Rush beats Rock 11-10 to win NLL title.
Edmonton edges Toronto in front of crowd of 12,000-plus
Nearly a decade after joining the National Lacrosse League for the 2006 season, and a mid swirling rumours that their time in Edmonton may soon be over, the Rush won their first Champion’s Cup.
The Rush edged the Toronto Rock 11-10 on Friday to complete a two-game sweep and secure their first league title in front of a deafening crowd of more than 12,000 at Rexall Place.
“It’s been a long journey, and that starts with (head coach/ general manager Derek Keenan,” Rush assistant coach Jimmy Quinlan said. “For all we’ve gone through in the past few years, we’ve continued to battle and we stick together and we find ways to embrace everything that gets thrown our way. ... We always talk about earning things in ‘Rushland,’ and I think tonight we earned it.”
Edmonton’s top scorer, Mark Matthews, delivered a strong showing with five goals and three assists while goaltender Aaron Bold made 32 saves in the tense, backand-forth matchup in which the lead changed hands four times.
Robert Church and rookie Ben McIntosh each added five points against the storied Toronto franchise that was seeking its seventh NLL crown.
The Rush’s win was also largely due to a couple dramatic goals. After a stoppage of play when the score was tied 4-4 with less than 10 seconds left in the first half, Matthews scored with 0.1 seconds remaining on the clock to give Edmonton its first lead in the contest.
The final two minutes of the game were equally as dramatic as Rush forward Matthew Dinsdale scored the deciding goal with 1:02 to play.
The win capped a strong season by Edmonton, with a first- place finish in the West Division during the regular season and a victory in the mini-game of the division final against the Calgary Roughnecks.
Since Keenan joined the team, the Rush have seen their record steadily improve throughout the past five seasons. Included was a loss in the Champion’s Cup final in 2012 and a 16-2 regular-season record in 2014.
After a season that saw the Rush finish third-last in the NLL in average attendance at 6,578 during the regular season, Friday’s turnout was a strong signal from Edmontonians that they could rally around the NLL squad.