Matteo Nobile, Correspondent San Diego Seals
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: NLL
The Pechanga Arena in San Diego was home for this matchup of the top two teams in the West. San Diego (8-4) is sitting in the number one spot and Saskatchewan Rush (6-6) were one game back before losing in a close battle against the Seals on Friday March 22. The Seals took the lead after the first quarter and never looked back. They maintained a lead for most of the game except late in the third when Ben McIntosh (3G, 3 A) tied the game at 10 apiece. Kyle Buchanan (4G, 4A) led the charge with four goals for the Seals. Garrett Billings (1G, 9A) displayed his great vision with nine assists on the night. Dan Dawson (2G, 3A) reached a career milestone surpassing his offensive coach Josh Sanderson to become fourth in All-time points with 1,358 and sits just 26 points behind Colin Doyle. The Seals had Frank Scigliano in net and he had an impressive night, only allowing 12 goals on 51 shots. Adam Shute also had a solid night for the Rush with 43 saves on 56 shots. Final Score: San Diego-13 Saskatchewan-12
The first goal of the night came from Connor Kearnan (1G, 1A) although being up a man the Rush left Kearnan open on the crease and he scored faking short side and shooting far side got the Seals on the board first. It took only 18 seconds for the Rush to answer back when Ben McIntosh cut through the middle to score under the right glove of Scigliano. Saskatchewan would put another up off Mark Matthews (1G, 4A) with an outside shot on the power play. The Seals responded with a three-goal run to end the first quarter. The first from Austin Staats (2G, 1A) after grabbing a rebound and scoring through the legs of Shute; and the next after some nice ball movement Buchanan found himself with some room and took a shot from way outside that found bottom left corner. After calling a timeout San Diego would score with three seconds remaining on the clock when Turner Evans (1G) cut through the middle and received a pass from Buchanan scoring right on the doorstep after throwing a short side fake. End of the first quarter San Diego would lead 4-2.
The Rush would open the second with a breakaway goal following a Seals shot that hit the post and found the stick of Matt Hossack (1G) making it a one-goal game. San Diego would go on a three goal run starting off with back-to-back goals from Buchanan, the first responding off of a great feed from Billings to draw the defender then dished to Buchanan on the crease; and the second (hat-trick) diving from behind the net for a power play goal. Dawson (2G, 3A) would score his first of the night from the ground after he fell attempting to spin away from his defender. The Rush would stop the run at the 14:12 mark and answer back with a goal from Jeremy Thompson (1G, 1A) scoring on an odd-man transition play, and with the defenders leaving him alone he capitalized shooting over Scigliano’s right shoulder. With Shute on the bench, the Rush would go with an extra attacker resulting in a goal from Ryan Keenan (1G, 1A) with just over one second remaining in the half. After the first 30 minutes of play, San Diego would still hold a two goal lead 7-5.
The third quarter would see a barrage of goals and a combined total of nine. Coming right off the draw Saskatchewan would score just 10 seconds in the frame as Chris Corbeil (1G) would find the net diving across the crease. In less than two minutes, San Diego would go on another three goal run, the first an outside shot from Casey Jackson (2G, 3A) that would go under review. The shot hit the crossbar as the ball quickly bounced away from the net, however after review the goal would stand as it was clear the ball hit the post, then the ground past the goal line before bouncing away. Buchanan would get his fourth with no angle, shooting from just past goal line extended and the ball would roll in after hitting Shute. And, the final of the run from Staats as the defender gave him too much room and failed to apply pressure, allowing Staats to shoot around him scoring his second of the night. Saskatchewan would answer back with a four-goal run of their own. Matthews would start it off for the Rush using a shovel pass to hit Jeff Shattler (2G, 2A) after setting the pick and scored with an outside bounce shot. The next goal from San Diego was waived off because of a crease violation, and the Rush run would continue with Shattler diving from behind the net for the goal; and McIntosh for two, the first as he drove in taking advantage of the hesitation from the defender scoring far side, and the second off a diving effort from behind the net to tie the game at 10 apiece. For the third time in the contest, another last-second goal would go on the board, this time from an outside shot by Dawson on the power play. At the end of the third Seals lead 11-10.
Heading into the last frame, each side would score twice with San Diego drawing blood first. Tor Reinholdt (1A) would set up a fast break peeling off to the corner to draw the defender with him leaving Garrett Billings (1G, 9A) open in the middle of the floor, and he would score with a bounce shot. Curtis Knight (1G, 1A) would throw a pump fake that froze his defender, and he ran just under goal line extended brought it back around the crease and scored low far side to close the gap to one 12-11. San Diego would fire back as Jackson would score with a bounce shot running down the alley giving them back the two goal lead. Saskatchewan’s Robert Church (1G, 2A) would get his lone goal of the night cutting through the middle and pushed off his defender to get his hands free for a bounce shot scoring five hole. For the remaining six and half minutes both net minders would stand tall allowing no goals. Scigliano would turn away back to back breakaways for the Rush in their last ditch effort to tie the game. In their final possession of the game, Saskatchewan had the chance to tie the game but Shattler hit the post on a great look ending the night. Final Score: San Diego Seals-13 Saskatchewan Rush-12
UP NEXT:
The San Diego Seals (8-4) head to Calgary to face the Roughnecks (6-7) on Saturday March 30, game time 9:00 p.m. EST.
The Saskatchewan Rush (6-6) will host the Vancouver Warriors on (4-9) Saturday March 30, game time 9:30 p.m. EST.
Matteo Nobile, Correspondent San Diego Seals
Lacrosse is Awesome©