Mark Matthews amassed nine points in Saskatchewan’s 17-14 win in Buffalo on Saturday, leaving impressed witnesses to imagine what he might have accomplished had his vision not been impaired.
“Considering he was out there with a double dose of pink eye and could barely see, it was a pretty good night for him,” Rush coach Derek Keenan said.
Matthews assisted on seven goals and scored two himself despite swelling around his eyes.
“I got it at the end of last weekend,” he said. “I guess I got it real bad and it hasn’t gone away yet. I couldn’t really see all that well, but guys make it easy when they score every time I pass them the ball.”
Matthews is 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, a difficult man to check, and the way he distributes the ball makes him indoor lacrosse’s top playmaker. He has a league-high 60 assists and his 88 points put him just one behind leader Corey Small of Vancouver, with Matthews having a game in hand.
“He’s been really good this year,” Keenan said. “He’s such a consistent player and he’s really taken a leadership role for us.”
This was the first meeting between Saskatchewan and Buffalo since the 2016 league finals, and the win in front of a loud KeyBank Center crowd of 16,419 enabled the two-time defending champs to become the first team to clinch a 2017 playoff berth. At 9-4, the Rush moved two games ahead of Colorado, a 21-13 loser at Georgia, atop the NLL West.
An encouraging aspect of the latest win was the productivity of the lefty shooters. Ryan Keenan and Adam Jones each scored three goals working in close quarters with Matthews, and transition runner Adrian Sorichetti added two, making it 10 in all from the lefties.
The hat trick, including the team’s last two goals in the key closing minutes, was an NLL first for the rookie Keenan, the coach's son.
“He made some adjustments to the release of his shot and got it off quicker and made some nice plays,” Derek Keenan said. “He’s got real good people around him. That was definitely his best game. He’s one of those kids who gets better as he moves on at every level he’s played at.”
“It’s a good feeling to contribute like that,” Ryan Keenan said. “It came down to the wire, so I was happy to help out with some good ones in the fourth. It was just a really big win.”
On playing with Matthews, the younger Keenan added, “He’s an unbelievable player. A lot of times I’m just trying to do what I can to help him do his thing and support him. We’re starting to build some chemistry on the whole left side, so we want to keep that rolling.”
It has taken the veteran Jones time to mesh with Matthews.
“He shot the ball really well and made some nice plays setting picks for Mark and Ryan,” Derek Keenan said. “I thought it was his best game with us.”
“As a unit, our offense is getting better and with that comes individual success,” Jones said. “We’re getting more chemistry as the season goes on, but there’s still a lot of stuff we can fix up.”
The Rush play their next three games at home, where they are undefeated. The next win will give coach Keenan 121, tying him with former Buffalo coach Darris Kilgour for the all-time head coaching record in regular-season play.
IN THE BOX
Buffalo captain Billy Dee Smith became the NLL's all-time penalty minutes leader when he was assessed 17 minutes in penalties Saturday. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound defenseman now has 635 PIM since being the third overall pick by the Bandits in the 2002 entry draft. Retired defenseman Kyle Laverty drops to second with 627 PIM.
BACK END WOES
The Bandits won the NLL East last spring but, at 5-8, are in danger of missing the playoffs and it is easy to figure out why: They are allowing far too many goals. Blame it on the goalies or blame it on the defense. Take your pick. Buffalo’s team goals-against average is among the worst in the league.
SWARM SIZZLE
Georgia star Lyle Thompson scored four goals and assisted on seven to continue his challenge for the scoring title in a 21-13 win over Colorado. Mammoth goalie Dillon Ward looked human for a change, as the Swarm drove him from the crease in setting a club record for most goals in a game. At 9-4, Georgia has all but clinched first place in the NLL East.
“We focused on playing with a lot of energy, playing with speed and being physical,” Swarm coach Ed Comeau said. “We ran hard through the middle, we set picks with speed, and we were physical on our picks and that created great opportunities for our guys.”
LOST WEEKEND
Toronto went from challenging for first place in the NLL East with two wins March 24-25 to worrying about holding onto second place after losing two games during the weekend.
