Edmonton breaks three offensive records in win

Edmonton, AB -Without anything on the line except pride and possibly jobs for 2012, the Edmonton Rush put on a record performance Saturday with an 18-14 victory over the Toronto Rock in National Lacrosse League play at Rexall Place.

Edmonton -- who missed the playoffs for the fifth time in six years and only scoring a total of 12 goals in the previous two games -- came out firing against Toronto early and often as the club set three offensive records, including goals scored in a game (18), goals scored in a half (12) and in a quarter (8) in the contest.

The Rush used their potent attack Saturday to improve to 5-11 to close out the season, while Toronto (10-6) had its aspirations of first place in the East dented in the loss.

The record performances on the carpet also included a milestone event for Toronto's veteran netminder Bob Watson, who despite a shaky start when he allowed seven goals on the first 13 shots, recorded his NLL-best 6,465 save over 217 career games to become the league's all-time league leader.

"We ran the floor really well. I thought our pressure early in the game was awesome and created a lot of turnovers and got some transition gaols and we really moved the ball well on offense, too," said Rush head coach and general manager Derek Keenan. "We need to learn how to protect leads better, but at the same time, we kept scoring key goals at key times and answering, so it was a good win for us."

The fast first quarter start for Edmonton was a difference maker in the win, said Keenan. "That's key," he said. "A week ago, we didn't have that energy early ... yet tonight we got goals early and created a ton of chances early. It was a vast difference. It's just unfortunate we didn't bring that last week (in the loss)."

Corey Small (3G, 4A) led the Rush with seven points and Scott Evans (3G, 3A) and Andy Secore (1G, 5A) both had six-point efforts, while Ryan Ward (3G, 1A) and Brodie Merrill (1G, 3A, 21 loose balls) each had four points. Scott Stewart supplied two goals for Edmonton, while Jarrett Toll, Mike McLellan (1G, 1A), Bill Greer (1G, 2A), John Lafontaine and Jimmy Quinlan added singles.

"It was a little too much, too late", said Small, Edmonton's leading scorer in 2011 with 63 points and a team-best 40 assists. "We played a lot more confident and a little more loose than the last few weeks and we weren't afraid to take chances out there."

Toronto's Garrett Billings (4G, 2A) and Colin Doyle (2G, 4A) both had six points in the loss and Blaine Manning (3G, 2G) and Stephen Hoar each notched a hat-trick.

Goaltender Matt Disher earned the win for Edmonton and Watson and Campbell combined in net for Toronto.

The offensive onslaught began early as Edmonton scored three goals on the first five shots on net and Evans notched a hat-trick in the opening 6:22 of the first quarter to provide the Rush with an 8-2 lead.

Evans nabbed the first two goals from a similar spot to put Edmonton up 2-0 and eight-ticks later Toll deked out Watson on a breakaway run and then Ward scored in transition coming off the bench to beat Watson over his left shoulder to build up a 4-0 lead early.

Evans, McLellan and Stewart then traded goals with the Rock before Ward again picked the corner for his 24th of the year at 10:53 to put the Rush up 8-2.

The furious pace continued into the second quarter as Toronto clawed back with two goals in the first 2:16 of the frame to cut the lead in half to 8-4 before Edmonton's top rookie Lafontaine ripped a long-range shot midway through the quarter to stop the run.

Toronto then found the mark twice more before Ward wired his hat-trick marker 11-seconds later that chased Watson from the cage and then Edmonton scored two of the next three to build up a 12-7 lead into halftime.

After a quiet opening five minutes into the third quarter Small notched his second of the night and then the Rock put two goals together to pull back with four markers at 13-9 for the only scores of the frame.

The clubs picked up the scoring pace again in the fourth quarter as they racked up four goals in the opening 128-seconds and Sherwood Park-product Manning continued the Toronto run into the frame with his hat-trick marker just 11-seconds in and then Bill Greer scored from in-tight and later Small responded with his third of the game on a dip and dunk to restore Edmonton's four goal bulge at 15-11.

The offensive attacks continued as Toronto fired three of the next five goals to close within three goals at 17-14 with less than six-minutes left on the clock before Quinlan scooped a loose ball off a Rock turnover and deposited the ball into the open cage to restore Edmonton's four goal lead and close out the scoring in the contest.

Rush mush:EDM tied TOR 1-1 in the season series ... EDM went 1/4 on the power-play Saturday and TOR was 4/4 ... EDM outshot TOR 54/48 ... Pat Jones went 18/37 in face-offs ... Edmonton scratched F Dane Stevens, F Dean Hill and F Kedoh Hill.

2011 Edmonton Player Awards: the club awarded the following players - captain Brodie Merrill was named both Transition Player of the year and the MVP. Sophomore Brett Mydske was named Defender of the year, while leading scorer Corey Small was named the club's Unsung Hero. John Lafontaine was named Rookie of the year and the Rush Community Service Award went to backup goalkeeper Mitch Anders.

By Bruce Rakoczy