The Saskatchewan Rush are not taking their West Division Final opponent lightly.
For the fifth time in the last seven post-seasons, the Rush will be taking on arch-rivals Calgary Roughnecks.
The numbers favour the Rush. They have beat the Roughnecks in 11 of the 12 games they have played since the Rush moved from Edmonton to Saskatoon.
But the record doesn’t tell the full story. Most of the games have been close, with three needing overtime and four others decided by three goals or less – including their most recent meeting to close out the regular season, which the Rush won 11-10.
Mark Matthews, who set a National Lacrosse League (NLL) record for assists in a season, is all too familiar with the Roughnecks.
“I’ve probably played them 25 times in my career already (and) you just grow to hate guys on the floor,” Matthews said.
“They’ve had virtually the same team for that long, we’ve had pretty well the same team so you just grow to hate the guys out there.”
Rush general manager and head coach Derek Keenan said the key to winning is to play hard every shift.
“We just have to come prepared as best we can,” Keenan stated.
The action gets underway Sunday at 5 p.m. CT at SaskTel Centre.