Saskatchewan Rush look for home floor advantage in quarterfinal

Anticipation for the return of playoff lacrosse to SaskTel Centre has been growing over the past week.

Not only inside the Saskatchewan Rush dressing room, but throughout the province as well according to star forward Zach Manns.

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“The fans in Saskatoon are excited for the playoffs as are we,” Manns said.

The Rush begin their chase for the 2026 National Lacrosse League Cup on Saturday, hosting the Toronto Rock in quarterfinal action.

It’s a rematch of Saskatchewan’s regular season finale last weekend, in which the Rush orchestrated a thrilling 10-9 comeback victory capped off with a Brock Haley overtime winner.

Defenceman Jerrett Smith said that late rally not only snapped the team’s three-game losing streak, but has energized the group heading into Saturday’s winner-take-all game against Toronto.

“I think that game definitely proved that we can beat top teams in this league,” Smith said. “We just got to carry that into playoffs.”

Rallying from a 9-7 deficit with under two minutes left in the fourth quarter to win off Haley’s overtime snipe, the Rush secured home floor in the opening round of playoffs.

Goaltender Frank Scigliano, who made 31 saves in the team’s regular season finale win, said guaranteeing a playoff game at home has been on their minds for months.

“At the start of the year when you ask some of the goals, I think that’s one of them,” Scigliano said.

“It’s nice to kind of hit that and we’re going to make (SaskTel Centre) a tough place to play.”

The Rush were one of the best teams at home this season, recording a 7-2 record at SaskTel Centre.

SaskTel Centre has been good to the Saskatchewan Rush this NLL season with the Rush winning seven of their nine games played at home. (Steve Hiscock for Saskatchewan Rush/Submitted)

Going a perfect 3-0 in home playoff games last season as well, Haley said they’ve been able to use that home floor advantage to their benefit.

“The crowd has been great all year,” Haley said.

“Even during our slump, they’ve been sticking with it. We might not sell out, but it sure sounds like we sell out. They know what’s going on and they’re really loud when we get going, the support has been great.”

Holding a 10-1 record in late February, the Rush tumbled down the standings losing five of their next six games. They’d close out the regular season with their win over Toronto to claim the third seed ahead of playoffs with a 12-6 record.

Appearing on The Green Zone on Thursday, co-head coach and general manager Derek Keenan said the level of parity seen in the NLL this season has been eye-opening with just two wins separating the league’s top-six teams.

“I’ve never seen the league like this in all my years,” Keenan said. “I’ve been around it a long, long time. I’ve never seen it this tight at the top, nor at the bottom.”

Saskatchewan’s biggest hurdle in advancing to NLL semifinals will be Toronto star rookie CJ Kirst, who led the team with 34 goals and 71 points in his first professional season.

With four of those points coming last weekend in Saskatoon, Smith said the 2025 first overall pick will be their primary focus especially if former Rush star Mark Matthews is unable to play due to injury.

“I don’t think we’ve ever seen an offence run through one person so much,” Smith said.

“He’s incredibly skilled, incredibly athletic, he’s big. He had all that before, but now as the season’s gone on he’s understood the game more and it’s made him even more dangerous.”

Offensively, the Rush will need to solve Toronto goaltender Nick Rose who made 40 stops against Saskatchewan last weekend.

That will need to be combined with a strong first quarter according to Keenan, something the Rush have struggled with all season.

“We need to start a little bit better,” Keenan said.

“A lot of it is to do with our finish around the net. Nick Rose has kind of had our number for a while here and he certainly did again last Saturday, but we figured it out as the game went on.”

While the Rush are the favourites to advance to the semifinals, the single-elimination format in the opening round means there’s little room for error.

Smith said they won’t be able to simply rely on their skill against a Toronto team which has the ability to grind down their attackers.

“I think a lot of times we are so talented that we think we can just go out there and play,” Smith said.

“I think that’s not the case against really good teams in this league. You have to put in a full 60 minutes, as long as we do that I think we’ll come out on the right end.”

Nearly a year removed from their run to Game 3 of the NLL championship series, the Rush expect to lean on their experience gained during last season’s playoffs.

The empty feeling of standing on the floor of KeyBank Centre in Buffalo on May 24, 2025 factors into that for Smith, getting the chance to re-write their own playoff story starting Saturday night.

“After everything that’s happened last year we’ve been chomping at the bit to get back to this point,” Smith said. “I think we’ve done everything to make sure we’re ready for it and it’s going to be a big game.”

The Rush and Rock meet again at 7 p.m. on Saturday in NLL quarterfinals with the winner advancing to face either the Colorado Mammoth or San Diego Seals in NLL semifinals.

Read more:

• Riders’ Craig Reynolds looks ahead to training camp, Saskatoon pre-season game
• Flin Flon Bombers win first championship in 33 years