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Rush Vs. Knighthawks Game Notes

February 24, 2011 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release


Edmonton, AB---The Edmonton Rush will look for a third consecutive win over the Rochester Knighthawks in a rare matchup between the National Lacrosse League clubs.

Since entering the league in 2006, the Rush have met the Knighthawks just two times, and have won both games in overtime. This will be the first meeting between the teams since a trade in January sent longtime Rush defender Rory Glaves to Rochester in exchange for power forward Scott Evans.

The Rush are coming off a hard-fought 12-11 home-turf loss to the Calgary Roughnecks this past Sunday, and remain fourth in the West Division. Edmonton is now three games behind division-leading Calgary and 11/2 games behind third-place Washington, but the Rush currently hold down the final playoff position with a one-game edge on Colorado. Rochester, which dropped two games to Toronto last weekend, are fourth in the East Division and tied with Philadelphia, with both teams just one-half game behind third-place Buffalo.

The Rush rode a two-game winning streak into last weekend's matchup with Calgary, thanks to a home-and-home sweep of Washington, but fell for the third time this season against their provincial rival - and the second straight loss to the Roughnecks by just one goal. It was a chippy, penalty-filled affair with the teams combining for 69 penalty minutes and 20 power plays. Scott Evans was the dominant offensive force for the Rush, tallying five goals - just one off the team record held by Chris Gill. The Rush received major set-up contributions from Corey Small (7 assists), Brodie Merrill (4 assists), and Ryan Ward (4 assists). Dean Hill scored twice and added two assists, Jimmy Quinlan sparked a late rally with two goals, Gavin Prout added a single, and rookie Jarrett Toll racked up the first goal of his NLL career.

Edmonton is 2-0 against Rochester with both victories coming in overtime. Last season, Andy Secore completed a hat trick-effort notching the game-winner just 20 seconds into overtime to give the Rush a 12-11 victory. Corey Small and Jimmy Quinlan each scored twice in regulation with singles added by Scott Stewart, Gavin Prout, Brodie Merrill, Dane Stevens, and Ryan Ward.

In 2008, the Rush hosted the Knighthawks for the first time in franchise history, and came away with a 10-9 overtime victory. Jimmy Quinlan led the Rush with two goals and three assists, while Hall of Famer Dan Stroup popped in a pair of goals.

Gavin Prout leads the Rush in scoring 32 points, and his 23 assists put him 13th in the league in helpers. Ryan Ward, who trails Prout by four points, is tops among Rush shooters with 11 goals, one ahead of Corey Small. Brodie Merrill is second on the Rush with 18 assists. The transition star leads the team and is second in the NLL with 89 loose balls.

Brett Mydske is second among NLL defenders with four goals and is ranked 15th among scoring by defenders with five points.

The Knighthawks are coming off a home-and-home doubleheader sweep at the hands of the East Division-leading Toronto Rock. Rochester managed only 11 goals in the two defeats, falling 10-5 at Toronto on Friday night, and then dropping a 13-6 decision at home on Saturday. Rochester, which dealt all-time leading scorer John Grant Jr. to Colorado this past off-season, has been relying on Shawn Evans and Shawn Williams for the bulk of it scoring and the pair have combined for 67 points. Former Rush forward Mike Accursi has 10 goals and 17 points so far this season, while onetime Edmonton enforcer Troy Bonterre has appeared in five games for Rochester.

Rush vs. Knighthawks - Season-by-Season Glance

2010 12-11 Rush overtime win at Rochester (Andy Secore completes hat trick with game-winner)

2008 10-9 Rush overtime win at Edmonton (Jimmy Quinlan scores twice and adds three assists)

Shining Stars: The Rush will be represented by transition Brodie Merrill and defender Brett Mydske at the 2011 NLL All-Star Game this Sunday at Turning Stone Casino in New York. Merrill, a former NLL Rookie of the Year and Defender of the Year in 2006, is the two-time defending NLL Transition Player of the Year and will be making his fifth appearance in the All-Star Game. For Mydske, who was named the Rush's Top Rookie last season, this will be his first appearance in the All-Star Game. Both Merrill and Mydske have been named to Team Canada for the 2011 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship to be played in the Czech Republic ... Rush bench boss Derek Keenan will be an assistant coach for the West Division. Washington's Chris Hall, who shared the 2010 Coach of the Year honor with Keenan, will be the West's head coach.

