Rush vs. Roughnecks Game Notes

Published on February 23, 2018 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Saskatchewan Rush News Release

After a setback last weekend in Rochester, the Saskatchewan Rush will be out for redemption and looking to keep a stranglehold on first place in the NLL's West Division as they take on the arch-rival Calgary Roughnecks.

The Rush suffered a 16-11 loss to the Rochester Knighthawks last Saturday, ending their four-game winning streak as well as seeing their unbeaten road record on the season come to a halt. The loss also was the Rush's first in 10 games against the Rochester. Calgary is coming off a 20-12 pasting of the Vancouver Stealth which moved the Roughnecks to within 3.5 games of the division-leading Rush and to within 1.5 games the second-place Colorado Mammoth.

This is the second of three meetings in the NLL's Battle of the Prairies this season. The Rush took the first matchup 13-12 in overtime giving them nine wins in the last 10 regular-season contests against the Roughnecks. The two teams will meet for the final time in the regular-season finale on April 28. Since the overtime loss to the Rush, the Roughnecks have won three in a row. Calgary leads the all-time regular-season record against the Rush with a 27-18 mark.

 Back on January 27th, Ben McIntosh scored his second goal of the game 46 seconds into overtime to lift the Rush to the win despite a furious second-half comeback by the Roughnecks. Curtis Knight, Mark Matthews, Adrian Sorichetti, and Jeff Shattler also scored twice for Saskatchewan with singles going to Ryan Keenan, Nick Finlay, and Jeremy Thompson.

In their first encounter last season back, the Rush got six points apiece from Ben McIntosh (3 goals, 3 assists) and Robert Church (1 goal, 5 assists) in a 15-11 victory in Calgary. Mark Matthews, with four goals, Adam Jones, with two, and singles from Marty Dinsdale, Adrian Sorichetti, Jeremy Thompson, Nik Bilic, and Matt Hossack accounted for the rest of the Rush scoring. 

Adam Jones was the hero in the second meeting last season as he scored his second of the game 1:16 into overtime to give Saskatchewan a 12-11 victory. Mark Matthews led the Rush with a goal and six assists, while Ben McIntosh and Robert Church each notching hat tricks. Mike Messenger, Jeff Cornwall and Marty Dinsdale also scored for the Rush.

Mark Matthews (2 goals, 5 assists) led the Rush attack in 13-10 win in the next clash between the teams. Chris Corbeil, Robert Church, and Dan Taylor each scored twice with singles going to Mike Messenger, Curtis Knight, Jeff Cornwall, Marty Dinsdale, and Jeremy Thompson.

The Roughnecks finally ended its eight-game losing skid against the Rush by taking the season finale between the teams in 2017 with a 14-7 victory in Calgary. Adam Jones had a hat trick for the Rush with singles going to Curtis Knight, Dan Taylor, Mark Matthews, and Ben McIntosh.

In 2016, the Rush earned their first season-series sweep of the Roughnecks going 4-0 and then dispatching Calgary 2-0 in the West Division Final.

Mark Matthews and Ben McIntosh each posted a hat trick in last weekend's loss to Rochester. Adding a goal apiece were Robert Church, Mike Messenger, Ryan Dilks, Jeremy Thompson, and Ryan Keenan.  

