The highlight of Rhys Duch’s NLL career occurred seven years ago and he’s still waiting to top it.
On May 15, 2010, Duch, in his second year in the league, scored three goals and assisted on eight to help the Washington Stealth defeat the Toronto Rock 15-11, in Comcast Arena in the Seattle suburb of Everett, to win the Champion’s Cup.
“We had about three four-goal deficits that we overcame,” he said. “It was one of the best nights of my life.
“We rallied as a team. It was one of those games where everything fell into place. It was a group of guys I’ll never forget. There were guys on that team I never got to play with again. It certainly is a fond memory I’ll have forever.”
Memories rush back when he looks at photos from that night. He has a tape of the game if he wants to relive the experience when he’s retired.
“I’m not close to done yet so I’m hoping to have another one or two of those, at least,” he said.
The Stealth came close to winning it all again after that 2010 celebration. In 2011, Washington lost the final 8-7 in Toronto despite Duch’s three-goal effort. In 2013, Washington, playing the final in Langley, British Columbia because the Everett arena was unavailable, lost 11-10 to Rochester despite another three-goal game by Duch. In both those seasons, Duch amassed more playoff points than any other postseason participant.
After three consecutive misses since the team moved to British Columbia to play out of the Langley Events Centre, the Stealth have a good shot at post-season play this season. A 13-7 loss in Toronto last Saturday was a setback, but they get another shot at the Rock at home this Friday and a win would keep them ahead of Calgary.
“We were quite frustrated about not getting the win in Toronto because a win would have put us in a real good spot,” Duch said. “At this point in the last couple of seasons the ball was rolling downhill and the wheels were falling off so to be in control of our own destiny this season is something to focus on. It’s definitely motivating.”
Duch, 30, has been one of the most prolific scorers in indoor pro lacrosse since being drafted third overall in 2008 by the Stealth when they were based in San Jose, California.
The 30-year-old Stony Brook grad and 2009 NLL Rookie of the Year is always a threat shooting from his right side. This is his ninth NLL season and he’s never scored fewer than 33 goals in a season. He tallied a career-high 48 last year. He upped this season’s total to 29 with two in Toronto and he has 62 points.
His career regular-season numbers: 143 games played, 340 goals, 456 assists for 796 points. He will be the 15th player in NLL history to reach 800.
“I don’t intend on stopping there,” he said. “With an 18-game season, I should be getting 100 points a season. I’ve been battling injuries for a few weeks so [the points] have fallen off a little bit but I’m starting to feel healthy again.”
He’s had success elsewhere, of course. He was on Canada’s 2011 world championship indoor team and his Victoria Shamrocks summer team won the Mann Cup Canadian championship at home in 2015. But getting into an NLL playoff game for the first time in four years is all he’s thinking about now.
“We’re prepared as an offense but we’ve got to come to play a little better than we did [in Toronto],” he said.
Head coach Jamie Batley appreciates Duch’s game-in-game-out effort.
“He’s been the best righty on his team over the years,” Batley said. “He’s a great point-production guy. He goes to the net or takes an outside shot. He can do everything. He’s playing injured but he still plays gritty and gets punished but night in and night out he plays hard.
“He’s got a great mind for the game. He always works with the coaches to develop plays and systems and gives great feedback.”
New England’s Kevin Crowley (2011) and Toronto’s Challen Rogers (2016) have followed Duch to the NLL out of Long Island’s Stony Brook.
Duch will join John Grant Jr., Dan Dawson, Mark Steenhuis, Shawn Evans and Ryan Benesch in the select circle of active players with 800 or more career points.