Rush vs Stealth Game Notes
March 2, 2018 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Saskatchewan Rush News Release
The Saskatchewan Rush will look to close out a brief two-game homestand with a third victory over the Vancouver Stealth in a span of just one month.
Saskatchewan opened up February with an 11-9 win at home against the Stealth, and followed that up with a dominant 16-9 decision in Vancouver one week later. This is the third of four meetings between the Rush and Stealth this season with the last one coming up on April 13 in Vancouver. The Rush are expected to have newly acquired seven-time All-Pro Dan Dawson in the lineup against the Stealth.
Dawson was traded to Saskatchewan earlier this week from Rochester in exchange for two draft picks (a 2018 second-rounder and a 2019 third-rounder).
Last weekend, the Rush maintained their spot atop the NLL's overall rankings as well as first place in the West Division with a defensively strong 10-6 verdict over the Calgary Roughnecks before a sold-out crowd of 15,075 at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. The win also secured a playoff berth for the Rush and locked in a third consecutive season-series win against the arch-rival Roughnecks. Saskatchewan leads the West by 2.5 games over Colorado, while Vancouver trails Calgary by 3.5 for the third and final playoff spot.
The Rush went 5-for-5 on the power play with Mark Matthews racking up seven points (3 goals, 4 assists). Marty Dinsdale and Jeff Shattler each scored twice with Robert Church, Jeremy Thompson, and Ben McIntosh each adding one. Evan Kirk was named the game's first star while making 37 saves.
The Rush have won four of the last five meetings against the Stealth and hold an all-time regular-season record of 20-15 versus Vancouver. In the last encounter between the teams, the Rush jumped out to a 6-0 lead, chasing Stealth starting goaltender Eric Penney just 8:32 into the game. Saskatchewan went 11-3 at halftime and comfortably cruised to the win. Robert Church (3 goals, 5 assists) led the Rush with eight points, while Curtis Knight collected four goals and Ben McIntosh posted a hat trick. Mark Matthews added a pair of goals with Chris Corbeil, Marty Dinsdale, Jeff Shattler, and Matt Hossack each scoring once.
Less than 24 hours after a road win in Colorado, the Rush returned home on February 10th to top the Stealth behind two-goals efforts from Curtis Knight, Robert Church, Ryan Keenan, Mark Matthews, and Ben McIntosh. The Rush's hero of the night, though, was backup goaltender Tyler Carlson who made his first appearance of the season and turned aside the first 10 shots he face before winding up 39 saves.Â
The Rush swept the season series from the Stealth in both 2014 and 2015 with three victories, but since then the two teams have gone back and forth with Vancouver winning two of three in 2016 and Saskatchewan winning two of three last year. In fact, the Stealth won only five games in 2016 but two came at the expense of the Rush including the team's first home game wearing Saskatchewan colors.
Saskatchewan put a wrap on last year's season series with a 16-12 win as Mark Matthews managed a hat trick and four assists while Adam Jones fired in four goals. Ryan Keenan and Ben McIntosh each scored twice in the win with Mike Messenger, Jeff Cornwall, Robert Church, Adrian Sorichetti, and Jeremy Thompson adding one apiece.
Prior to that victory, the Rush were stymied by a 55-save performance by Stealth goalie Tye Belanger in a 13-9 loss at Vancouver. Robert Church and Adam Jones each scored twice in that game with singles going to Curtis Knight, Jeff Cornwall, Ryan Keenan, Adrian Sorichetti, and Ben McIntosh. In the first meeting between the teams last season, the Rush got four goals from Robert Church and eight assists from Mark Matthews in a 16-12 win over the Stealth in Saskatoon. 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.