Statistically Speaking: Robert Church remains atop the Rush scoring list and stands second in the NLL with 58 points, one back of Toronto's Adam Jones. The Rush's Mark Matthews is right behind with 57 points and Ben McIntosh is now eighth with 48 points ... The Rush's Ben McIntosh leads the NLL with 28 goals, while Robert Church is tied for fourth at 23, and Mark Matthews is tied for eighth with 20 ... Mark Matthews of the Rush leads the NLL with 37 assists and Robert Church is tied for second with 35 ... Calgary sniper Curtis Dickson is tied for second in the NLL with 24 goals ... The Rush continue to boast the NLL's top-ranked power play at 72.1% (31-for-43). Ben McIntosh leads the NLL with 10 power-play goals and Ryan Keenan is tied for third with eight on the man-advantage. Mark Matthews is tops with 16 power-play assists with Robert Church in second with 14 ... The Rush are ranked third on the penalty kill at 51.3% and have racked up six shorthanded goals. Rush captain Chris Corbeil is tied for the league-lead with two shorthanded goals while fellow defenceman Ryan Dilks is tied for the lead with two shorthanded assists ... Calgary's power play is ranked eighth in the NLL at 38.9% and Dane Dobbie is tied for third with eight power-play goals. The Roughnecks have the fifth-ranked penalty kill at 46.9% and are tops in the NLL with seven shorthanded goals ... Despite getting pulled last game, the Rush's Evan Kirk continues to have the lead amongst NLL goaltenders with seven wins. Kirk is ranked third with 331 saves and fourth with an 11.33 goals-against average. His Calgary counterpart Christian Del Bianco has taken over as the Calgary starter and leads the NLL with a 10.00 goals-against average and .806 save-percentage ... The Rush's Ben McIntosh is fifth in Three Star Award voting with 13 points (2 x First Star, 1 x Second Star). Calgary's Curtis Dickson is just ahead of him in fourth with 14 points (1 x First Star, 3 x Second Star, 1 x Third Star) ... 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 (six) and points (13) so far this season ... The Rush's Ben McIntosh has scored in 10 straight games, while teammates Mark Matthews, Curtis Knight, Robert Church, and Ryan Keenan have picked up assists in 10 straight ... Saskatchewan continues to lead the NLL in attendance with an average of 14,474 - 2,200 better than second-place Colorado ... The Rush remain first in the league with an average of 15.00 goals scored per game and an average of 11.30 goals allowed per game. Calgary ranks sixth in goals scored (12.11) and fifth in goals allowed (12.22) ... The Rush are 5-0 vs. West Division opponents so far this season, while the Roughnecks are 3-2 ... The Rush's Jeremy Thompson leads the NLL with 135 faceoff wins and he sits second in loose balls with 84. Teammate Kyle Rubisch is tied for fourth with 79 loose balls ... Calgary's Tyson Bell and Zach Currier are tied for third in caused turnovers with 17 each, while Saskatchewan's Chris Corbeil and Kyle Rubisch are tied for sixth with 15 each. Bell leads all NLL defencemen with 11 assists and is tied for second with 14 points ... The Rush lead the NLL in team shooting percentage at 20.9%. Individually, Adrian Sorichetti is in top spot at 53.8% (7 goals on 13 shots) and Chris Corbeil is seventh at 45.5% (5 goals on 11 shots) ... Calgary is averaging 18.44 penalty minutes per game while Saskatchewan averages just 9.40. The Roughnecks have also taken three of league's five 10-minute misconducts ... The Rush are outscoring their opponents 36-13 in first-quarter play and 45-30 in second-quarter action. The Rush are also 6-0 so far this season when they outshoot the opposition ... 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: Rush defenceman Nik Bilic reach the 100 mark for career caused turnovers during last weekend's game in Rochester.

 

Rush vs. Roughnecks - Season-by-Season Glance

2018

13-12 OT Rush win (Ben McIntosh scores second of the game 46 seconds into overtime)

2017

14-7 Roughnecks win (Frankie Scigliano compiles 53 saves)

13-10 Rush win (Mark Matthews racks up seven points including five assists)

12-11 OT Rush win (Robert Church and Ben McIntosh each post hat tricks)

15-11 Rush win (Robert Church and Ben McIntosh each collect six points)

2016

*12-9 Rush win (Mark Matthews totals seven points including five assists)

*16-10 Rush win (Ben McIntosh fires in four goals)

11-9 Rush win (Mark Matthews racks up six points including hat trick)

12-11 OT Rush win (Robert Church registers six points including hat trick)

19-12 Rush win (Zack Greer sets club record with seven goals including five in a row)

