Rush vs. Mammoth Game Notes
Published on April 6, 2018 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Saskatchewan Rush News Release
Saskatchewan Rush (11-3) vs. Colorado Mammoth (10-5)
7:30PM (CST), April 7th 2018
SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon SK
Watch: NLL TV
Listen: 98 COOL
Saskatoon, SK - The National Lacrosse League's two best teams square off on Saturday night as the Saskatchewan Rush host the Colorado Mammoth.
The Rush lead the NLL's overall standings as well as the West Division by 1.5 games over the Mammoth with Saskatchewan holding one game in-hand. Saskatchewan also has a 3.5-game lead over Rochester and Buffalo for the overall lead. With Saskatchewan's magic number to clinch the West at two, the Rush will lock down first place in addition to hosting the West Division Final with a win over Colorado.
Saskatchewan had a bye last weekend and prior to that had their three-game winning streak snapped by a 13-10 loss to Rochester. Colorado had a doubleheader on the road this past weekend with the Mammoth winning 11-7 in Toronto but losing the next night 16-14 in Rochester. With the split, the Mammoth maintain a 3.5-game lead over Calgary for second spot in the West.
With this game, the Rush round out the 2018 regular season with three of their final four games at home. Three of the four games are against West foes with the Rush sitting 7-0 on the year so far against divisional rivals.
The Rush have won 11 of the last 13 regular-season meetings with the Mammoth, including a 17-12 verdict back on Jan. 13th that lifted Saskatchewan to a 4-0 start to the season. Colorado opened up with a quick 2-0 lead but the Rush never looked back in dominating the rest of the way behind a stellar 10-point game (2 goals, 8 assists) from Ben McIntosh. Curtis Knight, Marty Dinsdale, and Robert Church each posted hat tricks in the win with Mike Messenger and Adrian Sorichetti each adding a pair. Ryan Keenan and Mark Matthews, who also chipped in six assists, both scored twice.
Just four weeks later, the Rush were back in Denver and this time handed the Mammoth a 13-10 setback behind a six-point game from Robert Church (3 goals, 3 assists) and a 39-save effort from Evan Kirk. Ryan Keenan had his first four-goal game as a pro in that game, while Marty Dinsdale and Ben McIntosh each scored twice, and Chris Corbeil adding a single. The Rush broke open a 10-10 tie by scoring the game's final three goals with less than 2:30 left in regulation time.
Saskatchewan's winning ways against Colorado also include the 2017 West Division playoffs where the Rush swept the Mammoth 2-0. Saskatchewan opened up the series by blasting the Mammoth 18-9 in Denver. The Rush set franchise playoff records for total goals, along with goals in the one half (14) and goals in one quarter (nine).
Adam Jones scored six goals for Saskatchewan against his former team with former Denver University star Mark Matthews also finishing the game with nine points including two goals. Ben McIntosh, with four goals, Robert Church, with a pair, and singles from Ryan Keenan, Mike Messenger, Tor Reinholdt, and Curtis Knight accounted for the rest of the Rush scoring.
Saskatchewan completed the two-game sweep of Colorado by winning Game 2 in Saskatoon 11-10. Mike Messenger evened the game at 10 with 1:27 to go and Ryan Keenan notched the game-winner with 45 seconds left in regulation. Mark Matthews, Ben McIntosh, and Robert Church each scored twice for the Rush with Adam Jones and Marty Dinsdale adding one each.
The loss to Rochester was the Rush's second of the season against their rivals from the East. Robert Church had four goals for the Rush, while Ben McIntosh added a pair and singles went to Jeff Shattler, Chris Corbeil, Ryan Keenan, and Mark Matthews.
