Sask. Rush takes on Georgia Swarm in best-of-3 finals series starting Sunday
Saskatchewan lacrosse team is chasing 3rd-straight Champion's Cup
Saskatchewan Rush players will find out on Sunday how hard they will have to work to win a third-straight Champion's Cup.
The Rush take on the Georgia Swarm in the National Lacrosse League finals best-of-three series in Duluth, Georgia just after 3 p.m. CST.
The Saskatoon-based team beat out the Colorado Mammoth to advance to the finals, which will decide the winner of the league Champion's Cup.
Regardless of the outcome in Duluth on Sunday, the two teams will meet for a second game in Saskatoon on Saturday, June 10. If the Rush is able to win two in a row it will avoid a third-game decider, which would be played in Georgia on June 18.
The Rush is looking for its third-straight title but the Swarm has home-game advantage.
The two teams have only met twice in the past two seasons, including this year's season-opener, where the Swarm defeated the Rush 18-10. It was that game that helped the Swarm finish the season ahead of the Rush, earning them the home-turf advantage for the Champion's Cup finals.
It was the first time the Rush had ever played in Georgia.
Season-by-season numbers
2017
- 18-10 Swarm win (Myles and Lyle Thompson combine for 13 points)
2016
- 14-8 Rush win (Mark Matthews scores four goals and adds four assists for eight points)
2015
- 16-12 Rush win (Robert Church with a seven-point game including a hat trick)
- 14-10 Swarm win (Callum Crawford registers eight points including five assists)
2014
- 14-9 Rush win (Jeremy Thompson scores hat trick plus team record 19 loose balls)
2013
- 14-8 Rush win (Zack Greer scores hat trick and adds two assists)
- 13-8 Swarm win (Ryan Benesch racks up seven points including six assists)
2012
- 15-3 Rush win in playoffs game (Ryan Ward registers seven-point game including hat trick)
- 9-8 Rush OT win (Zack Greer notches hat trick)
- 10-9 Swarm OT win (Ryan Benesch scores game-winner in second-longest NLL game)
2011
- 14-13 Rush win (Zack Greer pots five goals including game-winner)
- 9-8 Swarm win (Ryan Benesch notches five points including four assists)
2010
- 16-14 Rush win (Ryan Ward scores twice and adds five assists)
- 13-12 Rush OT win (Brodie Merrill scores three times including game-winner)
2009
- 9-7 Swarm win (Aaron Wilson scores two goals and added one assist)
2006
- 7-6 Swarm win (Nick Patterson makes 40 saves in the victory)