10-8 Rush win (Robert Church and Mark Matthews both registered two goals and three assists)

*denotes playoff game

2015

*4-1 Rush win (Jeff Cornwall scored series-winning goal with unassisted marker)

*12-9 Roughnecks win (Shawn Evans recorded seven points including three goals)

*10-8 Rush win (Mark Matthews racked up seven points including a hat trick)

11-9 Rush win (Mark Matthews & Robert Church both with five-point games)

9-8 Roughnecks win (Curtis Dickson pots four goals including game-winner)

12-11 OT Roughnecks win (Daryl Veltman scores four goals including game-winner in OT)

16-8 Rush win (Mark Matthews registers eight points including hat trick)

*denotes playoff game

2014

*2-1 Roughnecks win (Shawn Evans scores both goals in mini-game clincher)

*15-13 Rush win (Mark Matthews notches hat trick)

*12-11 OT Roughnecks win (Curtis Dickson pots four goals plus two assists)

14-13 OT Roughnecks win (Curtis Dickson scores seven goals including game-winner)

15-11 Rush win (Curtis Knight records eight-point game including five goals)

15-7 Rush win (Zack Greer notches first-quarter hat trick)

15-8 Rush win (Mark Matthews tallies seven points including four goals)

*denotes playoff game

2013

12-11 OT Roughnecks win (Shawn Evans caps 10-point game with OT winner)

18-13 Rush win (Ryan Ward sets Rush reg. season record with 10 points)

9-8 Roughnecks win (Curtis Dickson scores four goals including game-winner)

18-15 Roughnecks win (Jeff Shattler tallies two goals and adds six assists)

2012

*19-11 Rush win (Ryan Ward sets Rush record with 11-point game)

9-6 Roughnecks win (Shawn Evans racks up four goals and two assists)

16-9 Roughnecks win (Shawn Evans pots five goals including penalty shot tally)

13-10 Roughnecks win (Curtis Dickson with four goals and three assists)

12-8 Roughnecks win (Curtis Dickson nets hat trick plus two assists)

*denotes playoff game

2011

19-14 Roughnecks win (Jeff Shattler totals nine points with one goal and eight assists)

15-11 Roughnecks win (Dane Dobbie collects three goals and six assists)

12-11 OT Roughnecks win (Mike Scherman pots the game-winner)

12-11 Roughnecks win (Jeff Shattler notches hat trick plus five assists)

2010

*11-7 Rush win (Ryan Ward notches nine points including eight assists)

13-8 Roughnecks win (Josh Sanderson picks up three goals and three assists)

14-13 OT Roughnecks win (Josh Sanderson earns hat trick including game-winner)

14-11 Rush win (Dean Hill notches hat trick and adds one assist)

*denotes playoff game

2009

10-9 OT Roughnecks win (Curt Malawsky notches the game-winner)

22-10 Roughnecks win (Dane Dobbie collects 11 points including seven goals)

14-13 Roughnecks win (Tracey Kelusky racks up eight points including four goals)

2008

11-9 Rush win (Jimmy Quinlan pots four goals plus one assist)

18-7 Roughnecks win (Kaleb Toth registers nine points including four goals)

12-8 Roughnecks win (Curt Malawsky registers four goals and one assist)

2007

13-12 Roughnecks win (Kaleb Toth and Lewis Ratcliff each with four points)

13-12 Rush win (Chris Gill sets club record with six goals)

17-11 Roughnecks win (Tracey Kelusky collects two goals and seven assists)

2006

11-9 Roughnecks win (Lewis Ratcliff scores five goals)

12-9 Roughnecks win (Kaleb Toth and Tracey Kelusky each with seven points)

12-11 Rush win (Pat Campbell earns player of the game with 54 saves)

16-9 Roughnecks win (Lewis Ratcliff notches four goals and two assists)

National Lacrosse League Stories from February 23, 2018

• Rush vs. Roughnecks Game Notes - Saskatchewan Rush

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