Rush look to gain momentum at Rexall against Roughnecks

Edmonton, AB--Win the battle or win the war?

With the first instalment of the Battle of Alberta National Lacrosse League style this Friday, as Edmonton hosts its much anticipated home opener at Rexall Place against the arch-rival Calgary Roughnecks, the Rush are at least pleased to be battling on home turf.

The Rush finally play a home contest this weekend as the club debuts at home Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. when they play the first of four regular season games against Calgary and both clubs will have their battle gear on.

Edmonton (0-3) and Calgary (2-2) both come into this weekend on losing streaks as the Rush have dropped three games in a row - all on the road - while the Riggers have lost two consecutive games after starting the season with two straight wins.

"It's obviously a huge weekend for us and not the start that we wanted, but, I feel we've gotten better each game and I think we're pretty confident going into the weekend," said Rush captain Brodie Merrill.

"Being on the road for three straight games was a very valuable learning experience for us and later on in the season I'd like to look back on these first three games as a great learning experience and helped shape our team for the rest of the year," he added.

"We'll be happy to get home," said Rush general manager and head coach Derek. "But, it would've been nice to get a win or two out of the first three. Obviously, we didn't. We're simply just not scoring enough goals and that's the end game is to put the ball in the net and that's not happening."

The Rush look to break out of their offensive funk and get into the win column on home carpet before the two rivals match up again the next night in Calgary in the back-half of the home-and-away series at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

"It's a big weekend for us," said Keenan of the all-Alberta conflict. "We'll just kind of focus on Friday and try to get a win and go from there."

"It's exciting. It's a great rivalry," chipped in Merrill, who was named the named the NLL's Transition Player of the Week for his efforts last weekend against Minnesota. "I got a sense of that last year, especially in the playoffs".

"They're a very different team than what I've seen in the past, but they're a very skilled team and very dangerous, so I expect it to have a playoff atmosphere even though it's early in the season with two very big games and the fact it's against our rivals, makes it even bigger."

Edmonton made the rivalry stronger last year by going 1-2 against the Riggers in the regular season, however, the Rush upset Calgary on the road in the West semi-final playoff contest.

"It's like any other sport in the Calgary, Edmonton rivalry. It's big and it's bitter and I'm sure it will be both great lacrosse games and we need to bring it against them," said Keenan.

The Rush bench boss also looks to follow along on the success his club had at Rexall Place last season when Edmonton recorded five wins against three losses en route to a 10-6 mark overall.

"We had such a good year last year and I thought we did a real good job of building our fan base back up and gaining some respect from the Edmonton sports centres," said Keenan. "And now, having started 0-3 ... I'm sure the're looking and going 'Oh boy'. So, we need to play real well and compete at every level and leave it all out on the turf and then let the results fall where they may and if we do all that we should have a good result."

"I'd be lying to you if I said that we didn't (have pressure on)," said Merrill entering the home opener, "especially since the club is winless early in the 2011 season."

Looking for a positive early in the season against Calgary, Keenan expects his players to be focussed, but not letting the tough start command too much attention.

"So it's an important game for us without a doubt. But at the same time I don't want the guys squeezing their sticks," he said. "That's been part of our problem. They're feeling a little bit of pressure in the offensive end to score and we need to relax and have some fun out there, too."

By Bruce Rakoczy