Rush pound Bandits for 11th win in a row
Impressive victory clinches franchise’s first home playoff date
And the beat goes on.
The Edmonton Rush remained undefeated this season winning their 11th straight game Friday night at Crystal Glass field at Rexall Place with a completely decisive 14-5 victory over the Buffalo Bandits.
“We’re a long way from being finished what we want to accomplish but certainly a bit step in the right direction,” Rush head coach Derek Keenan said following the game. “We played a really good team that came in 8-2. ... We had a great game.”
With the win in front of an announced crowd of 7,071, the Rush becomes the first Edmonton major sports team to win 11 games in a row.
The Edmonton Oilers won nine straight in 2001, the Edmonton Eskimos put up 10 in a row in 1955 and the Edmonton Trappers also went on a 10-game win streak in 1998.
The victory also eclipsed the 10-game march from the start of the season the Rush had shared with the Bandits. The Bandits won eight in a row in 1993 in the regular season and then tacked on two more in the playoffs.
“I think it’s great. It’s something we weren’t really aware of,” said Keenan.
“As a coach, we try and put it on the back-burner, but I think our guys look at it as an objective. Let’s keep trying to reach new levels and new peaks and, at the same time, stay focused on the task. Let’s keep trying to get better.”
Friday’s victory also already clinched at least one home playoff game — the first in franchise history.
Up next is an attempt to tie the National Lacrosse League record of 12 straight wins at any point in the season set by the Rochester Knighthawks in 2007.
The Rush — fittingly enough — play Rochester next week.
The Rush blew the game open in the second quarter.
After both teams exchanged goals throughout the first and the early part of the second quarter, the Rush then promptly rattled off five unanswered goals before halftime.
With the score tied 4-4, Jarrett Davis, Curtis Knight with two in a row, Jeff Cornwall — on a breakaway — and Adrian Sorichetti all tallied in succession to make the score 9-4 at halftime.
It was Sorichetti’s second of what would be a threegoal night — all the first of his professional career.
“I thought we were a little lethargic in the first, a little slow,” said Keenan. “But we just picked it up. The second quarter we took the game over. Our speed and our athleticism took the game over.
“I thought we were a little flat-footed early and they were beating us.
“But when our defence picks it up, we start taking away time and space.
“Our power play was a big part of it too,” said Keenan, who watched the Rush covert on six of nine power play chances.
After the five-goal onslaught, the Rush appeared to score on two more shots but the first was taken away after a video review and the second was called off because of offsetting penalties.
It didn’t matter. The Rush were just getting started. After both teams went more than 13 minutes without a goal in the third quarter, Zack Greer scored to make it 10-4. It was the only goal of the frame.
Greer then scored two more goals for the natural hat trick the route was on, and the score was quickly 12-4, leaving no doubt about the outcome. Stock Report: The Bandits ageless John Tavares, the NLL’s all-time leading scorer, picked up his 1,700th point with an assist on the Bandit’s first goal. Tavares, 45, has now recorded at least a point in 184 consecutive games.
Tavares ended the night with a goal and two and two assists.
The April 5 Rush game against Colorado will be played at 8 p.m. rather than 7p.m. because of an Oil Kings playoff game that starts earlier in the day.