It’s been a long wait for the Saskatchewan Rush since their heartbreaking loss in the 2017 Champion’s Cup final.
The second and ultimately final game of the series was one for the ages, but it will be remembered most for featuring one of the wildest finishes in National Lacrosse League (NLL) history.
Saskatchewan led the Georgia Swarm by one and were mere seconds from tying the series and moving within one win of a three-peat.
“There’s a number of ways to look at it but that was our play and with 10 seconds left or eight seconds left in the Champion’s Cup, that’s not when you start second-guessing that, right?” Rush defender Chris Corbeil said.
“We trust in our coaching staff and our players, and each one of the players that was out there were set out and I thought it was the perfect setup,” Rush transition and defender Jeremy Thompson said.
Rush fans — many still new to lacrosse — were surprised to see goaltender Aaron Bold remain on the bench. Removing the goalie while protecting a lead doesn’t seem to make sense, but it’s a common strategy in the pros. The extra runner meant the Swarm couldn’t cover everyone.
The Rush had the ball after a timeout and just needed to kill the clock.
“My first thought process was I obviously had two guys on me and I knew Corbeil was the guy to go to, he was the open guy, and I knew the pass was going there,” Thompson said.
“You just got to trust the process and execute and we trusted the process, it was just a matter of execution,” Corbeil said.
“The fact that we didn’t have a goalie in net was lost on me for about two seconds and I was like, ‘OK, I lost the ball, but it’s OK.’”
“Once I’d seen that it was a dropped pass obviously my instinct was to … no goalie in net so I went to hop in the net,” Thompson said.
“I made the save and I thought it was over to be honest and the next thing you know they’re … the ball’s in the back of the net and they’re celebrating.”
The goal only forced overtime, but the Rush were still reeling when Georgia’s Lyle and Miles Thompson, Jeremy’s brothers, hooked up for the cup-winning goal in the extra frame.
For Corbeil, the only silver lining is a level of motivation that only a bitter loss can provide.
“As an athlete, you’ve got to learn to get by it and move on and I’ve done that, or at least I’ve tried my best to do that, and it’s been a long, long, long off-season and looking forward to starting up again to make amends for last season and get some retribution,” Corbeil said.
“Sometimes things just aren’t meant and for us, we’ve said, it was a mistake and all we can do is learn from that and just build off the tradition and just move forward into a new year,” Thompson said.
After opening the 2017-18 NLL season with a dominant victory in Toronto, the Rush face the New England Black Wolves in their home opener at SaskTel Centre on Saturday.
WATCH BELOW: Saskatchewan Rush ready for home opener
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