The Rock blew a 10-7 third-quarter lead to lose 14-11 in Vancouver on Friday.
“We had some opportunities to put that game away and we took a few shortcuts and it came back to bite us,” coach Matt Sawyer said.
On Sunday, the Black Wolves bit Toronto 15-14 to improve to 7-7 and move within a half game of the Rock, 8-7, who were left with nothing to show for 12 hours on planes and five hours on buses in going coast to coast. Give them credit for a gutsy effort though. Down 13-8 in the fourth quarter, they nearly tied it in the dying seconds of the game.
New England has won the season series with Toronto, so the Black Wolves will have the tiebreaker if they should finish with identical records.
CRUNCH TIME AHEAD
A come-from-behind 14-11 win over visiting Toronto on Friday fueled the hopes of Vancouver players of qualifying for playoffs for the first time since moving north from the Seattle suburbs four years ago.
“We have two more games at home and this puts us one step closer to the playoffs,” Corey Small said after scoring four goals against the Rock.
Calgary remained within half a game of the Stealth for the third and final playoff berth in the NLL West with an 11-9 win in Rochester on Saturday. The Calgary-at-Vancouver game April 15 should decide which of the two teams goes to the postseason.
DICKSON REJOINING LAKERS
Curtis Dickson, who scored his 300th NLL goal in Calgary’s win in Rochester, will play summer ball with the Peterborough Lakers in Ontario’s Major Series Lacrosse. The star Calgary forward played for the Lakers in 2015. A sports hernia kept him away in 2016. The Lakers' opener is May 29.
“Peterborough is second to none when it comes to summer lacrosse, and I can’t wait to get back playing with the guys,” he said in a Lakers news release.
TIME TRAVEL
April 7, 1989
The Philadelphia Wings edged the New York Saints 11-10 to win the championship in front of 16,042 Spectrum spectators. Chris Dent (Penn State) scored the winning goal after goalie Kevin Bilger delivered a breakaway pass.
“You couldn’t have asked for a better scenario,” coach Dave Evans said. “The two best teams going for the championship before a great crowd and ... a hometown guy comes up with the winning goal.”
General manager Mike French had 23 Americans and two Canadians on his Wings roster that season.
WEEK 15
Only three games are scheduled. Toronto, Rochester and Colorado are idle. All times Eastern.
FRIDAY
Georgia (9-4) at New England (7-7), 7:30 p.m.
This will be the fourth of four meetings. Georgia won at home 14-9 on Jan. 20 and 17-15 on Feb. 11, and New England won at home 13-8 on March 12.
Georgia is coming off a 21-13 home win over Colorado, while New England is coming off a 15-14 home win over Toronto.
New England is 5-2 at home. Georgia is 3-3 on the road.
SATURDAY
Buffalo (5-8) at Calgary (6-9), 9 p.m.
This will be the only meeting this year. Buffalo won the last two times they met, 10-9 at home on Jan. 9, 2016 and 15-14 in Calgary on Feb. 7, 2015. Calgary won 16-13 in Buffalo on April 5, 2014.
Buffalo is coming off a 17-14 home loss to Saskatchewan, while Calgary is coming off a 11-9 win in Rochester.
Calgary is 3-4 at home. Buffalo is 2-4 on the road.
Vancouver (6-8) at Saskatchewan (9-4), 9:30 p.m.
This will be the third of three meetings. Saskatchewan won 16-12 at home Jan. 27 and Vancouver won at home 13-9 March 4.
On Friday, Vancouver, down 10-7 in the third quarter, went on a seven-goal run to defeat visiting Toronto 14-11.
“Lacrosse is a game of runs,” said human highlight reel Jordan Durston, who could categorize two of his three goals as unbelievable. “You need to stick with your systems and, hopefully, everything works out.”
It was Toronto’s first loss to the Stealth since they moved to Vancouver in 2014.
Saskatchewan, coming off a 17-14 win in Buffalo, is 6-0 at home. Vancouver is 4-3 on the road.