RUSH RIP New York 11-4
UNIONDALE, NY – An early offensive barrage combined with stellar goaltending pushed the Saskatchewan Rush to an 11-4 road win over the New York Riptide on Saturday night.
The Rush’s victory spoiled the inaugural home-opener for the Riptide, who joined the NLL as an expansion team this season. Jeff Shattler (2 goals, 4 assists) and Mark Matthews (1 goal, 5 assists) anchored the Rush attack with six-point efforts while Robert Church connected for four goals.
Evan Kirk finished the night with 44 saves in the Rush net, including 14 stops in the third quarter.
The Rush opened the scoring with two goals coming just nine seconds apart, both orchestrated by two of the team’s first-round picks in the 2019 NLL Entry Draft. On a turnover near the benches, ninth-overall pick Justin Robinson soared a pass to Church, who was all alone in the New York zone and he ripped a shot to the top corner past Riptide goalie Alex Buque. The assist was Robinson’s first point as a pro. After the ensuing faceoff, fourth-overall pick Holden Garlent broke free, took a return feed from Shattler, and finished off the play for his first NLL goal.
Less than four minutes later, Connor Robinson, the Rush’s first-round pick in 2018, muscled away from his defender, and with time ticking down on the shot clock, his bouncer eluded Buque. Before the first quarter wrapped, Matthews put the Rush up 4-0 with a shorthanded tally as he sent a long-range rocket to the back of the net.
Just 1:27 into the second quarter, Shattler put a quick-stick strike home on the power play to make it 5-0. A minute later, Church made it 6-0 as he rifled in a shot after a transition set-up from Travis Cornwall.
New York finally ended the shutout stretch by Kirk, but Shattler answered with his second of the night 27 seconds later. Marty Dinsdale with a nifty step-back shot made it 8-1, and after a Riptide goal, the Rush answered with 1:49 to go in the opening half as Church completed his hat trick on the power play.
Both goaltenders put up a wall in the second half. Kirk made 27 saves over the final 30 minutes while Buque turned aside 24 shots. The Riptide scored twice in the low-scoring second half before the Rush closed out the scoring. Ben McIntosh capitalized on a penalty-shot opportunity when New York was called for an illegal substitution with under two minutes to play in regulation time. Church counted his fourth of the night with an empty-netter after Matthews foiled two Riptide defenders with a sensational one-handed backhand pass.
The four goals allowed was the second-fewest surrendered by the Rush in a regular-season game. Saskatchewan defeated Rochester 16-3 back in 2015, and New York’s fourth goal of this game only came after a video review.
After next week’s bye, the Rush return to action with a rare Sunday matinee as they head to California to take on the San Diego Seals on January 12th.
(Sask Rush PR)
