Rush vs. Roughnecks Game Notes
March 2, 2019 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Saskatchewan Rush News Release
Saskatchewan Rush (4-4) vs. Colorado Mammoth (3-5)
Co-op Field at SaskTel Centre | Saskatoon, SK
Tickets | TicketMaster
Watch | B/R Live
Listen | 92.9 The Bull
Official Pre- & Post- Game Viewing Party | Shoeless Joe's Saskatoon
A measure of revenge is in order for the Saskatchewan Rush on Saturday night as they take on the arch-rival Calgary Roughnecks in the NLL's Battle of the Prairies.
The Rush enter the game riding a two-game winning streak which was extended last Friday night with a 9-7 victory over the Colorado Mammoth which pushed Saskatchewan into top spot in the West Division. But just three weeks ago, the Rush were dealt a 17-12 loss by Calgary as the Roughnecks picked up their first-ever win in Saskatoon. Still, the Rush have won 10 of the last 12 regular-season matchups against the Roughnecks and have also topped the Roughnecks in three consecutive playoff encounters as well.
Saskatchewan's victory last Friday gives them a half-game lead over Calgary and San Diego in the West. The Roughnecks and Seals were both idle last weekend. This is the second of three meetings between the Rush and Roughnecks this year with the finale coming on April 27th in Calgary on the second-to-last weekend of the regular season.
Up until their win on February 9, the Roughnecks had lost four straight regular-season games against the Rush, but they came out on top thanks for four-goal games from Tyler Pace, Dane Dobbie and Curtis Dickson. For the Rush, Robert Church and Jeff Shattler each notched hat tricks, Curtis Knight and Ryan Keenan had two goals apiece, and Ben McIntosh and Mark Matthews each scored once.
Last season, the Rush advanced to their fourth consecutive NLL championship series and ultimately their third title after beating Calgary 15-13 in the West Division Final. Ben McIntosh and Robert Church (each 3 goals, 3 assists) and Mark Matthews (2 goals, 5 assists) anchored the Rush attack while goaltender Evan Kirk stopped 38 shots in his first playoff appearance for the Rush. Defenceman Ryan Dilks added a pair of goals for the Rush with singles going to Curtis Knight, Ryan Keenan, Marty Dinsdale, Jeff Shattler, and Matt Hossack.
The Rush completed their second season-series sweep of the Roughnecks in the regular-season finale with an 11-10 victory. Mark Matthews had a goal and six assists for the Rush while Jeff Shattler and Ben McIntosh both scored twice. Goals from Dan Dawson, Robert Church, Ryan Keenan, and Marty Dinsdale rounded out the Rush scoring. In the team's first matchup of last season, Ben McIntosh scored his second goal of the game 46 seconds into overtime to lift the Rush to a 13-12 win. 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.
The Rush added to their winning ways against the Roughnecks in the return matchup a month later in Saskatoon as they came away with a 10-6 victory behind a 37-save effort from Evan Kirk. Mark Matthews put up seven points (3 goals, 4 assists) with Jeff Shattler and Marty Dinsdale both scoring twice, and singles going to Jeremy Thompson, Ben McIntosh and Robert Church.
Reigning NLL MVP Mark Matthews needs just two assists to reach 400 for his career, while Rush teammate Ryan Keenan picked up two assists in the win over Colorado to get him to the 100 MILESTONE MINUTE: mark in helpers for his career ... Rush goalie Evan Kirk, who had a stellar outing against Colorado, is just one win from 50 for his career.
The Rush MEMORY LANE: hold a 20-28 record against Calgary in all-time regular-season action. The Roughnecks went 11-1 against the Rush from 2011-2013, but 2013 was last time that Calgary won a season-series against the Rush. Going way back in history, the Rush's first-ever franchise win was their only victory of the 2006 debut season and it came in Calgary.