Statistically Speaking: Edmonton's 84 goals-for is the second-lowest total in the West Division, while their 97 goals-against is second-highest among West teams ... Rochester has scored only 72 goals so far this season, the lowest total in the NLL, and the Knighthawks have surrendered 87 goals - the second-most in the East Division ... The Rush went 3-for-9 on the power play against Calgary last weekend, pushing them to eighth in the NLL with the man-advantage at 27.3% (12-for-44). But the Rush gave up four power-play goals to the Roughnecks, and remain last in the league on the penalty kill at just 54.5% (20 goals allowed in 44 shorthanded situations ... Rochester isn't faring much better with its special teams. The K-Hawks are seventh on the power play at 30.6% (11-for-36) and ninth in penalty killing at 56.0% (22 goals allowed in 50 shorthanded situations) ... The Rush are second in the NLL with six shorthanded goals including Ryan Ward's league-leading three. Dane Stevens also leads the NLL with two shorthanded assists. Brodie Merrill, Gavin Prout, and Ryan Ward also have two shorthanded helpers but have played two more games than Stevens ... In addition to his loose-ball collection stats, Brodie Merrill is also fourth in the NLL with 14 forced turnovers. Teammate Bill Greer is 16th with 10 FTs ... Rochester boasts one of the NLL's top first-year players in Cody Jamieson. The 2010 first overall pick leads rookie scoring with 24 points and stands 11th overall in the league with 13 goals. He is also 11th in the NLL with four power-play goals and 11th in penalty minutes with 23.

By The Numbers: Ball possession from faceoffs is a major issue for the Rush. In the last three games, the Rush are a lowly 17-for-91 on the dot, though they've faced two of the league's best in the past weekends - Washington's Bob Snider and Calgary's Geoff Snider ... The Rush are 1-4 on the road this season while the Knighthawks are 2-3 at home ... Scoring first has not been a big boost for the Rush as they are 1-3 when scoring the game's opening goal. The K-Hawks are 4-1, though, when they score first ... The Rush have also surrendered a league-high 25 goals in the opening quarter of games and Rochester have given up a league-high 22 third-quarter goals ... The two teams are fairly equal when it come to goals scored - the Rush are averaging 10.50 goals which is seventh in the league, while the K-Hawks are eighth with a 9.00. Edmonton has a league-worst 12.13 average goals-against per game ... Matt Disher, who stopped Calgary's Jeff Shattler on a penalty shot last weekend, is fourth in the NLL among goaltenders with 468:05 minutes played. Disher is ranked sixth in saves with 289, just two back of Rochester's Matt Vinc. The Knighthawks netminder also sits fifth in save-percentage at .782 ... Shawn Evans leads Rochester and is ninth in the league with 24 assists. He is also 15th in league scoring with 35 points ... Rochester's Pat McCready is the NLL's most-potent scorer among defenders as he leads in goals (5), assists (7), and points (12). He is also the league's most-accurate shooter among defenders at 50.0% (5 goals on 10 shots) ... Edmonton's Brett Mydske also holds a 50.0% shooting mark among defenders (4 goals on 8 shots) ... Rush forwards Scott Evans and Dane Stevens are 13th and 14th, respectively, in penalty minutes - both with 22 minutes ... It was an eventful afternoon for Rush rookie Jarrett Toll against Calgary last weekend. Toll scored the game's opening goal which was also his first NLL tally, but he went on to collect three penalties including a five-minute major for high-sticking. Toll had suited up the night before for the University of Alberta Golden Bears hockey team.

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