Rush vs. Warriors Game Notes
March 29, 2019 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Saskatchewan Rush News Release
Saskatchewan Rush (6-6) vs. Vancouver Warriors (4-10)
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
The Saskatchewan Rush will look to complete a season-series sweep of the Vancouver Warriors on Saturday night.
Saskatchewan has won seven straight overall against Vancouver, including a pair of victories in British Columbia already this season. A win would give the Rush their fifth season-series sweep over Vancouver in franchise history.
The Rush are currently tied for second with Calgary in the NLL's West Division with both teams two games behind division-leading San Diego (8-4). However, the Rush have two games in hand on Calgary (7-7). Vancouver, which lost both ends of a home-and-home set against Colorado last weekend, are two behind the Mammoth for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West.
The Rush are coming off a second consecutive gut-wrenching one-goal loss. After falling in overtime to Buffalo two weeks ago, the Rush dropped a 13-12 decision to San Diego last Friday despite 43-save effort from Adam Shute and six points from Ben McIntosh. Two of McIntosh's three goals came during a Rush rally in the third quarter as they bounced back from a 10-6 deficit to tie the game. Jeff Shattler also scored twice during that four-goal run, while Curtis Knight, Chris Corbeil, Robert Church, Ryan Keenan, Mark Matthews, Jeremy Thompson and Matt Hossack also scored for Saskatchewan on the night.
The Rush made their debut in the Warriors' new home at Rogers Arena in downtown Vancouver a successful one by earning a 14-10 win back on January 12th.
Ben McIntosh notched five goals and added three assists for the Rush while Mark Matthews scored twice and put up five assists. Jeff Shattler and Marty Dinsdale each added a pair of goals for the Rush with singles going to Jeremy Thompson, Curtis Knight, and Ryan Keenan. Robert Church chipped in six assists for the Rush, who chased starting goaltender Aaron Bold after four goals on seven shots in the game's opening five minutes.
Just over a month later, the Rush returned to Vancouver and ended a three-game losing streak with a 15-13 victory behind a 30-save effort from goalie Evan Shute, who was making his first start of the season. Mark Matthews led the Rush with three goals and four assists, while Mike Messenger and Marty Dinsdale each scored twice. Ben McIntosh, Jeff Shattler and Matt MacGrotty had the other Rush goals.
Saskatchewan completed its season-sweep of Vancouver late in the 2018 campaign with a 20-10 victory behind 11 points from Mark Matthews collected 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists) and nine points from Robert Church (4 goals, 5 assists). Ryan Keenan, Marty Dinsdale and Ben McIntosh each had seven-point efforts as they combined for 11 goals and 10 assists. Jeff Shattler and Mike Messenger added to the Rush scoring, while goaltender Adam Shute made his first career NLL start and picked up the victory.
Prior to that, the Rush beat Vancouver 16-10 behind a four-goal, four-assist game from Robert Church and nine assists for Mark Matthews. Marty Dinsdale also had four goals, Jeff Shattler notched three goals and three assists, and Ryan Keenan and Ben McIntosh both scored twice. Dan Dawson also scored in his first game with the Rush, coming to Saskatchewan earlier in the week in trade with Rochester.
The Rush also beat Vancouver twice in the span of seven days last season. On February 3rd, Curtis Knight, Robert Church, Mark Matthews, Ryan Keenan and Ben McIntosh each scored twice in an 11-9 win for Saskatchewan. One weekend later, the Rush jumped out to a 6-0 lead and chased Stealth starting goaltender Eric Penney just 8:32 into the game before going on to win 16-9. 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.