Statistically Speaking: Mark Matthews of the Rush finds himself just four points behind Buffalo's Dhane Smith for the lead in the NLL scoring race. Matthews has 87 points and leads the league with 62 assists, while teammate Robert Church is tied for fourth with 83 points alongside Colorado's leading scorer Ryan Benesch ... The Rush's Robert Church is currently second in the NLL with 38 goals while teammate Ben McIntosh is right behind in fourth with 35 ... The Rush and Mammoth boast serious firepower on the power play. Saskatchewan leads the NLL at 71.2% (47-for-66) on the power play with Colorado sitting third at 55.6% (45-for-61). Colorado's Ryan Benesch leads the NLL with 14 power-play goals while the Rush's Robert Church is second with 13, Ben McIntosh is tied for third with 11 and Ryan Keenan is tied for sixth with 10 ... Mark Matthews of the Rush leads the NLL with 25 power-play assists, five up on Colorado's Ryan Benesch. Robert Church of the Rush is tied for third with 18 power-play helpers and Ryan Keenan is tied for 10th with 11 ... Colorado sports the NLL's top-ranked penalty kill at 55.4% and has scored eight shorthanded goals. Saskatchewan's penalty kill is ranked fifth at 49.1% with seven shorthanded goals ... Rush captain Chris Corbeil is tied for third in the league two shorthanded goals. The league-leader is Colorado's Joey Cupido with three ... Mammoth goalie Dillon Ward leads the NLL with four shorthanded assists. Ryan Dilks and Ben McIntosh of the Rush are tied for fourth with two shorthanded assists each ... Rush netminder Evan Kirk leads the NLL with 10 wins and sits second with a 10.75 goals-against average. He is also ranked fourth with a .781 save-percentage. His counterpart, the Mammoth's Dillon Ward, has nine wins, is tied for second with a .784 save-percentage, and is ranked third in both goals-against average (10.93) and total saves (529) ... The Rush's Curtis Knight is tied for the league-lead with three game-winning goals. Teammates Ben McIntosh and Mark Matthews are right behind with two apiece ... Rush transition Jeremy Thompson is fourth in the NLL with 180 faceoff wins and tied for sixth with 116 loose balls ... Rush defenceman Kyle Rubisch is tied for sixth with 24 caused turnovers and ninth with 108 loose balls ... The Rush lead the NLL with a team shooting percentage of 20.1% and Chris Corbeil leads the individual standings at 46.2%. Adrian Sorichetti of the Rush is third at 41.2% and Jeremy Thompson is ninth at 35.3% ... Colorado's Joey Cupido leads all NLL defencemen with 11 goals and he's second with 20 points ... 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.
By the Numbers: Despite the loss to Rochester, the Rush's individual streaks continued. Ben McIntosh has scored in 14 straight games while Mark Matthews, Ryan Keenan, and Robert Church have picked up assists in 14 straight ... Saskatchewan's Mark Matthews and Robert Church now co-hold the NLL's game-high lead in goals so far this season (six) ... Saskatchewan (14,561) and Colorado (13,657) sit 1-2 in the NLL for average attendance ... The Rush lead the NLL with 202 goals and 309 assists ... Saskatchewan leads the NLL at 14.43 goals scored per game and 10.86 goals allowed per game. Colorado is second at 10.87 goals allowed per game, but the Mammoth is sixth at 12.29 goals scored per game ... The Rush are 7-0 against West Division foes this season while Colorado is 5-4. The Rush are 4-2 at home with three games to go, while the Mammoth are 6-2 on the road ... The Rush are 11-1 on the year when leading at halftime and 10-1 when leading after three quarter ... Saskatchewan is 9-0 when they outshoot their opponent and 8-2 when they score the first goal of the game ... The Mammoth are 6-1 when leading at halftime ... The Rush and Mammoth are the NLL's least penalized teams, both averaging less than 10 PIM per game ... The Rush have outscored their opposition 52-25 in first-quarter play and 57-37 in second-quarter play so far this season. They do trail their opposition 49-42 in fourth-quarter scoring ... The Mammoth have outscored their opponents 51-41 in fourth quarters but trailed 53-45 in second quarters ... Colorado's Ryan Benesch currently leads the league's Three Star Award voting with 30 points (5 x First Star, 1 x Second Star, 2 x Third Star). Robert Church of the Rush is fourth at 20 points (3 x First Star, 2 x Second Star, 1 x Third Star) with Rush goalie Evan Kirk at 16 points (2 x First Star, 2 x Second Star). The Rush's Mark Matthews (1 x First Star, 2 x Second Star, 2 x Third Star) and Ben McIntosh (2 x First Star, 1 x Second Star) are tied with 13 points ... 2017: 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.
