Odd schedule takes a favourable turn as Rush head into stretch drive
The Saskatchewan Rush smile, just a bit, when they look at the balance of their National Lacrosse League schedule.
That smile was a long time coming: The Rush didn’t like their schedule, for the most part, but it now lines up just the way they like. After Friday ’s clash in Buffalo, they’ll play four of their last five games in the loud and welcoming confines of home.
“When I looked at the schedule in the pre-season, I went ‘Ugh; this isn’t good,’” Rush head coach and general manager Derek Keenan said Tuesday. “This is not a good schedule: A lot of byes, a lot of road games (early). But you know what? We’ve only lost one on the road, and you look at it now and go ‘This is a great opportunity.’”
Seven of Saskatchewan’s first 10 games were played on the road, but there was no deleterious effect on the Saskatoon-based squad. Their 10-2 record is the NLL’s best, and they’ve already clinched a playoff spot.
But there’s no rest yet: Colorado is right behind with an 8-3 mark, and they can close ground quickly if they stay hot and the Rush hit a rough patch.
Those teams have one head-tohead match remaining: April 7 in Saskatoon.
Colorado has won four straight games, including their first three in a hectic March that will see them play seven contests in total.
“That’s great incentive for us to keep our foot on the gas,” Keenan says of the hotly-pursuing Mammoth. “They’re right behind us — they ’re right there. They continue to win. They have a really, really hard month with seven games, but so far, they’ve won them all. We need to keep pace.
“Our goals are very clear: We want to win our division, and we want to finish first overall. We’ve got six games to go, and it won’t be easy. But we’ll do our best to keep our foot on the gas and stay ahead of them.”
That first-place finish takes on added importance this season, given the league has moved its two division finals to one-game, sudden-death affairs. The team with the better record will get a bye in the first round before hosting that game.
Keenan says Saskatchewan forward Curtis Knight, who missed the team’s 16-10 win over the Vancouver Stealth with an “upperbody injury,” will be a game-time decision on Friday. He’ll practice with the team on Thursday, and Keenan says “it’s 50-50 right now.”
The Rush, who had a bye this past weekend, will follow the Friday game in Buffalo with home clashes March 24 against Rochester and April 7 against Colorado.