The Saskatchewan Rush ran up a 7-0 lead in the first half on Saturday night en route to a 12-8 win over the San Diego Seals.
The win improves the Rush to 6-2 on the season, and puts them in sole possession of second place in the NLL. The Seals loss drops them to 3-5, in 12th position.
Saskatchewan’s Mike Triolo opened the scoring with a natural hat trick during the first five minutes of the game. Zach Manns added a power play goal at 9:23 of the first quarter, putting the Rush up four goals and they never looked back.
The Rush added three more goals in the second quarter, while completely shutting down the Seals’ attack. San Diego showed some life early in the third period, going on a three-goal run, but the Rush got one back and were able to weather the storm the rest of the quarter, although their lead was shrunk down.
In the final quarter, the teams exchanged goals back and forth, with the Seals unable to build any momentum and close the gap, eventually leading to the 12-8 final score.
Manns led all scorers with two goals and six assists for eight points while the Seals had three players pick up three points each—Trent DiCicco (3 A), Tre Leclaire (1 G, 2 A), and Zach Currier (2 G, 1 A).
Thomas Kiazyk made 36 saves in his second-ever start to earn his second-ever win, while Chris Origlieri made 20 stops and Mike Poulin made 12 more in relief.
San Diego’s next action is on Saturday night when they travel to face the Toronto Rock. The Rock have been surging after a slow start. They dropped their first five games, but as injured players have returned to the floor, they’ve turned things around and are now on a three-game winning streak. The Seals are headed the other direction, having now lost three straight.
Saskatchewan gets a week off before resuming action on Feb 14 in Calgary, where they will take on the 4-3 Roughnecks. The Roughnecks are 2-2 in their last four games and battle the Vancouver Warriors this weekend.
