By meadowlakeNOW Staff

Rush dominate Knighthawks 21-12

Feb 12, 2017 | 12:00 PM

The Saskatchewan Rush used a 14-goal second half to get past the Rochester Knighthawks 21-12 in National Lacrosse League (NLL) action last night.

The win was the Rush’s fourth straight this season and ninth in a row versus the Knighthawks.

The Rush were down early in the third quarter, but three goals in the span of just over a minute helped change that.

Mark Matthews cut the Knighthawks lead to one with his third goal of the night. Just 15 seconds later off the ensuing faceoff, they were even at 9-9 as defenceman Ryan Dilks cruised in and slung a sidearm shot past Rochester goalie Matt Vinc. The Rush then jumped ahead to stay when Matt Hossack finished a scramble around the Knighthawks net, taking a pass from Matthews in tight and tucking in his shot.

From that point it was all Rush. Mike Messenger battled past two defenders and fired in a shot to make it 11-9. That was shortly followed by Ben McIntosh standing in front of the net and putting a shot under the crossbar on a Rush power play. Marty Dinsdale, who opened the scoring 37 seconds into the game, made it 13-9 before the third quarter wrapped as he used a screen to beat Vinc which sent the five-time NLL Goaltender of the Year to the bench for the rest of the night.

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The Rush didn’t let off the gas pedal as Curtis Knight scored just 28 seconds into the fourth quarter, and then Church put away a pair. Church’s second of the game was a rocket from outside on a Rush power play that Rochester backup goalie Angus Goodleaf couldn’t stop. Church collected his hat trick just over a minute later with another hard shot as Saskatchewan struck on a delayed penalty call. Matthews notched his fourth of the game on another Rush power play to make it 17-9 before Rochester finally responded to end Saskatchewan’s scoring binge.

McIntosh got the Rush offence rolling again, and Church picked up his fourth of the game with an unassisted shorthanded goal. Knight’s second of the night plus a goal on a fast break from Adrian Sorichetti closed out the scoring barrage as the Rush reached the 20-plus goal mark for just the second time in franchise history. The Rush broke 20 for the first time last season when they defeated the Vancouver Stealth 24-16.

Josh Currier had four goals for the Knighthawks, but the home team allowed just four goals in the second half thanks to Rush goalie Aaron Bold. The Saskatchewan goalkeeper finished with 35 saves.

The Rush are back at home next Saturday when they take on the Colorado Mammoth at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

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