Darren Zary
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Rush 16, Black Bears 7
Giving up the first goal doesn’t appear to be a problem for the Saskatchewan Rush this season.
Heck, they can even spot a team the first four and still manage to pull off a victory.
Although that may not be something they’ll want to do, or be able to get away with, come National Lacrosse League playoff time starting next weekend when they play host to the Georgia Storm.
That game will be played next Saturday night (7:30 p.m. face-off) on Co-op Field at SaskTel Centre.
“I thought we had good chances to not necessarily be down 4-0 but kudos to our guys because they stuck with it,” said Rush co-coach Jimmy Quinlan, whose team closed out the regular season with a come-from-behind 16-7 victory over the visiting Ottawa Black Bears at SaskTel Centre on Saturday. “What I really liked is our attitude on the bench didn’t really change. We kind of knew we just had to pick up our assignment a little better. (Number) 51 (Jeff Teat) is an incredible player. We had a game plan. We don’t typically do that and I think it took a little while for us to figure it out, but, once we figured it out, we were good.”
The Black Bears raced out to a quick 4-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes, thanks to a hat-trick by captain Teat to start things off.
However, Saskatchewan managed to limit Ottawa to two goals in the second half and three, overall, in the final three quarters.
The Rush scored 16 of the last 19 goals against the Black Bears, including 11 unanswered tallies in the second half as Saskatchewan finished the regular season second overall with a 13-5 record after missing the playoffs a year ago.
“I think that shows a lot about our team’s character,” said Rush rookie Jake Naso, who was strong in the faceoff circle and also scored a goal.
“We don’t get too rattled if we go down. We know it’s a long game. It’s a long 60 minutes out there and the goal this year is to play a complete 60 minutes and we were pretty darn close tonight, with the exception of those first four goals that they scored.
“But I think we responded in an excellent way and that’s a great trait to have going into the playoffs.”
Robert Church, with six goals and three assists, led the way for Saskatchewan, which capitalized on four of eight power play opportunities.
Zach Manns added two goals and three assists, while Austin Shanks chipped in with a pair of goals and two helpers.
Captain Ryan Keenan had a goal and five assists for a six-point night.
Jake Boudreau contributed two goals and an assist. Clark Walter, who finished off the prettiest passing play of the night, recorded a goal and two assists.
Holden Garlent had a goal and assist for the Rush, which outshot the Bears 63-37.
Frank Scigliano made 30 saves for the win.
“I’m definitely really excited,” Naso said of getting his first taste of NLL playoffs against the seventh-place Swarm (9-9). “Some of the guys haven’t experienced playoffs quite yet and I’m grateful for the opportunity, being I’m a rookie, to be around such a winning team and all the work we put in is really starting to pay off. I’m excited, excited for the opportunity and looking forward to it, for sure.”
dzary@postmedia.com
