This season, the Edmonton Rush have way of making every victory a big thing.

In beating Philadelphia, the Rush earned their very first home-turf win. The victory over Arizona marked the Rush's first home win over a West Division rival. By slipping past Portland, the Rush racked up their first overtime win.

But Friday night's 12-9 win over Toronto was more than just a first - a first victory over the Rock in franchise history. It may well have been the Rush's best home-field effort from top to bottom. And add to that, the Rush came out on top in front of the most enthusiastic home crowd ever to set foot into Rexall Place for NLL action.

As Rush GM/Head Coach Paul Day stated earlier in the week, it was imperative the Rush satisfy the loyal supporters with an exciting game, and most importantly, a win.

“It was a big win for everybody, most notably for the fans,” said Jamey Bowen, who registered a five-point night on two goals and three assists.

“People around here know all about Toronto, how they're five-time champions. And even though Toronto might be having a bit of a down year, we showed the fans that we're able to play at that level. Most people still assume Toronto is a good team and for us to beat them, that's huge.

“If we'd have lost this game and then had to go away for our next six, I don't know what we would have come back to. The win was huge for us to be able to keep fresh in the minds of the fans.”

Rush fans will have lots to remember from this game. First off, there was a terrific goaltending performance from Curtis Palidwor who turned aside 50 shots and helped the Rush shut down the Rock power play which went 0-for-5.

“We came out on fire and ran them right down in the first half,” said Palidwor. “You could see it showed in the second half - they were definitely tired.

“I just try not to beat myself, not get caught out of position and start guessing. In the second half, I thought they got four or five great opportunities and I was able to stop them and that gave me enough confidence to build off. I was able to focus on every shot and keep my head in the game.”

Palidwor kept the Rock at bay for all but the dying few minutes when Toronto closed the gap by scoring four goals with six attackers.

Another key factor for the Rush was a balanced scoring attack. Like Bowen, Randy Daly contributed a five-point game on two goals and three assists, Chris Gill potted one and had two helpers and Jimmy Quinlan put an end to a scoring slump with a hat trick.

“Millie (Assistant Coach Jim Milligan) said that was our best offensive performance,” noted Bowen. “It wasn't just Gill with four and (Dan) Stroup with three and we only got nine all night.

“Randy Daly's been really consistent all year but the timing of those two goals he got (2:02 apart late in the second quarter) was huge. Everybody really stepped up.”

Day thought things might go the Rush's way after the team's strong practice and shootaround leading up to the opening faceoff before 11,547 - the second-largest crowd in Rush history.

“That was one of our best efforts from start to finish,” said Day. “You could tell the guys were ready and from the coaching staff's perspective they really stuck to the game plan which is very satisfying.”

Ryan O'Connor scored twice for the Rush before leaving the game with an ankle injury. Jason Wulder added one for Edmonton and Dan Finck rounded out the scoring for the Rush as he found an empty net with Toronto goalie Bob Watson scrambling back off the bench in an extra-attacker situation. Finck's first goal with the Rush came courtesy a long feed from Palidwor, who picked up his third assist of the season.

rush ramblings
A hoped-for highlight came true in the third quarter when Rush defender Daryl Welsh took on NLL heavyweight champ Tim O'Brien. It was a long and power-packed exchange with both enforcers landing some big shots.