RUSH vs. STEALTH Game Notes
March 4, 2017 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Saskatchewan Rush News Release
RUSH vs. STEALTH Game Notes
(Saskatchewan Rush)
RUSH vs. STEALTH Game Notes
Saskatchewan Rush (6-2) at Vancouver Stealth (3-6)
March 4th, 2017
Langley Events Centre, Langley BC
On the heels of an overtime victory last weekend, the Saskatchewan Rush will chase after their seventh straight win when they take aim at the Vancouver Stealth on Saturday night.
The Rush's 12-11 overtime win over Calgary lifted Saskatchewan to a 1½-game lead over Colorado in the race for first place in the NLL's West Division. Vancouver, which dropped a 12-8 verdict to Rochester last weekend, is currently 3½ games behind Saskatchewan but only one-half game behind Calgary for third in the West.
Adam Jones' second goal of the game was the overtime winner against Calgary as the Rush defeated their arch-rivals for the seventh consecutive regular-season game and 10th overall counting playoff action. Robert Church and Ben McIntosh each posted hat tricks against the Roughnecks with singles coming from Mark Matthews, Mike Messenger, Marty Dinsdale, and Jeff Cornwall.
This is the second of three meetings between the Rush and Stealth this season. Saskatchewan earned a 16-12 win in Saskatoon back on Jan. 27, giving the Rush a 17-14 edge in all-time regular-season meetings between the two teams. The season series between the teams wraps up on April in Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan has won eight of the last 10 meetings against the Stealth, and captured the game earlier this season behind a four-goal effort from Robert Church and eight assists from Mark Matthews. Jeff Cornwall notched a hat trick for the Rush, while Curtis Knight and Adam Jones each added a pair. Ryan Dilks, Marty Dinsdale, Adrian Sorichetti, Jeremy Thompson, and Ben McIntosh each scored once for the Rush.
The Rush entered last season running a six-game winning streak against the Stealth, but Vancouver captured two of three meetings in 2016. In fact, the Stealth won only five games all of last season but two came at the expense of the two-time defending NLL champions.
Vancouver launched a furious comeback in Saskatchewan's 2016 home-opener and spoiled the night with a 13-11 win. Vancouver's victory was anchored by a five-goal outing from former Rush first-round draft pick Corey Small. Robert Church's hat trick led the Rush offence, while Curtis Knight, Chris Corbeil, and Zack Greer each scored twice, and Jeff Cornwall added one.
The Rush returned the home-turf setback to Vancouver in a big way as they blasted the Stealth 24-16 last March. The result marked the first time in franchise history that the Rush eclipsed the 20+ goal plateau in a single game and it was also the second time during the '16 season that the team tied its own franchise record of 14 goals in a first half. The Rush's offence was in high gear all game long, and broke the game open with seven unanswered goals in the fourth quarter. Zack Greer registered a career-high 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists) while Mark Matthews racked up 10 points (2 goals, 8 assists). Curtis Knight, with five, Ben McIntosh, with four, a hat trick from Robert Church, two from Jeremy Thompson, and singles from Adrian Sorichetti, Riley Loewen, and Nik Bilic rounded out the Rush scoring barrage. The verdict also marked the second win in a Rush jersey for backup goalie Tyler Carlson, who came on in relief of starter Aaron Bold and allowed only three goals over the final 23 minutes.
But behind four goals from both Joel McCready and Logan Schuss, Vancouver edged the Rush 14-12 last April to take the season series. Mark Matthews scored five goals for the Rush with Robert Church adding three. Also scoring for the Rush were Kyle Rubisch, Curtis Knight, Chris Corbeil and Ben McIntosh.