Jeff Shattler of the Rush picked up his third game-winning goal of the season last week against Colorado moving him into a tie for first in that category ... Rush transition Jeremy Thompson leads the NLL with 115 loose ball scoops, 14 ahead of Calgary's Zach Currier in Statistically Speaking: second spot ... Calgary's Zach Currier leads the NLL with 22 caused turnovers and Roughnecks teammate Dan McRae tied for fourth with 17. Saskatchewan's Kyle Rubisch, the single-season and all-time leader in caused turnovers, is currently third in the league with 19 ... The Rush's Jeremy Thompson is third in the NLL with 131 faceoff wins, 11 behind Calgary's Tyler Burton who is second. Saskatchewan and Calgary are tied for second in team faceoff win percentage at 55.5% ... The Rush's Mark Matthews is tied for ninth in points (52) and goals (20) and tied for 10th in assists (32) ... Ben McIntosh of the Rush is tied for seventh in goals with 21 ... Calgary's Dane Dobbie is sixth in points with 58, fourth in goals with 24 and tied for fifth in assists with 34 ... The Rush continue to boast the NLL's number-one power play, now at 69.2% (18-for-26). Mark Matthews is tied for third in power-play assists with 12 and Ben McIntosh is tied for fifth in power-play goals with six ... Calgary's power play is ranked seventh at 41.7% (20-for-48). Dane Dobbie is tied for third with seven power-play goals while Rhys Duch is tied for seventh in power-play goals (5) and tied for eighth in power-play assists (8). The Roughnecks have given up a league-high six shorthanded goals ... The Roughnecks have the NLL's top-ranked penalty kill at 63.6. The Rush are 11th on the penalty kill at 44.4% but they have scored four shorthanded goals ... 2018 Regular Season: Rush star Mark Matthews completed the regular season in style as he set a new NLL record for assists in a single season with 84, and captured the league scoring title with 116 points, which also broke his own team record for points in a season. Matthews led the NLL with 33 power-play assists and was tied for the league-lead with three game-winning goals ... The Rush's Robert Church finished second in league scoring with 107 points and tied for second in the league with 47 goals, one up on teammate Ben McIntosh. Church also finished sixth with 60 assists ... Saskatchewan finished the regular season with the top-ranked power play at 67.8% (59-for-87). Robert Church, Ben McIntosh and Ryan Keenan all tied for third in the league with 14 power-play goals, and Church also finished second with 27 power-play assists ... Rush goalie Evan Kirk led the league with 12 wins and finished with the second-best goals-against average at 10.82. He also had the fourth-best save-percentage at .777.
The Rush By the Numbers: are tops in the NLL when it comes to attendance, averaging a league-best 13,297. Calgary is third behind Colorado at 11,689 ... After beating Colorado last weekend, the Rush are now 4-1 against West Division rivals so far this season. The Roughnecks are 5-3 versus the rest of the West ... The Rush are third in the league with an average of 12.44 goals per game and eighth at 11.89 goals allowed per game. The Roughnecks are ninth in goals scored at 10.80 but first in goals allowed at 10.70 ... The Rush have outscored opponents 26-19 in third-quarter play so far this season ... The Rush are 4-0 when leading at halftime and 5-0 when leading after three quarters. The Rush are also 4-2 when they outshoot their opposition ... The Roughnecks have been outscored 31-22 in first-quarter action so far this season. Weirdly enough, the Roughnecks are 0-2 on the year when leading halftime, but 4-2 when leading after three quarters ... As a team, the Rush sit third in shooting percentage at 17.4%, while the Roughnecks are eighth at 15.5% ... Calgary's Dane Dobbie has 16 points (2 x First Star, 2 x Second Star) in the NLL's Three-Star Award voting. Saskatchewan's Mark Matthews has 14 points (2 x First Star, 1 x Second Star, 1 x Third Star) while Ben McIntosh has 10 points (2 x First Star) ... Roughnecks goalie Christian Del Bianco is third in total saves (389), fourth in goals-against average (10.69) and fifth in save-percentage (.785) ... The Rush and Roughnecks are two of the NLL's least-penalized teams. The Rush are ninth at 10.11 PIM per game and the Roughnecks are seventh at 11.00 PIM per game ... 2018 Regular Season: Saskatchewan won the NLL's attendance derby with an average of 14,639 - 458 better than Buffalo ... The Rush led the NLL with 254 goals scored and just 196 goals allowed. Saskatchewan topped the league with 14.11 goals scored per game and 10.89 goals allowed per game. Rochester finished third in both goals scored per game (13.11) and goals allowed per game (11.67) ... Rush defenceman Kyle Rubisch finished seventh with 25 caused turnovers and 10th with 130 loose balls ... Saskatchewan was the only team in the league with three players in the top 10 of the Three Star Award voting. Robert Church was fifth with 26 points (3 x First Star, 3 x Second Star, 2 x Second Star), Mark Matthews was sixth with 24 points (3 x First Star, 2 x Second Star, 3 x Third Star), and Evan Kirk was eighth with 21 points (3 x First Star, 2 x Second Star).
Rush vs. Roughnecks - Season-by-Season Glance
2019
17-12 Roughnecks win (Dane Dobbie, Tyler Pace and Curtis Dickson each score four goals)
2018
*15-13 Rush win (Ben McIntosh records hat trick and adds three assists for six-point night)
11-10 Rush win (Mark Matthews notches seven points, including six assists)
10-6 Rush win (Mark Matthews records seven points including a hat trick)
13-12 OT Rush win (Ben McIntosh scores second of the game 46 seconds into overtime)
*denotes playoff game
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 March 2, 2019
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- Rush vs. Roughnecks Game Notes - Saskatchewan Rush
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