The Saskatchewan Rush still have a shot at the postseason after a decisive 13-8 win over the San Diego Seals on Saturday night. The Seals (12-5) have already locked up second place in the NLL standings. The win for the Rush improves them to 8-9, in a three-way tie for the eighth and final playoff spot, along with the Vancouver Warriors and New York Riptide.
The Seals drew first blood less than a minute into the game and followed it up with a second goal three and a half minutes later. But then the hometown Rush took over, scoring three times to round out the quarter. And three more unanswered goals in the second quarter. And then another three goals to open the second half, building up a 9-2 lead on that nine-goal run. San Diego finally stopped the run 4:19 into the third quarter, but the Rush still won that quarter 5-3.
Saskatchewan’s attack finally cooled off in the fourth quarter, picking up just two more goals, while the Seals scored three times, but that late surge wasn’t nearly enough to overcome the deficit they had built up earlier.
Zach Manns scored five times and added two assists for the Rush while Austin Staats led the way for San Diego with five points (1 goal, 4 assists).
Frank Scilgiano made 40 saves and shut his former team out for 29 minutes and 58 seconds during Saskatchewan’s big run. Chris Origlieri and Mike Poulin combined for 36 saves in the Seals net.
The win by the Rush sets up a critical final weekend in the NLL. Saskatchewan faces the first-place Toronto Rock, the Warriors take on the Seals, and the Riptide battle the Albany Attack, who currently sit in third place in the league—no easy games for anyone.
If the Rush win and both the Warriors and Riptide lose, the Rush make the playoffs. If either Vancouver or New York wins, the Rush are out regardless of the outcome of their game. If all three teams win their respective games and finish with identical 9-9 records, Vancouver has the edge in the tiebreaker scenarios and takes the final playoff spot. And if all three teams lose, New York winds up taking the tiebreaker and that eighth playoff position
The only other X-factor in the playoff picture is where the Panther City Lacrosse Club will finish. Currently sitting at 9-8, a win by PCLC could move them up as high as sixth place. A loss by Panther City and a win by the Rush could actually leapfrog the Rush into seventh place and push PCLC down to eighth. And if the Rush, Warriors and Riptide all win, but PCLC loses, Saskatchewan makes the playoffs with Panther City. It’s complicated. You can check out all these and other scenarios at nllstats.com.
