Skip to content

Rush break attendance record, face Buffalo in NLL finals

The kings of lacrosse can be spelled “Saskatchewan Rush” for the time being.
Saskatchewan Rush

The kings of lacrosse can be spelled “Saskatchewan Rush” for the time being.

 

After defeating the Calgary Roughnecks in game two of the West finals, in front of the largest crowd in SaskTel Centre history for a sporting event, the Rush have earned the right to defend their title against the Buffalo Bandits.

 

In 27 years of operation, the SaskTel Centre had not seen anything like what took place Saturday evening. The sell out (15,192) was more than the previous record holder for attendance, which was the 2010 World Hockey Championships. The Rush fan base bested the team Canada, USA gold medal game (15,171) among other events. Three of the five largest crowds have been from Saskatchewan home games this season.

 

The Rush used their strong defence in the first half, surrendering just three goals to the Roughnecks offence. Aaron Bold stood on his head for the majority of the night, stopping 39 shots in the 12-9 win.

 

Robert Church added to his impressive series by scoring the opening goal of the tilt, bringing the crowd of 15,192 to their feet. He finished the bout against Calgary with eight points in two games. Leading scorer, Mark Matthews, provided the assist.

 

Tyler Digby tied the game up eight minutes later for the Roughnecks, not knowing this would be as close as Calgary would get to extending their season. Zack Greer made sure of it.

 

An unsuccessful penalty shot attempt in the first quarter didn’t stop Greer from providing the series dagger with the show he put on. The forward redeemed himself early in the second after taking a pass from Matthews and finding the back of the net. Greer finished the game with four goals and six points. Matthews then registered his third point of the game, scoring just 25 seconds apart, handing the Rush a three-goal advantage.

 

At the half, Saskatchewan led 5-3, and only added to the offensive outpour come the back half of the tilt.

 

A fourth quarter hat trick from Greer iced any come back the Roughnecks tried to put together. The Rush made it 12-6 before Calgary emptied their net and their offensive clip, scoring three unanswered with the extra attacker. The valiant effort was for none as the Rush now move onto the NLL finals for the second straight year.

 

Saskatchewan now packs their bags for a trip to Buffalo. Game one goes Saturday in Bandits territory. The series will be between the top two NLL teams from the regular season after the Bandits swept the New England Wolves in the East division final. The Rush narrowly lost to Buffalo in the only regular season game between the two, 19-18.

 

Dhane Smith will have to be held in check for the Rush to have a chance at back-to-back titles since their relocation from Edmonton. Smith was the top offensive threat in the NLL throughout the season, finishing the year with a tremendous 137 points and 72 goals in 18 games. In the sweep of New England, Smith tallied 16 points.