WAR ON THE WARRIORS: The Rush hold an all-time record of 23-16 against the Warriors/Stealth franchise ... During Saskatchewan's six-game winning streak against Vancouver, the Rush have held the opposition to 10 or fewer goals five times ... The Stealth/Warriors played the Rush in their inaugural game in both Saskatchewan and Edmonton and won both times ... Downtown Vancouver is the fourth home of the Warriors/Stealth franchise. It originated in San Jose, California, then moved to Everett, Washington, and then on to Langley, B.C.
first in the league with 29 caused turnovers. Rubisch is the league's all-time leader and single-season record-holder in forced turnovers. He currently is also 14th in the league with 94 loose ball scoops ... Fellow Rush defenceman Mike Messenger is fifth in the league with 22 caused turnovers ... The Rush's Jeremy Thompson is second in the league with 153 loose balls and he sits third with 176 faceoff wins ... Saskatchewan's Mark Matthews and Ben McIntosh are tied for 10th in the league with 27 goals. Matthews is tied for eighth in points with 68, tied for 13th with 41 assists, and tied for fourth with 13 power-play assists ... Jeff Shattler of the Rush is tied for the NLL lead with four game-winning goals. He is one of tying the single-season team record of five held by Curtis Knight. Shattler is tied for second in the league with two shorthanded goals ... Rush defenceman Matt Hossack is tied for 10th in scoring by sitsStatistically Speaking: The Rush's Kyle Rubisch, a four-time winner of the NLL's Defensive Player of the Year award, defenceman with 10 points and he is tied for second in the league with two shorthanded assists ... The Rush continue to boast the NLL's league-leading power play, sitting at 63.9% (23-for-36). Saskatchewan's penalty kill remains in 11th spot at 45.8% but the Rush have scored six shorthanded goals ... Vancouver's power play is ranked eighth at 42.1% while the penalty kill is in third spot at 59.1% with a league-leading nine shorthanded goals ... Keegan Bal and Jordan McBride of the Warriors are both tied for seventh in the league with seven power-play goals. Bal is also tied for first with three shorthanded goals and teammate Matt Beers is tied for first with three shorthanded assists ... Mitch Jones leads the Warriors in scoring and is 11th in the league with 65 points. He is also tied for sixth with 29 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 NLL in average attendance at 13,216. With a jump of more than 3,500 per game, the Warriors have jumped from last in the league in attendance a year ago to eighth ... Saskatchewan is 5-2 this season against West Division rivals while Vancouver is 3-8 versus the West ... The Rush are second in the league with 12.50 goals per game average and eighth with 11.75 goals allowed per game. The Warriors are last in goals scored with just 9.71 but seventh in goals against at 11.71 ... The Rush have outscored their opposition 71-58 in second-half play but are behind 79-82 in leadBy the Numbers: The Rush first-half action. Vancouver has been outscored 98-72 in first halves and 50-34 in second quarters alone ... The Rush are 5-0 when leading at halftime and 6-0 when leading after three ... Mark Matthews is tied for eighth in Three Star Award points with 17 (2 x First Star, 2 x Second Star, 1 x Third Star) with Vancouver's Mitch Jones right behind with 16 points (1 x First Star, 3 x Second Star, 2 x Third Star) ... Warriors goalie Eric Penney leads the NLL with a 9.86 goals-against average and is fourth with a .789 save-percentage ... 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. Warriors/Stealth - Season-by-Season Glance
2019
15-13 Rush win (Mark Matthews notches a hat trick along with four assists)
14-10 Rush win (Ben McIntosh registered eight points on five goals and three assists)
2018
20-10 Rush win (Mark Matthews, Robert Church and Ben McIntosh combine for 12 goals and 15 assists)
16-10 Rush win (Robert Church racks up eight points on four goals and four assists)
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
Rush vs. Warriors/Stealth - Season-by-Season Glance (cont'd)
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)
14-6 Stealth win (Colin Doyle chips in four assists)
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)
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
12-11 Stealth win (Jeff Zywicki picks up hat trick plus two assists)
10-9 Stealth OT win (Jeff Zywicki scores three goals including game-winner)
National Lacrosse League Stories from March 29, 2019
- Game Preview - San Diego Seals
- Rush Players Visit Buffalo Narrows and Turnor Lake Schools Thanks to Nexgen Energy Ltd. - Saskatchewan Rush
- Roughnecks Announce Home Schedule Change - Calgary Roughnecks
- Summary of Disciplinary Action - Week 15 - NLL
- Knighthawks Head to New England for Must-Win Game - Rochester Knighthawks
- Rush vs. Warriors Game Notes - Saskatchewan Rush
- New England Welcomes in Rochester: 4 Things to Know - New England Black Wolves
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
