“I only brought one suit.” Austin Shanks said to TSN’s Ashley Docking as the Saskatchewan Rush celebrated their 10-9 overtime win over the Halifax Thunderbirds on the turf at SaskTel Center on Saturday night. Docking had asked Shanks how he knew the best-of-three Semifinal series would end that night instead of going to a Game 3.
Shanks scored the game winner 1:40 into the OT period on a powerplay with Halifax’s Mike Robinson penalized for his second major of the game. Of course, it was Shanks, who fired six goals past the Thunderbirds in their 16-7 Game 1 win last weekend.
Austin Shanks calls GAME in Overtime!
The Rush are heading to the NLL Finals! pic.twitter.com/TPBJMj0WTY
— NLL (@NLL) May 11, 2025
Shanks’ goal sends the Rush back to the National Lacrosse League Finals for the first time since 2018, when they finished off a period of three titles in four seasons. They’ll travel to Banditland to face Buffalo in Game 1 on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
“(We’ll celebrate for) two more minutes and then it’s on to the Finals,” Shanks told Docking. “This team has so much heart, so much hustle. We do not give up, and we play 60 minutes plus. We got the W.”
The Rush led for the first three quarters of the game. They built a 3-0 lead in the early going, off two goals from Robert Church and one from Zach Manns; two goals came on Robinson’s first major penalty. Dawson Theede got Halifax on the board with a bouncer, but Holden Garlent replied with a fast-break goal – his first-ever playoff point.
Halifax strung together three goals in a row to tie the game 4-4 midway through the second, including a five-hole twister off a Randy Staats’ pass that prompted colour analyst Pat Gregoire to remark that the pair had “more chemistry than a candlelit dinner.” Hoggarth’s second goal of the game came off a pass from Theede as he absorbed a hit; Hoggarth spun around and put in the backhand shovel shot. Ryan Keenan put a shot over Warren Hill’s shoulder for the only other goal of the frame, giving Saskatchewan a 5-4 halftime lead.
In the third, Clarke Petterson scored a pair, sandwiching a Mike Messenger two-on-none fast-break goal. The period ended 6-6.
It took until the 11:37 mark of the fourth quarter for another goal to come, and when it did, it opened the dam. Six goals were scored in the final 3:23 of regulation time, three by each team to keep the game even.
“You’d need a forklift and a prayer” to stop Theede, said Gregoire, as Theede bullied his way past two defenders with Cody Jamieson running interference to give Halifax their first lead of the game.
Shanks brought the bright green-clad crowd back to life only 26 seconds later, tying it 7-7 with a low-to-high skipper.
Hoggarth gave Halifax a 9-7 lead, scoring two similar goals over Frank Scigliano’s left shoulder 57 seconds apart. The Thunderbirds needed to hold on for a minute and 36 seconds to extend the series, but the hometown team had other ideas. The Rush kept pushing the pace, and Zach Manns got them back within one off a give-and-go with Church with 44 seconds left.
Saskatchewan got possession off the faceoff, and Warren Hill came up with a big save to keep it even and call timeout for the Thunderbirds. But again, the Rush kept pushing, and with 16 seconds left and their net empty, Mike Messenger caused a turnover, allowing the ball to spring free to Ryan Barnable who passed up to Defender of the Year finalist Matt Hossack, who faked high, shot low, and tied the game.
The Saskatchewan Rush host the Halifax Thunderbirds at Sask Tel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, May 10, 2025
Each team had a chance in overtime, but before Halifax could get a second one, Bobby Kidd III popped the ball out of Theede’s stick and chased it into the corner, where he took the hit from Robinson. It took Shanks 10 seconds of power play time to capitalize and get the win over his former team, on a low shot off a behind-the-back pass from Church.
Church led the Rush in scoring with a pair of goals and three assists. Shanks and Manns each had two goals and two assists. Hoggarth led Halifax with four goals while Theede had two goals and four assists. Scigliano and Hill each finished the game with 45 saves. Jake Naso beat Jake Withers at the faceoff dot 12 wins to 10.
Austin Shanks calls GAME in Overtime as the Rush take down the Thunderbirds 10-9 and punch their ticket to the NLL Finals.
👀 GAME RECAP pic.twitter.com/tzMpmmp7df
— NLL (@NLL) May 11, 2025
The Rush will host Game 2 of the Finals on Sunday, May 18 at 8 p.m. ET, with Game 3, if necessary, back in Buffalo on Saturday, May 24 at 4:30 p.m. All games can be seen on TSN, ESPN+, NLL+ (Territory Restrictions Apply) and TSN+
