MORE EMOTION
Josh Currier was the Game 2 offensive kingpin. He scored four goals. He got one in Game 1.
“I played with a bit more emotion than I did during the season,” he said. “This is the way our team has been all year. Somebody different steps up every game.”
Defense, not offense, is the team’s greatest strength, though.
“We feel we have the best defense and the best goalie in the league,” said Currier.
FAST BREAKS
Watch for fast-break goals in Game 3. The team getting them early and often will probably be the team that hoists the new championship trophy. The Rush falloff in this aspect from Game 1 to Game 2 was glaring.
"It wasn’t a good night for us in that respect,” Corbeil admitted.
HOSSACK IS A BEAST
Graeme Hossack is one of the league’s premier defenseman, if not the very best, and to see him scoring goals like he did in Game 2 further enhances his reputation. The third-year pro out of Missouri’s Division II Lindenwood University tied it 2-2 and he put Rochester up 10-5 with a breakaway bounce shot a lot of forwards will envy when they review the video.
MATTHEWS BLANKED
Rush star Mark Matthews had eight shots on Vinc and three off the mark and could not buy a Game 2 goal.
POWER OUTAGE
Saskatchewan had the best power play in the NLL during the regular season but is a meager 2-for-9 (1-7 in Game 1 and 1-2 in Game 2) in the championship series.
‘CAN’T WAIT’
After losing their title on their home floor to Georgia in overtime a year ago, Saskatchewan players will be driven to avoid a bleak déjà vu experience this weekend.
“This year we came in with a chip on our shoulder,” said Corbeil.
Saturday is a last chance to swat that chip off.
“We’ll feel more confident playing at home,” said Corbeil. “Let’s put this [Game 2 loss] behind us. Now we’re getting a chance to win it at home. I can’t wait.”
“We’ll put our best foot forward and try to finish it off at home,” added transition runner Adrian Sorichetti.
THREE IN A ROW
This will be the third consecutive year the title will be decided in Saskatoon. The Georgia Swarm won it in SaskTel Centre in 2017 after Saskatchewan defeated Buffalo in its home arena in 2016.
LONG SEASON
The season will end one day short of the June 10 finale last season, when Miles Thompson scored 1:17 into overtime to give the Georgia Swarm a 15-14 win over the Rush, but this season is longer than last season because it began three weeks earlier on Dec. 8.
SEALS TO GET TOP ROOKIE
Pat Merrill, the GM-coach of the San Diego expansion team, won a halftime coin toss and opted to get first pick in the September entry draft. Philadelphia, a second expansion team to begin play next autumn, gets first pick in a July 16 expansion draft as a consolation prize. Each of the nine teams that formed the league this season can protect 10 runners and a goalie. Their lists must be submitted by July 2. No team can lose more than players.
Top prospects include left forward Chris Cloutier of the University of North Carolina, left forward Connor Robinson of High Point, right transition checker Matt Gilroy of Bucknell, right transition checker Shane Simpson of UNC and left transition player Ian MacKay of Vermont.
Austin Staats, a dynamic attacker, would enter the mix if he declares his eligibility for the entry draft after helping Onondaga Community College to a second straight U.S. national junior college title.
“The first pick in the entry draft will open a lot of doors for the Seals in our inaugural season in San Diego,” said Merrill, who was the first overall pick in 2002.
The Seals will play their homes games in the Valley View Casino Center.
CHANGE OF SCENERY
After the first week of play in Ontario’s indoor Major Series Lacrosse, Corey Small of the Peterborough Lakers led all goal scorers with six in two games. Small, who plays in the NLL for the Vancouver Stealth, returned east after many years with the Victoria Shamrocks of the Western Lacrosse Association.