By Colton Swiderski

Sask. Rush’s Cornwall only concerned with team success

Feb 8, 2017 | 6:32 AM

From rebuilder to back-to-back champion, Saskatchewan Rush’s Jeff Cornwall has grown with his team. He is widely credited with winning the team’s last championship, but remains ever humble.

The defender hailing from Port Coquitlam, B.C., is very cerebral describing his chosen sport.

“I find lacrosse is super complex if you choose to break it down… I feel having that week leading up to the weekend [games] gives you a lot of time to think about the different players you’ll be going up against, and how you plan to execute against them,” he added.

Cornwall was initially drafted into the NLL by the Buffalo Bandits and played a portion of his rookie season with the team. Before the season finished, he headed north to Edmonton to join the then Rush organization. He admitted the trade was a bit of a shock.

“I was a little surprised because it was a Wednesday evening and I got a phone call from one of the Rush office people before I actually heard from my own general manager,” he said “They were asking me what time I would be able to fly out on Thursday… I had to end up skipping an exam to get to the game but it was totally worth it.”

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During his first couple seasons with the Rush, Cornwall said it was clear the team was in a rebuilding phase. The organization’s record in 2012 was 6-10, but changed dramatically by 2015 to 13-3-2. He added even with a losing record, the team’s defence was strong and just needed the offense to succeed.

Cornwall felt by the start of the 2015 season the team was well-rounded after acquiring some much-needed offensive players like Mark Matthews, Robert Church and Zach Greer through trades and the draft. The forwards along with defencemen Chris Corbeil, Brett Midske, Kyle Rubisch and goaltender Aaron Bold have since made the Rush one of the most dominant teams in the NLL.

Following the Rush’s first championship win in 2015, the team relocated to Saskatoon where they were able to repeat their success and win a second straight cup.

Cornwall was the team last season when he scored the game-winning and series-clinching goal, unassisted, on a breakaway with 12 seconds left. The Rush won 11-10 over the Bandits to secure their second straight Champions Cup.

“It was a neat experience in the fact that I never thought I’d score a game-winning-goal in any game, let alone a championship game so it’s pretty special to me,” Cornwall said. “Right now the biggest focus is moving forward from that past season and playing better lacrosse all together.” 

Cornwall has four goals and two assists in five games played this season.

He and the rest of his Rush teammates are in action again this weekend when they meet up with the Rochester Knighthawks for the second and final time this season.

colton.swiderski@jpbg.ca           

On Twitter: @coltonswiderski