With files from Saskatchewan Rush
Saskatoon got its first taste of playoff lacrosse since 2019 on Saturday night. The Saskatchewan Rush rewarded their playoff faithful with a 13-9 win over the Georgia Swarm to advance to the NLL semi-finals, now set to take on the Halifax Thunderbirds in a best-of-three.
The atmosphere inside SaskTel Centre was turned up a notch with it being a single-game elimination. The building was silent early as the Swarm opened up a 2-0 lead, but Saskatchewan would find their groove to take a 6-3 lead into halftime.
The Swarm came back in the third quarter, but the Rush added two more for an 8-6 score entering the fourth. In the final frame the Rush powerplay went to work scoring on a 5 on 3 to extend their lead, goaltender Frank Scigliano finishing off a 39 save performance for the win as the Rush sealed the deal with a few late markers on an empty cage.
The Rush will have a quick turnaround entering the semi-finals. Saskatchewan has home-field advantage as the league's second seed but will be opening the series on the road in Halifax this Saturday, the series returning to Saskatchewan next Saturday, May 10 at 7:30, with a possible Game 3 set for Sunday, May 11 at 6:00 PM if needed.
The Rush and Thunderbirds played twice during the regular season with the home team winning each time. Back on December 14 Saskatchewan needed overtime in a close 9-8 victory, and then on March 14 in the Maritimes rematch, it was all Thunderbirds as they rode an impressive first half to a 17-9 win over the Rush.
The winner of this series will face either the top seed Buffalo Bandits or Vancouver Warriors in the championship.