Justin Ivey, Co-Editor
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Austin Shanks spent the first six seasons of his career with the franchise now in Halifax. They were the Rochester Knighthawks when he was drafted, but no matter the home venue, Shanks was a crowd favorite and a matchstick on the offensive end. On Saturday night, in Game 1 of the Saskatchewan Rush matchup against the Halifax Thunderbirds, Shanks ignited the Rush, scoring six goals in jaw dropping fashion. His offensive outburst led an otherwise balanced attack, while Frank Scigliano (7GA, 41SV) acted as a brick wall for much of the evening, keeping the potent Thunderbirds offense frustrated. That frustration eventually boiled over to a disruptive end to the game. In the final minutes Saskatchewan was awarded three penalty shots, scoring two, while the box was full and some had to watch from the locker rooms. In a bit of a weird schedule for this semi-final matchup, Saskatchewan (the higher seed) did not give in to the road game disadvantage and handily defeated Halifax. Final Score: Saskatchewan-16, Halifax-7
Halifax started off with the first score of the evening. Clarke Petterson (1G, 2A) found the net in the first minute, but there was no momentum from the score. Before the first TV timeout, Saskatchewan tied the game on a Clark Walter (1G, 2A) goal and took the lead when Zach Manns (2G, 7A) scored. The onslaught paused for a couple minutes but picked back up with 5:04 left when Robert Church (2G, 3A) scored a goal. The run continued with two straight goals from Shanks and with 2:52 remaining in the first quarter, the Rush had a 5-1 lead over the Thunderbirds. Randy Staats (1G, 5A) stopped the run with a goal and 1:50 left, before Dawson Theede (2G, 1A) scored his first of the night. The Thunderbirds hopes of keeping a two-goal deficit heading into the second were crushed when Shanks completed his first quarter hat trick, scoring with just 22 seconds remaining. At the end of the first quarter, Saskatchewan led Halifax 6-3.
The physicality of the game was apparent in the first quarter but blossomed into a focus in the second. Seven penalties were assessed, four on Halifax and three on Saskatchewan. Despite this, no power play goals were scored. The two sides battled defensively and only allowed one goal each. Thomas Hoggarth (2G) struck first, scoring short-handed and cutting the Thunderbirds’ deficit to two goals again just 1:14 in. No one could find net again until Matt Hossack (1G, 2A) restored the three-goal Rush lead with just one minute remaining. At the half, Saskatchewan led Halifax 7-4.
Scoring returned with a Saskatchewan flurry in the third quarter. Ryan Keenan (1G, 4A) scored the game’s first powerplay goal and Shanks followed it with his fourth goal of the game 26 seconds later. Ryan Terefenko (1G) scored unassisted with 6:38 remaining to break up the run, but Shanks was a man possessed, scoring two straight power play goals and completing his sock trick. Drew Hutchinson (11GA, 21SV) was replaced in net by Warren Hill (4GA, 14SV), but it didn’t make a difference. Mike Messenger (1G) scored unassisted with 1:14 left, extending the lead to seven. At the end of the third quarter, Saskatchewan led Halifax 12-5.
Facing quite the deficit heading into the final quarter, Halifax found some hope with the first goal. Hoggarth scored his second of the evening 4:28 in. The Rush defense kept tight after that though, and a power play goal from Church with 5:47 remaining seemingly put the game out of reach. Theede scored with 3:05 left for the home team, but it was too little too late. Manns extended the lead to seven again, scoring with 2:37 left. A fight ignited with 1:38 left in the game, and before the night was over 80 penalty minutes were assessed in the remaining time. In the fracas, the Rush were awarded three penalty shots. Brock Haley (2G, 1A) scored two goals on two attempts, and the third was not successful. Final Score: Saskatchewan-16, Halifax-7.
Up Next:
The Saskatchewan Rush will host Game 2 against the Halifax Thunderbirds on Saturday, May 10 at 9:30 PM EDT.