Rush welcomes the Riptide as team gets back in action on home turf
The Saskatchewan Rush returns to home turf Saturday, hosting the New York Riptide.
With a 4-6 record following a tough overtime loss to the Buffalo Bandits last weekend, the Rush is looking to inch closer to the .500 mark this season in the National Lacrosse League. New York sports a 6-7 record this season, so Saskatchewan hopes to possibly gain some ground with a win.
The Riptide feature the league's leading scorer in Jeff Teat, who has 39 goals and 48 assists for 87 points in 13 games.
Robert Church leads the Rush with 27 goals and 30 assists for 57 points in only 10 games.
Team captain Ryan Keenan (1931—50 points) and Zach Manns (21-28—49 points) round out Rush players in the NLL'S top 50 scoring leaders.
Veteran Rush defender Mike Messenger is tied for fourth in the league with 25 caused turnovers.
New York's Callum Jones is second among NLL penalty leaders with 40 penalty minutes. Riptide goaltender Cameron Dunkerley, formerly of the Rush, ranks No. 4 in NLL goalie minutes and third in the league with 494 saves this season.
BUSY STRETCH FOR RUSH
After Saturday's homecoming, the Rush will play the subsequent four games on the road.
Saturday's game is the first of a home-and-home series as the Rush heads to New York to play the Riptide on March 23 before heading to Georgia the next day to play the Swarm on the afternoon of March 24.
Saskatchewan heads to Philadelphia on March 28 to play a rescheduled game against the Wings.
The Rush is in Calgary on April 5 to play the Roughnecks in the first game of a home-and-home weekend series. The two teams will meet again the following day, April 6, in Saskatoon.