Mark Matthews showed us why the Edmonton Rush picked him first overall in the 2012 NLL draft. Matthews had 6 goals last night as the Rush beat the Washington Stealth 15-10. The Rush fired 61 shots on net and dominated the game from start to finish. Matthews had an assist to go along with his 6 goals while Ryan Ward chipped in with 2 goals and 4 assists. Rhys Duch led the way for Washington with 4 goals 4 assists and Athan Iannucci had a solid game with 2 goals and 2 assists.
The game started slow with not much action early on and didn’t pick up until Ward’s powerplay goal 5:50 into the first quarter. Shortly after that John Lafontaine found Matthews coming off the bench who fired a bullet from the outside for his first goal of the night, making it 2-0 Rush.
Edmonton would take a bench minor for illegal substitution and the Stealth took full advantage of their first powerplay of the night. Rhys Duch had the ball at the top before firing a pass to the side of the crease where Brett Bucktooth was waiting for the quick stick. Washington would tie the game 30 seconds later when Rhys Duch made a nifty move to score his 19th goal of the season.
The game stayed tied at 2 until Corey Conway scored on the Edmonton’s 11 shot of the game, making it 3-2 Rush. Ward would extend the lead with his second of the game on a top corner shot with just 9 seconds left in 1st quarter. The Rush would go up 5-2 when Matthews scored his easiest goal of the season; Zack Greer’s long shot off the post left Tyler Richards twisted in his net looking for the ball and Matthews was waiting right there to shovel it in.
The lead would be extended to 6-2 after Chris Corbeil intercepted Athan Iannucci’s shot and hustled down the floor to score a shorthanded marker through Richard’s legs.
Washington would score a powerplay goal 52 seconds later on an outside shot from Kyle Buchanan.
The Rush came right back though as Matthews got his hat trick 42 seconds after that on a soft shot that fooled Richards, making it 7-3 Edmonton at half time.
Chris Hall must have had a good talk with his Washington Stealth as they came out flying to start the second half. Rhys Duch flew by Jeff Cornwall, scoring a semi switch handed goal short side on Richards. The momentum would continue to swing in favour of the Stealth as the Rush were assessed a too many men penalty on the next play. Lewis Ratcliff came off a sweet pick from Iannucci to take pass from Duch before burying the ball past Richards cutting Edmonton’s lead to 7-5.
The Rush would score less then a minute later though as Matthews got his fourth of the game on a screen shot that bounced off Richard’s shoulder and in. Shortly after that Zach Greer scored through Richard’s five hole to make it 9-5.
The big turning point for Washington was when captain Kyle Sorensen’s goal was called off in the third quarter. Sorensen had a breakaway but stepped in the crease before the ball crossed the goal line and Jarrett Davis took the ball back the other way for a Rush goal. Moments later Dean Hill scored a powerplay goal to make it 11-5 Edmonton, knocking the come back train right off the tracks.
The game slowed down again after that goal as the Rush tried to kill some clock time. Almost four minutes passed until the next goal was scored. Iannucci got his first of the game when he picked up a Rhys Duch rebound, making it a four goal game. Corey Small restored the five goal lead and it was 11-6 Edmonton after three quarters.
Matthews opened the scoring in the 4th quarter with a quadruple fake that would have fooled any National Lacrosse League goalie. Matthews would get the sock trick with Edmonton’s next goal.
Davis cut out from the side of net making it look like he was going to shoot before eventually dishing it off to Matthews who was waiting at the other side of the net to score his 6th.
Duch got his hat trick under a minute later on a bounce shot from way outside that Richards should have had. Duch scored his 4th goal a minute and a half later off a nice pick and roll play.
Just 49 seconds later Iannucci would get his 2nd goal of the game cutting Edmonton’s lead to 14-10.
The game was pretty much over at that point but Greer put the nail in the coffin with his 2nd of the game, giving the Rush their first home victory of the season.
Final score 15-10 for the Edmonton Rush.
The Rush had a quick turnaround and were up at 3:30am to catch a flight to Denver where they will take on the Colorado Mammoth tonight at the Pepsi Center at 9pm.