Statistically Speaking: Mark Matthews moved to the top of the Rush scoring list and is tied for first with Rochester's Joe Resetarits for first in the league with 64 points. The Rush's Robert Church is third in points with 61 and Ben McIntosh is 10th with 50 points ... Saskatchewan's Ben McIntosh leads the NLL with 29 goals and also leads with 11 power-play goals ... Robert Church is tied for fourth with 24 goals and Mark Matthews is tied for seventh with 23 goals ... Mark Matthews is tied for the league-lead with 41 assists with Robert Church tied for fourth with 37 and Ryan Keenan is tied for ninth with 31 helpers ... The Rush continue to boast the NLL's best power play, now clicking at 75.0% (36-for-48). Ryan Keenan is third in the league with eight power-play goals with Mark Matthews and Robert Church tied for eighth with six goals on the man-advantage ... Mark Matthews is tops in the NLL with 19 power-play assists with Robert Church right behind in second with 15 ... The Rush's penalty kill is ranked fourth at 47.6% along with six shorthanded goals. Rush captain Chris Corbeil is tied for the league-lead with two shorthanded goals and fellow Rush defenceman Ryan Dilks is tied for the league-lead with two shorthanded assists ... Vancouver's power play is ranked eighth in the NLL at just 41.2% and the Stealth have given up a league-high eight shorthanded goals. The Stealth's penalty kill is ranked third at 48.7% but they have scored just one shorthanded goal ... The Rush's Curtis Knight is tied for the league-lead with three game-winning goals and Mark Matthews has moved into a tie for second with two game-winners ... Rush goalie Evan Kirk is tops in the league with eight wins and he is ranked second in both goals-against average (10.77) and total saves (368). Kirk is also ranked third with a save-percentage of .783 ... Saskatchewan's Evan Kirk has moved into fourth in league's Three Star Award voting with 16 points (2 x First Star, 2 x Second Star). Ben McIntosh is sixth with 13 points (2 x First Star, 1 x Second Star) and Mark Matthews is eighth with 10 points (1 x First Star, 1 x Second Star, 2 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 so far this season (six) ... The Rush's Ben McIntosh has scored in 11 straight games, while teammates Mark Matthews, Curtis Knight, Robert Church, and Ryan Keenan have picked up assists in 11 straight ... After a sell-out against Calgary, Saskatchewan upped its league-leading attendance numbers with an average of 14,624 ... The Rush lead the NLL with 160 goals and are third with 119 goals against. Saskatchewan is ranked second with 14.55 goals scored per game and the Rush lead the league at 10.82 goals against per game ... Vancouver sits last in the league in both goals scored (10.27 per game) and goals against (15.09 per game) ... The Rush have outscored their opposition 40-14 in first-quarter action this season while the Stealth have been outscored 47-20 in the first ... The Rush are 7-0 when they outshoot their opponents, 9-1 when they lead at halftime, and 8-1 when they lead after three quarters ... The Rush are 6-0 versus West Division opponents so far this season while the Stealth are 0-6 ... Saskatchewan's Jeremy Thompson is second in the league in faceoff wins with 138. Thompson is third in loose ball scoops at 90 with Rush defenceman Kyle Rubisch right behind in third with 88. Vancouver's Ian Hawksbee, a former Rush, is second in the league with 91 loose ball scoops ... The Rush's Kyle Rubisch is seventh in the NLL with 16 caused turnovers with Rush captain Chris Corbeil tied for eighth with 15 ... Saskatchewan leads the NLL with a team shooting percentage of 20.3%. Rush transition Adrian Sorichetti is tops in the league at 50.0% (7 goals on 14 shots) with Jeremy Thompson in fifth at 42.9% (6 goals on 14 shorts) and Chris Corbeil in sixth at 41.7% (5 goals on 12 shots) ... The Stealth sit second in the league with 18.45 penalty minutes per game. They are second in minors (49) and majors (9) and lead with five game misconducts ... 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: With his three-point game against Calgary last weekend, the Rush's Jeff Shattler went over the 800-point plateau for his career ... The Rush's game against Vancouver will mark the 100th regular-season game of Mark Matthews' career.
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Rush vs. Stealth - Season-by-Season Glance
2018
16-9 Rush win (Robert Church collects eight points including a hat trick)
11-9 Rush win (Robert Church scores twice and adds five assists for seven-point game)
2017
16-12 Rush win (Mark Matthews tops scoring with hat trick and four assists)
13-9 Stealth win (Tye Belanger makes 55 saves)
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)
National Lacrosse League Stories from March 2, 2018
- Georgia Swarm Falls in Final Seconds to Colorado - Georgia Swarm
- Resetarits Among League's Best - Rochester Knighthawks
- Georgia Swarm Activates Joel White Ahead of Tonight's Game against Colorado - Georgia Swarm
- Rush vs Stealth Game Notes - Saskatchewan Rush
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