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The Saskatchewan Rush outplayed the Halifax Thunderbirds in Game 1 of the best of three National Lacrosse League semifinals in Nova Scotia on Saturday.
The Rush hit the floor hot, netting six goals in the first quarter, with forward Austin Shanks scoring three of them. The Thunderbirds scored three as well to make it 6-3 at the break.
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The second quarter was much quieter, and Thunderbirds forward Thomas Hoggarth netted an early goal to bring Halifax within two but in its final minute Rush defenceman Matt Hossack found the back of the net allowing the team to regain their three goal lead at halftime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47vGUqSHq6U
In the third quarter, it was all Rush, all the time. Ryan Keenan and Shanks scored 26 seconds apart before Shanks found the back of the net twice more — bringing his game total to six — and Mike Messenger scored one to make it 12-5 for the Rush.
Hoggarth scored an early goal in the fourth quarter for the Thunderbirds, but Robert Church and Zach Manns would counter before Brock Haley found thr net on a powerplay with one minute seven seconds remaining, before scoring again six seconds later to power the Rush to a 16-7 win.
The Rush are now one win away from the NLL Cup Final.
The last time the team made the final was in 2018 when they captured their second title in Saskatchewan.
Game two goes next Saturday at the Sasktel Centre in Saskatoon.
Previous struggles in Halifax
Derek Keenan, co-head coach and general manager of the Rush, said on Friday the team had struggled in Halifax in the regular season and knew Saturday night would not be be an easy game.
“I think we’ve had tough times here because of, honestly, logistics. That’s not an excuse, but we are leaving nothing to chance this week,” Keenan said.
“Having said that, we got to get out and perform. They’re a difficult team to play against because they play an interesting style — they never want to play a controlled style of play. They’re just going to go to the net all the time and they’re good at it,” he said.
“Our transition game has to be really solid, we have to be disciplined and we have to not turn the ball over. We have to be good in all areas in order to have success here.”
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