Sign up for the latest news & updates

© 2024 USA Lacrosse. All Rights Reserved.

The Saskatchewan Rush put a bow on its 2018 National Lacrosse League championship season.

The team enjoyed great fanfare at its home opener on Saturday night, raising the banner, taking commemorative photos and awarding rings to the returning Seals players that spent last season in SaskTel Center.

But as captain Chris Corbeil put it in his B/R Live pregame interview, “Now we’ve got to move on to 2019."

The Rush, fresh off a surprising season-opening loss to the New England Black Wolves, got into the win column this week with a 16-12 triumph against the expansion San Diego Seals. Ben McIntosh scored five times and Jeff Shattler four times as the offensive unit played without injured Robert Church.

The offense was much improved from the opener, but there are still some cracks on the defense, exasperated by penalties in the first half. The Seals weren't out of the game until the final minutes.

"We've still got some things to learn back there defensively, but I knew that was going to happen," Rush GM and coach Derek Keenan told Saskatchewan media postgame. "You take Ryan Dilks, Jeff Cornwall, Adrian Sorichetti out of the equation, those are big losses. They're not bottom of the roster guys. It takes time."

Eyes around the league will be on San Diego next week as the Seals play their first home game in franchise history. San Diego is the last team to kick off the home slate this year.

Bandits Defense Lives Up to Hype

We finally saw the improved Bandits defense and vintage Matt Vinc we expected entering the season.

Buffalo tied a franchise-best for fewest goals allowed in its 13-4 win against the archrival Rochester Knighthawks.

Interestingly, Bandits co-coach Rich Kilgour said he was approached by players, led by captain Steve Priolo, about changing some things about the defensive scheme. He wasn’t stubborn and the results speak for themselves.

Vinc, playing against his old team for the first time since signing in Buffalo, made sure the reunion was memorable. First, he made 55 saves and with his sixth of the evening passed his current goalie coach, Anthony Cosmo, for the NLL all-time career saves record.

As former Buffalo News Bandits beat reporter Budd Bailey pointed out on Twitter, Vinc’s .932 save percentage was the best performance Buffalo has seen in years. No goalie, for the Bandits or their opponent, has posted a save percentage higher than .865 since the start of the 2015 season.

Duch Going Strong

Rhys Duch continues to play like a man with something to prove.

The first-year Calgary Roughneck forward led his team with four goals and two assists as they defeated Colorado, 11-8, in the lone Sunday game. The Mammoth, the runaway second-placed finishers in the West last season, are still searching for their first win.

"Our team has to reflect on this game," Mammoth captain Dan Coates told ColoradoMammoth.com. "We have to learn from it, and we need to get better every single day. That's Monday through Friday. We can't just flip a switch when it comes to gameday."

Duch has 10 goals in four games, more than halfway to matching his total set in an 18-game season last year. He’s third in the league in points, trailing Buffalo’s Shawn Evans and Josh Byrne.

Kings of the Fourth

Georgia scored the final four goals of the game and shut out Vancouver in the fourth quarter to complete a 10-8 comeback victory against the Warriors on Saturday night in the Atlanta surburbs.

Brendan Bomberry earned his first career goal and first career hat trick and coach Ed Comeau notched his 100th career victory as the Swarm moved to 3-0. Georgia is the only team in the league without a loss.

Wings’ Party Spoiled

Philadelphia was seconds from its first win in franchise history Friday night. It took a jaw-dropping show of athleticism from Tom Schreiber to get in its way.

The Wings hit the post with about 30 seconds remaining in regulation and Schreiber read the bounce off the boards and through a couple bodies well. He snagged the loose ball in transition around the faceoff X, then was able to speed past Wings defender Liam Patten and hit the far top corner with a shot while diving. The Rock had their shorthanded equalizer with 19 seconds on the clock.

Adam Jones ended it in overtime with his fifth goal of the night to give Toronto an 11-10 victory. It's been a tough go for 0-3 Philadelphia, which was close down the stretch against both the Bandits and Toronto.

Welcome Back

This week also brought the end to two holdouts, one through signing and one through a trade.

New England made a move that seemed inevitable, sending star forward Kevin Crowley to the Philadelphia Wings in exchange for a pair of first-round picks.

Crowley was originally drafted by the Wings before the franchise moved to Connecticut and still lives in the area. While two firsts is a hefty price to pay, especially for an expansion team lacking depth, it seems like a fair return for a player who led the league with 51 goals last season. Philadelphia’s offense, already the team’s strength, looks even more legit with his addition.

The Black Wolves also deserve praise for getting a strong return while seemingly having little leverage. They also gain much-needed assets considering the team’s dearth of picks going forward.

Saskatchewan came to a two-year agreement with defenseman Nik Bilic, who snagged eight loose balls in his season debut against the Seals.

That leaves two high-profile holdouts left in the league — Calgary’s Curtis Dickson and Wes Berg.

Week 5 Preview

Swarm at Wings
Saturday, 7 p.m.

Offense: Lyle Thompson has scored the game-winning goal in two of the Swarm's three games. Crowley could make his debut, but it may be one Philly boy in, one out with Matt Rambo going on IR this week.

Defense: Georgia’s Matt Dunn, last summer’s Major League Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Year, made his indoor debut last week. He picked up two loose balls. Steph Charbonneau leads the Wings defense in loose balls and has shown a consistent mean streak.

Rock at Mammoth
Saturday, 9 p.m.

Offense: One goal through two games from Stephen Keogh is surprising. Schreiber is ranked first in the league in shorthanded goals after his two this week.

Defense: Colorado has the worst penalty kill so far this season and faces a Rock offense ranked third on the power play.

Black Wolves at Roughnecks
Saturday, 9 p.m.

Offense: Obviously it’s affected by some teams playing fewer games than others, but while the Bandits boast the top two point producers, Calgary has the top two goal scorers in Dane Dobbie and Duch. Without Crowley, the Black Wolves need the production from Reilly O’Connor and Tyler Digby to continue.

Defense: Calgary’s Christian del Bianco leads the league in goals against average and save percentage. New England’s Doug Jamieson is second to last in goals against average and last among players with a start this season.

Rush at Warriors
Saturday, 10 p.m.

Offense: Vancouver is struggling with efficiency, ranking last in the league in shots on goal percentage. The Rush, on the other hand, score on 17.3 percent of their shots, good for third in the league.

Defense: When Keenan discussed his defensive group, he singled out Jordi Jones-Smith as a player he was pleased with.  Vancouver’s Matt Beers is tied for second in caused turnovers and in first in loose balls.

Knighthawks at Seals
Saturday, 10 p.m.

Offense: Garrett Billings had two goals and four assists in his Seals debut this week, his first game action since 2017. K-Hawks assistant coach Mike Accursi told knighthawks.com a two-week road trip can help the team bounce back.

Defense: It’s a goalie duel between Frank Scigliano and Angus Goodleaf, two players who weren’t starters last year but have done well so far this season.