The Saskatchewan Rush posted the best record in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) this season but the only team they couldn’t solve is now the one they are preparing to battle for the championship.
The Rochester Knighthawks are responsible for two of the Rush’s four losses and they were red-hot in the second half of the season, winning eight of their final 10 games. But the Rush aren’t putting a lot of stock in that as they get set to meet in Game 1 of the NLL Finals.
“They were hot, we were hot. They won as many games as we did to get here so I don’t think it really means that much. It’s two teams that are competing in a best-of-three series now. It doesn’t matter what happened in the past,” said forward Mark Matthews, who led the league with 116 points including a record-setting 84 assists.
Rush captain Chris Corbeil believes the team can learn from its two losses against Rochester.
“You use it to review tape and go over things you can improve upon and their tendencies and just prepare the best you can.”
The Rush are making their fourth-straight appearance in the championship, having won back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016 before falling short of a threepeat last season. The disappointment of that loss has fuelled them throughout the 2018 campaign.
“It was a bad taste last year at the end of the season. It didn’t end the way we wanted and we’ve been very focused since the beginning of training camp and there’s been one goal. Now we’re here, we’re in the finals and we gotta finish the job,” Rush head coach and GM Derek Keenan said.