RUSH 11 KNIGHTHAWKS 8
SASKATOON – Ben McIntosh scored twice in a seven-goal first quarter to lead the Saskatchewan Rush past the Rochester Knighthawks 11-8 on Friday night in National Lacrosse League action at SaskTel Centre.
Zack Greer and Mark Matthews also had a pair of goals apiece for the Rush (4-2). Kyle Rubisch, Curtis Knight, Jeff Cornwall, Chris Corbeil and Robert Church rounded out the attack.
Dan Dawson scored four times for Rochester (3-3), which also got goals from Cody Jamieson, Sid Smith, Joe Resetarits and Joe Walters.
Aaron Bold made 29 saves for the win as Matt Vinc turned away 47 shots in defeat.
Saskatchewan was 3 for 8 on the power play while the Knighthawks scored three times on four attempts.
The attendance was 11,042.
(The Canadian Press)
This is for the smart ones that said after a couple of games they would only draw maybe 4000. They have not drawn under 8500 yet and tonight a packed house of 11,042.
That looks like quite a crowd, hair on them.
I hope the Rush can succeed. How many people are going to these games? Attendance is never posted.
Attendance has been a pleasant surprise, not full house but respectable
Is 11,042 a packed house? I thought seating was expanded there for the WJHC's a few years ago. Anyway, attendance sounds like it's been great.
Look at the league attendance figures this year. If Saskatoon isn't leading the league it is right near the top. For a new team and sport I would say the Rush has been a huge success so far.
Seating is 15,190, maybe able to sell out a game in playoffs but will need out of town fans to attend to sell out.
Good luck getting Regina bubble sports fans to travel more than a few blocks outside of home for any professional sports. They would need some sort of tax refund.
To the last anon -we have made the trip a couple times already – so take you comment and stick it….
I'm from Regina and 11,000 is a very good turnout
Great to see another nice crowd and really happy to see our friends from Regina coming as well. As I stated in earlier comment this is our team and hope everyone comes to one game and give it a look. Yes it's winter and travel can be an issue so it does take more effort to get to one maybe but after my first experience I hope to get to a few more. We inherited a very good team for which we are fortunate. The entertainment value is really good and hope to see more people coming out to see… Read more »
Actual Seating in Saskatoon is !5,500 which is 500 more than Winnipeg holds.
Most Regina folks are happy Sakatoon is making a go of it with the Rush. It's the Saskatoon haters like Scruffy that deliberately like to stir things up to get people against each other. How dare Saskatoon prove them wrong and support sporting events like the Rush and the Dogs Breakfast! Scruff hates Stoon, he's said it many times.
Here is the NLL attendance figures so far (per NLL.com):
TEAM TOTAL GAMES AVERAGE
Buffalo 55,716 4 13,929
Colorado 40,056 3 13,352
Calgary 45,165 4 11,291
Saskatchewan 38,393 4 9,598
Toronto 27,569 3 9,189
Rochester 32,479 4 8,119
Georgia 18,903 3 6,301
New England 12,975 3 4,325
Vancouver 15,896 4 3,974
So Saskatchewan is 4th in the league in attendance and just behind Calgary. Plus word of mouth in Saskatoon is spreading resulting in attendance increasing game over game. The live experience is great. Even my wife who rarely goes to sporting events wants to go to more Rush games after we attended the Friday game.
What I see from those numbers is you have a league ready to fold. Vancouver and boston (new england) attendances are pathetic and are pulling the league into bankruptcy.
I'd got to a Rush game, but then I'd have to go to Saskatoon. It's so dirty.
Great read today! If you want to be geographically correct La Ronge would be considered the middle of the province
JB