Rush vs. Stealth - Season-by-Season Glance
2017
16-12 Rush win (Robert Church racks up four goals and Mark Matthews chips in eight assists)
2016
14-12 Stealth win (Logan Schuss and Joel McCready each scored four goals)
24-16 Rush win (Zack Greer records career-high 11 points including five goals)
13-11 Stealth win (Corey Small fires in five goals against his former team)
2015
17-10 Rush win (Robert Church racks up nine points with five goals and four assists)
15-14 OT Rush win (Zack Greer scored four goals including overtime game-winner)
19-7 Rush win (Mark Matthews and Tyler Melnyk both score four goals)
2014
10-5 Rush win (Aaron Bold totals 40 saves for the victory)
10-9 Rush win (Robert Church notches hat trick)
9-8 Rush win (Curtis Knight, Zack Greer, & Mark Matthews each score two goals)
2013
*12-11 Stealth win (Rhys Duch notches four goals and two assists)
15-10 Rush win (Mark Matthews registers 'sock trick' with six goals)
12-10 Stealth win (Rhys Duch collects two goals and two assists)
18-10 Rush win (Mark Matthews ties team record with nine points)
*denotes playoff game - West Division Semifinal
2012
10-9 Rush win (Zack Greer paces Rush with four goals)
16-5 Rush win (Corey Small ties team record with nine-point game)
2011
14-12 Rush win (Scott Evans scores one goal and adds seven loose balls)
15-14 Rush win (Corey Small notches three goals and three assists)
18-10 Stealth win (Lewis Ratcliff racks up nine points including four goals)
2010
*12-11 Stealth OT win (Paul Rabil notches game-winner eight seconds into OT)
15-7 Stealth win (Lewis Ratcliff scores twice and adds five assists)
14-13 Rush OT win (Gavin Prout connects for seven points including three goals)
14-13 Rush win (Ryan Ward leads the way with four goals)
*denotes playoff game - West Division Final
2009
16-6 Stealth win (Cam Sedgwick scores four goals and adds two assists)
11-10 Stealth win (Jeff Zywicki racks up seven points including three goals)
2008
11-8 Stealth win (Colin Doyle notches four goals and adds two assists)
12-5 Rush win (Jimmy Quinlan picks up the hat trick)
14-6 Stealth win (Colin Doyle chips in four assists)
2007
11-9 Stealth win (Jeff Zywicki counts five points including three goals)
14-7 Stealth win (Jeff Zywicki notches nine-point game including five goals)
9-8 Stealth win (Colin Doyle paces attack with five points)
2006
10-9 Stealth OT win (Jeff Zywicki scores three goals including game-winner)
12-11 Stealth win (Jeff Zywicki picks up hat trick plus two assists)
Statistically Speaking: Thanks to eight assists against Calgary, the Rush's Mark Matthews moved into third place in league scoring with 56 points along with a league-leading 37 assists. Vancouver's Corey Small leads the NLL with 61 points, while teammates Rhys Duch (47) and Logan Schuss (43) are also in the top 10 ... Robert Church's hat trick against Calgary pushed him to tops on the Rush and sixth in the league with 20 goals, one up on Mark Matthews. The Stealth's Corey Small is on top of the league with 25 goals and is second with 36 assists ... Saskatchewan's Robert Church continues to lead the NLL in power-play goals, now with 13 which is three better than second-place shooter Logan Schuss of Vancouver. Corey Small is third with eight power-play goals ... Mark Matthews of the Rush leads the NLL with 17 power-play assists ... The Rush are ranked third on both special teams with a power play at 60.9% (28-for-46) and penalty kill at 47.7%. The Stealth are ranked fifth on the power play at 54.9% (28-for-51) but dead last with the ninth-ranked penalty kill at only 36.4% ... Both the Rush and Stealth have given up a league-high six shorthanded goals, but the Stealth are the only team in the league that has yet to score a shorthanded goal ... The Rush's Jeff Cornwall leads the NLL with three game-winning goals ... The Rush's Jeremy Thompson stands third in the NLL with 100 faceoffs wins, and he is also fourth with 77 loose ball scoops ... Vancouver's Justin Salt leads the NLL with 16 forced turnovers while Saskatchewan's Nik Bilic and Kyle Rubisch are tied for fourth with 14 ... The Rush's Ryan Keenan is tied for fourth in rookie scoring with 16 points. He is also fourth amongst rookie with 12 assists and third with six power-play assists ... Saskatchewan's Mike Messenger leads all NLL rookies with 16 penalty minutes and he is now tied with Ryan Dilks for the Rush's top scoring defenceman with seven points, one up on Nik Bilic.Â
By the Numbers: Saskatchewan leads the NLL with an average attendance of 14,487. The Rush have totaled 59,591 fans thru five home games ... There hasn't been any home-turf advantage for the Stealth so far this season as they are 0-4 in home games. Meanwhile, the Rush are 4-0 at home and 2-2 on the road. Saskatchewan is also 4-0 against West Division foes while Vancouver is 3-3 ... Saskatchewan's 109 goals is second-best in the league behind only Georgia's 119. The Rush's 92 goals allowed is second-best behind only Toronto. The Rush have the second-best goals per game average at 13.63 and the third-best goals allowed per game at 11.50 ... The Stealth's 106 goals scored is the second-best total in the West Division, but Vancouver has allowed 117 goals. Only New England has allowed more ... So far this season, the Rush are 4-0 when they lead after the first quarter, 4-0 when they lead after the third quarter, and 6-0 when they outshoot their opponents. The Stealth are 3-1 when they lead at halftime but 0-4 when they trail at halftime and 0-3 when they trail after the third quarter ... The Rush have outscored their opponents 55-40 in second-half action this season. The Stealth have been outscored 34-24 in second quarters and 32-21 in fourth quarters but they do start fast with a 37-25 edge on opponents in first quarters ... Saskatchewan's comeback win over Calgary last weekend lifted the Rush to a 3-2 mark when they trail at halftime ... Rush goalie Aaron Bold, who made 34 saves last week against Calgary, is tied for first amongst NLL netminders with six wins, and he stands third with a 10.54 goals-against average. Tye Belanger has taken over the starting job in the Vancouver net ... In Three-Star Award voting, Robert Church of the Rush is tied for third with 16 points (2 x First Star, 2 x Second Star) with teammate Mark Matthews in seventh with 12 points (1 x First Star, 2 x Second Star, 1 x Third Star). Vancouver's Corey Small is tied for fifth with 15 points (2 x First Star, 1 x Second Star, 2 x Third Star).
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 RUSH vs. STEALTH Game Notes |
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