With four wins in their last five games, the Saskatchewan Rush can almost taste their fifth-straight National Lacrosse League West Division crown.
That shouldn’t come as a surprise considering most of last year’s championship roster remains intact.
Further helping their cause, however, is the play of two guys who are in their first season with the club.
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After taking some time to adjust to a new system, Adam Jones is starting to look like the player who scored 93 goals over the last two seasons with the Colorado Mammoth.
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He’s recorded hat tricks in the last two Rush wins, picking up 11 of his 46 points over that span.
“He had a good game last week too so that’s two in a row now where he’s given us exactly why we brought him in here, which is great,” Rush general manager and head coach Derek Keenan said.
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But it’s rookie defender Mike Messenger who’s really turning heads.
The third-overall draft pick has provided a bruising presence on the back end and has shown an unexpected bit of offensive flair too.
“He’s got a lot more skill on offence than I really thought. I knew he had some but he’s got that ability and he continues to improve,” Keenan said.
“He’s smarter every game, playing smarter in the defensive end and transition as well.”
With fellow rookie Ryan Keenan coming off his most productive two-game stretch, the pieces of another championship team are starting to fall into place.
That’s good news for the Rush and bad news for the rest of the NLL.
The Rush are back in action on Saturday evening when the New England Black Wolves travel to Saskatoon.
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