Rush raise championship banner, squash Seals for first win

Fans at Sasktel Centre were on their feet early and often Saturday to welcome the Saskatchewan Rush home for a party only a championship banner could produce.

They stood cheering 2018 NLL Cup champion’s banner was raised to the rafters with little need to sit down the rest of the night as the Rush continued the party into the late hours by beating the San Diego Seals 16-12.

After an early 3-0 deficit made life tough for the Rush in its opening week loss to New England, Ben McIntosh was determined not to let it happen again, scoring three of the Rush’s first four goals en route to a 6-5 lead after the first quarter.

“We definitely need a win tonight after that game in New England,”  McIntosh said.

What most fans in the building weren’t expecting was the quality of play from San Diego, an expansion team playing only its third game as a franchise.

“Most of these players have played in the league for quite a while, so it’s not like we were playing a brand new team. But I guess we’ve never seen how they worked together,” McIntosh said. “They’re not your typical expansion team, that’s for sure.”

“They’re going to get a lot of wins this year and they’re going to be very competitive.”

The Seals were able to stick around, going goal-for-goal with the Rush to start the game and trailed 6-5 at halftime.

The one player causing Saskatchewan trouble all night — with extracurricular physical play and timely goals — was Austin Shaats. The first overall pick in the 2018 NLL Entry Draft scored four goals and picked up two assists to go along with his irritating style of play.

“(Staats) is a competitor,”  McIntosh said of Staats’ determination. “He’s a phenomenal player and he definitely knows how to score goals. He plays hard, he plays an emotional game.”

San Diego’s powerplay was able to keep the team within two goals for most of the game. They scored on their first three powerplay opportunities and finished the game five-for-seven with an extra attacker.

“If not for penalties, it would have been a different game,” Rush head coach Derek Keenan said following the game. “Last week, we had the same amount of penalties but our penalty kill was better. Some nights it’s just a matter of saves.”

All that added up to a 10-8 Rush lead at halftime.

Three consecutive goals to start the third quarter by Jeff Shattler and McIntosh would be all the Rush needed to nudge them to victory nursing a 13-8 lead.

McIntosh led all scorers with four goals and five assists. Marty Dinsdale was the next highest scoring Rush player, registering one goal and five assists.

Staats and Garrett Billings led all Seals scorers with six points each.

Game Notes

Jordi Jones-Smith scored his first career NLL goal on a nice play in transition after big Kirk denied San Diego at the other end.

Connor Robinson also tallied his first career goal in the NLL in the fourth quarter.

Saskatchewan improved their record to 1-1 with the win, while San Diego dropped to 1-2 on the season.