rush boast the league's top power play at an astounding 75.9% (41-for-54). Ben McIntosh is in a tie for first with 11 power-play goals while Robert Church and Ryan Keenan are tied for third with nine. Mark Matthews is out in front with 22 power-play assists with Robert Church in second with 16 ... The Rush's penalty kill is ranked fifth in the NLL at 50.0% and the Rush are tied for the league-lead with seven shorthanded goals. Rush captain Chris Corbeil is tied for the league-lead with two shorthanded goals while fellow Rush defenceman Ryan Dilks and Ben McIntosh are tied for first with two shorthanded assists ... The Rush's Curtis Knight is tied for the league-lead with three game-winning goals while Mark Matthews is tied for second with two ... Saskatchewan goaltender Evan Kirk leads the NLL with nine wins and he sits with the second-best goals-against average at 10.70. Kirk has the fifth-best save-percentage at .780 ... Rush transition Adrian Sorichetti leads the NLL with a 46.7% shooting percentage. Teammate Jeremy Thompson is tied for third at 42.9% and Chris Corbeil is sixth at 41.7%. Overall, the Rush lead the NLL with a team shooting percentage of 20.7% ... Buffalo's Dhane Smith, the 2016 NLL MVP, is fourth in scoring with 64 points. He is also sixth in goals (25) and assists (39) ... Buffalo's power play is ranked fourth at 49.0% and the Bandits sit sixth on the penalty kill at 46.3%. They share the league-lead with the Rush with seven shorthanded goals ... 2017: Saskatchewan's Mark Matthews finished second in league scoring last season as he 113 points left him just three behind Georgia's Lyle Thompson. Matthews had 73 assists to lead the league and break his own franchise record ... The Rush's Robert Church cracked the NLL's top-20 scoring last season with 77 points, and for the second straight season, Church led the NLL in power-play goals. After scoring 17 on the man-advantage in 2016, Church notched 21 goals on the power play in last season. Mark Matthews helped the cause along with a league-high 29 power-play assists.
By the Numbers: Saskatchewan's Mark Matthews continues to hold the NLL's game-high lead in goals so far this season (six) ... The Rush's Ben McIntosh has scored in 12 straight games, while teammates Mark Matthews, Robert Church, and Ryan Keenan have picked up assists in 12 straight ... Rush goalie Evan Kirk is fourth in Three Star Award voting so far this season with 16 points (2 x First Star, 2 x Second Star). Robert Church is sixth with 14 points (2 x First Star, 1 x Second Star, 1 x Third Star) and Ben McIntosh is seventh with 13 points (2 x First Star, 1 x Second Star) ... Saskatchewan continues to lead the NLL in attendance with an average of 14,511-about 1,500 better than second-place Buffalo ... The Rush lead the NLL with an average of 14.67 goals scored per game and with an average of just 10.75 goals allowed per game. The Bandits are fourth with 13.18 goals scored per game, but seventh by allowing 13.18 goals per game ... The Rush's Jeremy Thompson sits third in the NLL with 150 faceoff wins and he is second with 100 loose balls scoops ... Rush defenceman Kyle Rubisch is sixth in the league with 96 loose balls and tied for fifth with 18 caused turnovers. Rush captain Chris Corbeil is tied for ninth with 17 caused turnnovers ... The Rush have outscored their opposition 45-18 in first-quarter action and 51-33 in second-quarter play. The Bandits have outscored their opponents 42-30 in fourth quarters so far this season ... The Rush are 10-1 when leading at halftime this season and 9-1 when leading after three quarters ... The Bandits are 5-0 when leading after three quarters but 1-5 when trailing after three ... Buffalo's Josh Byrne is making a case for NLL Rookie of the Year as he leads all first-year pros in points (43), goals (18) and assists (25) ... Nick Weiss of the Bandits leads all NLL defencemen with 16 points and nine goals ... 2017: Saskatchewan finished second in NLL attendance last season with an average of 14,921 fans per game, trailing Buffalo by only 227 ... Rush forward Mark Matthews was named to the NLL's First Team All-Pro following last season, while teammate Mike Messenger earned a spot on the All-Rookie Team. Messenger finished tied for fourth in defence scoring last season and led all rookies in penalty minutes ... Last season, the Rush were 8-3 when leading after the first quarter, 7-1 when up a halftime, and 10-1 when ahead after three quarters. The Rush were also 4-1 in one-goal games.
Milestone Watch: The Rush's Kyle Rubisch, who is the NLL's single-season and all-time leader in caused (forced) turnovers, needs six more to reach 300 for his career.
Rush vs. Bandits - Season-by-Season Glance
2018
16-15 Bandits OT win (Mitch Jones notches hat trick and seven assists for 10-point game)
2017
17-14 Rush win (Mark Matthews picks up nine points, including seven assists)
2016
*11-10 Rush win (Jeff Cornwall scores the game-winner and series-clinching goal with two seconds left in regulation)
*11-9 Rush win (Robert Church pots two goals plus three assists)
19-18 Bandits OT win (Dhane Smith registers four goals and four assists)
2015
9-8 Bandits win (Ryan Benesch racks up seven points including five goals)
2014
14-5 Rush win (Corey Conway notches eight points including seven assists)
2013
14-7 Rush win (Corey Small potted four goals plus three assists)
2012
11-8 Rush win (Zack Greer scores hat trick including power-play goal)
2010
11-7 Rush win (Ryan Ward ties team record with eight points including four goals)
2008
13-8 Bandits win (Mark Steenhuis and Mike Accursi each notch eight points)
*denotes playoff game
Saskatchewan Rush (10-2) vs. Buffalo Bandits (6-5)
5:30PM (CST), March 16th 2018
KeyBank Center, Buffalo NY
Watch: NLL TV, SaskTel maxTV Ch. 49/349
Listen: 98 COOL
Official Viewing Party: Shoeless Joe's Saskatoon
Images from this story
 Saskatchewan Rush vs. the Buffalo Bandits |
National Lacrosse League Stories from March 16, 2018
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- Rush vs. Bandits Game Notes - Saskatchewan Rush
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