Rush are trying to make home sweeter
But lacrosse team dominates on road
The Saskatchewan Rush found their rhythm on the road.
Home is something different, not that they’ve been awash in opportunities.
The Rush, a perfect 5-0 outside Saskatchewan, are a mere 1-2 at Sasktel Centre. Head coach Derek Keenan points out that for his team, home and away games share one key element: Both involve players flying to games and living out of a suitcase, since the roster is scattered around North America and convenes only for games and the occasional practice.
“There’s really not a big difference — for us, anyways,” Keenan said Monday.
“Our guys are just used to it. We have a core group of guys who have been together a long time and are accustomed to the travel.”
Keenan said his staff monitors “the energy level, the fatigue, the travel” as they move through a season, judging when to practise, and how hard to practise.
The Rush won their fifth road contest of the season Saturday in Philadelphia, beating the Wings 15-10. They captured just four of nine road games last season.
It was, says Keenan, almost a home game for Saskatchewan forward Ben Mcintosh, who lives in Philadelphia and had a relatively short commute to the arena.
The Rush have leveraged their perfect travel record into a hot streak.
They’ve won five of their last six, and lead the National Lacrosse League’s West Division with a 6-2 record heading into Saturday’s contest against the visiting Toronto Rock.
Keenan says a 12-6 home loss to Colorado on Jan. 18, followed by a double-bye, turned their season around. They had a spirited practice weekend in Toronto, and learned some things about themselves, while putting in team time at their respective homes.
“We crossed a big hurdle,” Keenan said. “We sent a lot of (video) clips, and the guys watched a lot of film, and they had some self-reflection. They realized, especially from an offensive perspective, that we simply were not playing hard enough.
“We have to put the work part in. We know we have talent; we have skill. We have all that. But if you don’t work hard enough, it doesn’t really matter, because every team in the league has skill, talent, athleticism. And especially against us — they come in a lot of times, and they want to take it to us. We have to be ready to go.”
The Rush will try to pull their home record to .500 Saturday against the 6-3 Rock.
They’ll follow that with a March 7 home game against the Vancouver Warriors — and then, a chance to make that road record even shinier if they can pull out a road win on March 13 in Calgary.
“It’s been an eye-opener for us, these last three games, where our guys have just played really hard,” Keenan said.
“And we’re starting to play sharper, too. You can see it from our offence. Our execution and our fundamentals are much better.”