Shawn Slaght, All Lacrosse All The Time – A Division of the Edge of Philly Sports Network
The Saskatchewan Rush were able to topple the first-place Seals in San Diego 16-11 on Friday night.
Both teams got key players back in the line-up for this tilt. Dan Lintner returned to the Rush after a short one-game stint on the Hold Out List. Meanwhile, the Seals got Casey Jackson back from the Injured Reserve List. In exchange, Jesse Gamble was moved onto the Injured Reserve List from the active roster.
For the Rush, it was the young guys that stepped to the plate. Rookie defenceman Jake Boudreau scored his first career hat trick. Another rookie defenceman, Jerrett Smith, a product of Winnipeg, Manitoba, had a goal and four points while collecting six loose balls and causing two turnovers.
It was a relatively quiet night for San Diego’s big guns on offense. Dane Dobbie had a big night with five goals, but Curtis Dickson was held to two markers and Austin Staats and Wes Berg were held to one goal each.
Rush take early lead
It was a back-and-forth defensive battle to open the game. Fittingly, it was defenceman Matt Beers who cracked open the scoring at the 9:03 mark to give the Rush a 1-0 lead.
The Rush coaching staff has been trying to get Mark Matthews to shoot the ball more versus passing. He did just that 1:54 later to give the Rush a two-goal lead.
Welcome back Dan Lintner as he took a feed from Bobby Kidd III and buried it with 43 seconds left in the quarter to give the Rush a 3-0 lead.
Seals battle back
It was all Dobbie to open the second quarter. He got on the board only 20 seconds into the quarter to narrow Saskatchewan’s lead to one. He then added a power play marker by Alex Buque at 9:44 to get San Diego back within one.
Boudreau would score his first of the game at 7:27 with a little tic-tac-toe play with Robert Church and Kidd III to make it 4-2.
Dobbie would reply to complete the second-quarter hat trick at 3:57. However, 36 seconds later Smith would score on transition with a shot on the run to restore the two-goal lead. Church would put in a power play marker at 2:36 with a laser shot to give the Rush a 6-3 lead.
Then the bizarre happened. Dickson took a slashing penalty at 2:07 to send Saskatchewan on the power play. Dobbie would be found wide open coming out of the front gate for the shorty with 1:39 to play. Fifty seconds later Berg would score for the second shorthanded goal of the power play to make it 6-5 Saskatchewan after the half.
Rush chase Origlieri
Saskatchewan came out firing in the second half with a three-goal run. Marty Dinsdale got the party started with a shot through traffic at the 12:36 mark on the third.
Fifty-one seconds later Mark Matthews would let a howitzer go from long range to make it 8-5. That ended the evening for the Seals’ starting goaltender Christopher Origlieri. He was replaced by Frank Scigliano.
Church would dodge a couple of defenders at 10:31 of the third quarter to put the Rush up by four 9-5.
Staats would get on the board 25 seconds later on the power play as the Seals tried to claw their way back into the game. Mac O’Keefe would put one by Buque at 9:48 and the Seals were back within two.
Boudreau took a feed from Smith on transition at 6:56 and danced his way in front of the net for his second of the game.
Dickson got on the board on the power play at 2:14 but frustration was starting to boil over, especially for Dobbie. He was called for an undisciplined punch at 1:29. Matthews would capitalize with 10 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 11-8 heading into the fourth quarter.
Jake Boudreau, public enemy #1
Lintner flew through the crease to open the fourth quarter scoring at 11:33, extending the Rush’s lead to four goals.
Dobbie continued to be a thorn in the sides of the Rush. He scored at 9:05 to make it 12-9.
Church would join the hat trick club at 6:32. A blocked shot was deflected to Church and he buried it into a wide-open net.
Twenty-five seconds later Messenger would add to the tally with a nice solo effort
Eli Gobrecht would take the outlet pass from Scigliano at 4:40 to score on transition to get the Seals back within four. Dickson would then cap that off with a goal for the Seals at 2:43.
Holden Garlent would score an empty net goal with 45 seconds left in the game to seal the victory over the first-place Seals. However, with nine seconds left in the game the rookie Boudreau found himself all alone down the field. Instead of running out the clock, he took the shot and scored on Scigliano for his first career hat trick.
Frustration again boiled over with Dobbie as he had some choice words for Boudreau after the goal, feeling the rookie should have just run out the clock.
Top Scorers
Saskatchewan Rush
Mark Matthews, 3g 3a
Robert Church, 3g 2a
Matt Beers, 1g 3a
Jerrett Smith, 1g 3a
San Diego Seals
Dane Dobbie, 5g 1a
Austin Staats, 1g 4a
Curtis Dickson, 2g 1a
Wes Berg, 1g 2a
Kevin Crowley, 3a
Check out the All Lacrosse Live podcast every Sunday night at 9 pm (ET)
Shawn Slaght has been a sports reporter across the Canadian prairies for over 10 years and has experience covering everything from junior hockey to World Cup skiing to all levels of lacrosse. He is the Saskatchewan correspondent for All Lacrosse All The Time.
