The Edmonton Rush took one step closer to bringing home their first ever Champion’s Cup. After manhandling the Toronto Rock with a 15-9 victory at Air Canada Centre they gave themselves the opportunity to win the Championship on home field on Friday night at Crystal Glass Field in Edmonton.
The game started with the Rock scoring the game’s first two goals and Edmonton looking disoriented and outmatched. If not for the play of Aaron Bold the score could have been worse for the Rush. Then Mark Matthews decided to show that he was ready to compete for a victory.
Matthews scored an impressive goal on the power play and put the Rush back in the game. Matthews scored again five minutes later, and then the floodgates opened. Ben McIntosh and Robert Church scored and then Jarrett Davis scored on a breakaway shorthanded goal from a pass by Aaron Bold and Edmonton silenced the 9,257 Rock fans. When the first quarter was over Edmonton had a 5-2 lead.
Edmonton was not to be tested for the remainder of the game as they had Toronto on their heels, forcing the Rock to change their goaltenders back and forth trying to regain some momentum. By the half the Rush led 9-4 and never looked back as they cruised to a victory.
In every meeting this season between these two teams, the visiting team has come away with a victory. Edmonton will try to change that statistic, as they would love to give their fans a Champion’s Cup victory on home field.
The game originally scheduled for Saturday has been moved ahead to Friday night to accommodate the Imagine Dragons concert at Rexall Place. The change does not concern the Rush players; they are eager to get back on the floor and accomplish what they set out to do at the beginning of the season, and that was to bring home the Champion’s Cup.
Game time Friday is 7:30 pm MST.