Rush vs. Mammoth - Season-By-Season Glance
2018
17-12 Rush win (Ben McIntosh racks up 10 points on two goals and eight assists)
13-10 Rush win (Ryan Keenan has first four-goal game in NLL)
2017
*11-10 Rush win (Mark Matthews leads with six points including four assists)
*18-9 Rush win (Adam Jones registers nine points featuring six second-half goals)
10-9 Rush win (Ben McIntosh notches hat trick plus one assist)
14-10 Mammoth win (Jamie Noble leads with seven points)
12-11 OT Rush win (Ben McIntosh racks up four goals including the overtime winner)
8-7 Rush win (Ben McIntosh scores two goals)
*Denotes West Division Final playoff game
2016
11-8 Rush win (Ben McIntosh and Curtis Knight each collect hat trick)
11-5 Rush win (Ben McIntosh scores four goals)
9-7 Mammoth win (Dillon Ward totals 47 saves)
12-10 Rush win (Mark Matthews racked up six points including four goals)
2015
13-10 Rush win (Mark Matthews & Marty Dinsdale both with seven-point games)
13-12 Rush win (Mark Matthews notches nine points including four goals)
11-7 Rush win (Mark Matthews & Zack Greer both with four-goal games)
2014
10-8 Mammoth win (John Grant Jr. paces attack with four goals)
12-11 Rush win (Cory Conway registers six points including five assists)
17-6 Rush win (Mark Matthews & Zack Greer each score five goals)
13-10 Rush win (Curtis Knight tallies three goals and three assists)
2013
9-7 Mammoth win (Tye Belanger makes 48 saves)
14-7 Rush win (Mark Matthews tops scoring with five goals)
2012
14-11 Rush win (Zack Greer leads the way with two goals)
11-7 Mammoth win (Adam Jones, John Grant Jr., and Jordan McBride each notch hat tricks)
13-12 Mammoth win (John Grant Jr. leads with five goals and four assists)
2011
13-6 Mammoth win
14-13 Rush win (Scott Evans leads with four goals and two assists)
7-6 Mammoth win (John Grant Jr. notches two goals and two assists)
2010
14-10 Mammoth win (Jamie Shewchuk collects nine points including four goals)
14-13 Rush win (Ryan Ward scores four goals and adds three assists)
13-9 Rush win (Ryan Ward notches hat trick plus four assists)
2009
11-9 Rush win (Ryan Benesch has eight-point game including five assists)
10-9 Rush win (Callum Crawford nets four goals and adds two assists)
10-9 Mammoth win (Jamie Shewchuk scores twice and adds two assists)
2008
14-11 Mammoth win (Dan Carey pots hat trick plus three assists
15-4 Mammoth win (Jamie Shewchuk notches seven points)
13-8 Mammoth win (Jamie Shewchuk produces seven points)
2007
16-9 Mammoth win (Jamie Shewchuk notches hat trick plus two assists)
16-7 Mammoth win (Dan Carey leads with two goals and three assists)
2006
15-10 Mammoth win (Dan Stroup collects six points including hat trick)
13-7 Mammoth win (Ben Prepchuk racks up six points including four assists)
National Lacrosse League Stories from April 6, 2018
- Rush vs. Mammoth Game Notes - Saskatchewan Rush
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- National Lacrosse League Announces the 2017-18 Playoff Schedule - NLL
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