YORKTON - In the world of sports it’s funny how a mere 30 minutes within an entire season can sour the memory of a team you follow.
Take the current edition of the National Lacrosse League’s Saskatchewan Rush, a team which had missed the playoffs for too long, and suddenly they roll to an 11-5 regular season record tied for best in the league, finishing second to Buffalo based on a one goal loss to the Bandits in March.
Co-coach and GM Derek Keenan said had they won that one it might have created a different ending to what was to come.
“It was one goal,” he said, adding it was a night prolific scorer Robert Church was not dressed for the Rush.
On the season the Rush’s resurgence earned the team four individual awards too – more on those in a bit.
Back in the playoffs the Rush eliminated Georgia in a one-game showdown to start, winning 13-9.
Then they took on the Halifax Thunderbirds a team that had frankly been the team’s kryptonite in regular season, but not this time. It was a Rush win and suddenly the team was into the NLL final.
Saskatchewan lost game one of the final 12-10 in Buffalo.
“We played very well in game one – maybe well enough to win, but we didn’t,” said Keenan.
Back home in Saskatoon the Rush knotted the best-of-three with an 11-10 win.
It was back to ‘Bandit Land’ for the deciding game three, and the Rush looked poised to upset Buffalo seeking their third straight title, trailing the Bandits by one goal at the half.
Then the wheels fell off for the Rush, and fans won’t ever forget watching their team go goal less in the second half while Buffalo scored eight to win 15-6.
“I thought we did a good job the first half,” Keenan said in a recent Yorkton This Week interview, adding while the Bandits did go on a four-goal run in the first half “we responded with three,” which kept it close.
But it didn’t last.
“It came down to the second half they played really, really well, and we didn’t play very well,” offered Keenan.
In the deciding game Saskatchewan got two goals from Austin Shanks and one from Zach Manns in the first quarter.
Robert Church scored twice in the second and Ryan Keenan found the back of the net, cutting the deficit to 7-6 at the half.
Between the pipes, Frank Scigliano made 38 saves, while Jake Naso went 16/25 at the dot.
Jake Boudreau and Mike Messenger each scooped up eight loose balls in the game, while Matt Hossack had two assists and three caused turnovers.
Robert Church had a team high six points, while Austin Shanks finished as the playoff leader with 18 goals and 32 points.
Keenan said in the end “it came down to execution,” and in the second half the Rush did not execute.
“We didn’t get a goal to stem the tide a little bit for us.”
Keenan said that was unexpected in the sense the Rush got contributions from many offensively over the season.
“We’ve been a ‘by committee’ team all year, with four guys with 70 points, and good depth scoring behind that,” he said.
In the dreaded half the team just couldn’t bury the chances they did get, said Keenan.
Defensively things went sour too.
Keenan said obviously Scigliano didn’t not have the half he wanted, but added it was not all on the goaltender.
“We didn’t play defence like we’re supposed to,” he said, giving some of the credit for that to the Bandits. “They took us out of our comfort zone.”
Still, there were those aforementioned individual awards, although Keenan said they’d all give up those awards for a better result in Buffalo.
The awards include Keenan winning the National Lacrosse League’s GM of the Year award.
The nine-time league champion won the GM award in 2014, 2010 and 2006 with Edmonton and Portland, while being named a finalist in 2017 and 2018 with Saskatchewan.
Rush co-head coach Jimmy Quinlan has won the National Lacrosse League’s Les Bartley Award, handed out annually to the Coach of the Year.
Quinlan was up for the Les Bartley Award for the first time in his coaching career. With his number 81 hanging in the rafters following his playing days, he led the Rush this season to a record of 13-5 in the regular season, five more wins than the previous year, bringing Saskatchewan back to the playoffs for the first time in six years.
The Rush saw major improvements in multiple categories this season, but mostly in goals against where the team average dropped by almost two goals per game, while the offensive output remained relatively similar to the previous season. Quinlan ran the most disciplined bench in the season, averaging a league low 8.2 penalty minutes per game, three full minor penalties less than the league average. Saskatchewan’s penalty kill also rose from 13th in the NLL at 47 per cent in 23/24, to third best in the league at 61 per cent in 24/25.
Quinlan is the second Saskatchewan Rush to win Coach of the Year, following Derek Keenan who took home the honours in 2018.
On the floor goaltender Frank Scigliano has won the league’s award for Goaltender of the Year.
“Obviously it’s super nice. I don’t try think about personal awards really, but it’s obviously nice to get recognized and I thank a lot of it to my teammates. You look at last week, we probably had 20 blocked shots and everyone just buys in,” said Scigliano in a team release. “It’s a special feeling, but I’m really just focused on what’s most important right now and that’s the playoffs.”
Scigliano, the 33-year-old from Coquitlam, BC is the first Rush netminder ever to win Goaltender of the Year. During his 13th season in the league, the 6’4 netminder posted a league best 9.40 goals against average, while finishing with a .795 save percentage.
His career year included a new high in wins with 11, despite missing two games due to the birth of his daughter.
This was only the third time the Rush had a finalist for GOTY (Aaron Bold 2014 & 2015), but until 2025 the organization had never had a winner of the award.
During the 2025 playoffs, Scigliano has a perfect 3-0 record while posting a .833 save percentage and a 8.33 goals against average.
Defenceman Matt Hossack won the league’s award for Defensive Player of the Year.
“It’s definitely a really cool feeling to win. Having played with a lot of the guys that have won that award in the past and guys I've looked up to for a long time in most of my career, it's a really good feeling,” said Hossack in another team release. “I've worked towards getting better every year and It's a really good feeling to get recognized.”
Hossack takes home the award for the first time in his National Lacrosse League career. The former second round pick in the 2016 Entry Draft finished the 24/25 season tied for first in caused turnovers with 34, was third in blocked shots with 26, scooped up 129 loose balls, all while chipping in with four goals and 17 assists in 18 games.
Matt’s brother Graeme is a three-time DPOTY winner, from 2018-2020.
Hossack is now the third member of the Rush to win the award, with Kyle Rubisch winning four straight from 2012-2015, followed by Ryan Dilks winning the award in 2016.
Overall, Keenan said there was much to be positive about in the season.
“We made great strides,” said Keenan, adding it was the fruition of a plan they put together two years ago. He said the major step forward came because “the guys performed very well.”
And while the final game loss was rather ugly in the end, Keenan said it was also very much a learning experience for a rather young Rush roster, and that may bode well for seasons ahead.
Keenan now looks to next season as GM, starting with his own contract that runs out this summer, although he speaks as though his return is almost assured, given the excitement he felt around the team this season.
“It certainly rejuvenated my love for this team,” he said, adding he sees reason to expect better things are still ahead.
That said there is a new NLL deal with its players to hammer out which may impact decisions, but Keenan knows he has some key free agents to talk to, Robert Church, his son Ryan Keenan and Adam Jay topping the list.
And some small tweaks may be needed to the Rush roster.
“We could get a little bit more offence,” said Keenan, who then suggested that might come from young Rush players taking on a bigger role, naming Levi Anderson and Josh Zawada as guys he thinks could contribute more next season.
