Edmonton completes the regular season with 10-6 mark

Everett, WA -- The Edmonton Rush knocked off the top-ranked Washington Stealth 14-13 Saturday in National Lacrosse League action at Comcast Arena at Everett, Wash.

Veteran forwards Gavin Prout, Ryan Ward and Ryan Powell provided the offensive spark and netminder Matt Disher made some key stops as Edmonton concluded their regular season with a division victory in the club's biggest game of the season since the previous biggest game Friday night against Calgary.

Edmonton improved to 10-6 with the win and Washington fell to 10-5 as the Rush remained in contention for the Western Division title and a home playoff game in their first playoff berth in franchise history as Edmonton won the season series against Washington 2-1.

"It was a real character win for us," said Rush head coach/GM Derek Keenan. "It all started with how positive the boys were after a very tough loss last night. We really took it to them with the tempo early, but they eventually got it going in the second half because their a very talented team."

Playoff seeding will not be determined until the conclusion the regular season next weekend as the Rush are idle, while both Calgary and Washington are in action.

"It gives us a chance now to finish first, second or third, so it's a real positive way to finish for us," Keenan added. "It just gives us confidence going into next week and we'll enjoy the week off."

Ward fired four goals for Edmonton Saturday, including a natural hat-trick in the second half, and Prout (2G, 5A) lead the way with seven points, while Dean Hill (3G, 2A) and Andy Secore (1-4) each had five points. Ryan Powell (2G, 2A) notched the final two goals, including the game winner and Corey Small (1G, 3A) and Brodie Merrill (1G, 2A and 12 loose balls) also tallied.

Washington's Lewis Ratcliff (6G, 2A) topped all scorers with eight points and Rhys Duch (2G, 5A) added seven points.

Disher (8-5) won the duel in net with 48 saves on 61 shots and Matt Roik (26 saves) took the loss.

"Dish was spectacular," said Keenan. "He really needed that and he came up huge. He had a great effort right to the end."

Veterans Ward and Prout provided the offensive surge and Powell clinch the win with two clutch tallied down the stretch.

"That group has been very consistent all season long," Keenan said of his vets. "Powell came up huge for us at the end of the game.

"He gets in the zone where he wants the ball on his stick and he wants to make plays. He scored two huge goals for us and he's a big-game player."

Edmonton seemed to tire in the second half Saturday night in their third back-to-back weekend of the year as the Stealth overcame a five-goal deficit and took the lead briefly, however, the Rush managed to hold off Washington late to take the road win.

Secore opened the scoring for the Rush just 57-seconds into the first quarter and then Washington tied the score 1-1 at 4:24 after Matt Beers converted an outlet pass from goaltender Roik.

Hill put Edmonton back up by one goal with his rebound marker on the power-play midway through the quarter and then Rush MVP Merrill with a tremendous transition tally at 11:22 before Ward continued the run with his team-leading 28th goal at 12:19 to put Edmonton up 4-1.

The Rush defense, backstopped by Disher, remained strong into the second quarter holding the powerful Stealth attack in check until Ratcliff scored his 40th of the season at 4:21 to cut the lead in half and then Edmonton's Hill ripped a shot through traffic midway through the frame as the Rush increased to a 5-2 advantage before Small made it a four goal lead at 8:43.

Washington closed the gap to 6-3 before Prout replied from in close off a set play with 23-seconds left in the half.

The Rush continued to increase the difference as Hill notched his hat-trick goal from in tight 3:45 into the third quarter, before the teams then traded goals with Ward sniping for Edmonton at 5:11 to put the Rush up 9-4.

Washington then went on a three-goal run and then Ward fired his hat-trick goal from atop the crease at 9:51 to give the Rush a 10-7 lead before Washington made it a two-goal game with less than one-minute remaining in the stanza.

Washington continued the run with three quick goals in the final quarter as the Stealth grabbed their first lead of the game 11-10 before Ward ripped his fourth of the game less than one-minute later to deadlock the score.

Prout then put Edmonton up 12-11 five minutes in and then Washington knotted it up again midway through the frame,before Powell then fired two consecutive goals with under four minutes remaining in the game to give Edmonton a 14-12 advantage.

The Stealth wouldn't quit as Ratcliff shot back with his sixth of the night with 36-seconds left to pull within one goal and then Disher held off the NLL's top team for the final seconds, including a brilliant stop with 17-ticks on the clock.

Rush mush:The Rush are 3-10 all-time record of all-time versus WASH (San Jose) ... Ryan Ward extended his franchise record for points in a season to 74 ... Edmonton finished with a 5-3 record on the road ... Edmonton's power-play went 1-6 and WASH 2-6 ... WASH outshot Edmonton 61-40 ... Pat Jones went 11-24 in face-offs before going off with an ankle injury ... Chris McElroy, Bruce Alexander, Dane Stevens, Scott Tinning and John Lintz did not dress.

Story by Bruce Rakoczy