Duo of Matthews, Church lead Rush to win over Knighthawks

Saskatchewan Rush head coach Derek Keenan had no choice but to savour his team’s 12-7 victory over the Rochester Knighthawks Saturday at Sasktel Centre.

It wasn’t because his team won a rematch of the 2018 National Lacrosse League (NLL) Cup Final, it was because of the defensive effort.

“It was incredible,” Keenan said of defensive players following the game. “That’s the way our defence is capable of playing and I think the reality is, with quite a few new faces back there, every game we’ve gotten better and tonight was outstanding.”

The largely new crop of defensive players only surrendered two even strength goals Saturday, in addition to causing timely turnovers with their hounding style of play.

“We talked all weekend about playing a shutdown defensive game, and that’s what we got,” Keenan said. “I love when they play that way.”

Aiding the Rush’s victory was the dynamic duo of Mark Matthews and Robert Church.

Both members of the one-two punch scored seven points — Matthews with three goals and four assists, while Church scored two goals and five assists.

“Felt like we were getting back into the swing of things,” Church said.

Entering Saturday’s game, forward Ben McIntosh had two consecutive games with five goals as Church and Mathews took a back seat.

That wasn’t the case against Rochester, as both players played the type of vintage lacrosse that helped raise three championship banners at Sasktel Centre.

“It’s great having (Church) back, obviously he’s a great player.” Matthews said before acknowledging the many weapons on the roster.

“That’s kind of how we roll, somebody goes off every night and it could be anybody at any time.”

Church missed training camp and the team’s home opener with a lower-body injury and admits he’s easing himself back into the grind of another NLL season after playing his third game of the season.

“Could be better,” Church said of his injury. “Missing training camp didn’t help, so I feel like I’m getting back into the groove of things with a couple practices.”

A quick start from Rochester opened up a 2-1 lead for the visitors in the opening two minutes.

Both teams were able to capitalize on the power play in the second quarter as Saskatchewan entered the half with a narrow 6-5 lead.

The turning point of the game came in the third quarter as Saskatchewan killed a penalty to keep it’s lead before rattling off five consecutive goals to end the quarter and effectively put the game out of reach.

Cody Jamieson and Joe Resetarits led the for the Knighthawks with two goals and two assists each.

The cherry on top of Saskatchewan’s victory was the power play efficiency as the team scored on five of seven opportunities.

When asked if he had any critiques about his team’s performance after such glowing compliments, Keenan gave an answer not often heard from professional sports’ coaches.

“No, not at all,” Keenan said before letting out a chuckle. “I’m the happiest I’ve been with our play this year.”