RUSH WIN TENTH CONSECUTIVE GAME DUE TO LATE COMEBACK

(RAPID CITY, SD) – Friday night began an epic showdown between the last two undefeated teams in the CHL. The Missouri Mavericks came to the Black Hills for the first time this season, along with their 8-0 record, looking to take down the Rapid City Rush and tarnish their 9-0 record. As expected, the matchup was hard fought and tight, but ultimately it was the Rush coming out with their tenth consecutive win, tying the CHL record set in 2002-2003. Behind Winston Day Chief’s two goals, and Eric Giosa’s game-winner with less than five minutes left in regulation, the Rush beat the Mavericks by a 4-3 score.

The matchup lived up to the expectations in the first twenty minutes, with great end to end action and early tests of both goaltenders. The Mavericks, boasting the CHL’s second best power play unit coming into tonight’s matchup, had two opportunities on the man-advantage. Both opportunities would be thwarted by the Rush penalty kill, with the Mavericks only registering three shots on their power plays. The Rush would come out on top first though, as Winston Day Chief would score his third goal of the season 17:38 into the game. Konrad Reeder and Jesse Schultz would help out on the play that saw Day Chief cash in on a rebound in front of the net to put the Rush up 1-0 going into the locker room.

The second period saw more of the same from its first counterpart. While the Rush would gain two power plays of their own, including a five-on-three opportunity, they would be unable to capitalize on the man-advantage. But as the period was winding down, Konrad Reeder would find himself on the scoresheet yet again and double the Rapid City lead to 2-0 with 12.6 seconds left in the second.

Rapid City had all of the momentum heading into the final frame, and 20 minutes separated the Rush from matching the CHL history books. However, the game was not over yet. Missouri would benefit from two back-to-back five-on-three power plays, and cash in on both to tie the game and shift the momentum. The Mavericks scored their first goal with 15:02 left in the third, as Eric Castonguay would rifle a shot past Tim Boron, assisted by Mike Ramsay and Andrew Courtney to cut the deficit in half to 2-1. Exactly 1:42 later, Andrew Courtney would score the second five-on-three goal and tie the game. 13:44 left in the game, and the complexion changed dramatically. Missouri would then strike once more and take their first lead of the game. Anders Franzon would score a short-handed goal and suck the life out of Rushmore Plaza Civic Center with exactly eleven minutes to go in regulation. The Rush may have been down, but certainly not out, as they stormed back into the game. Winston Day Chief would score his second of the night and his fourth on the season to tie the game on a power play goal, once again sending home a rebound with exactly five minutes left in regulation. Fifty seconds later, the Rush would put themselves back on track to tie CHL history, as Eric Giosa would bury home a saucer pass from Jared Brown to make the score 4-3 with 4:10 left in the game. Tim Boron would assert himself once more in yet another nerve-wracking late game scenario, and hang on for the 4-3 win, and the Rush’s 10th consecutive to start the season.

Tim Boron stopped 30 shots tonight en route to his ninth win of the season (9-0-0). The Rush took 46 shots on goal, one less than their current season high of 47 set in Quad City. They also had four mult-point scorers on the night: Winston Day Chief (2G, 1A=3Pts), Jesse Schultz (2A=2Pts), Konrad Reeder and Eric Giosa (G, A=2Pts each). With their points recorded, Konrad Reeder and Jesse Schultz extend their point streaks to six games, with Schultz also extending his assist streak to the same time span. The Rush look to re-write the CHL record books tomorrow night, as they go for their eleventh consecutive win to start the season in a grudge match against the Mavericks at 7:05 MST.

Other Rush News:

Season tickets for the 2013-14 season are available now by calling the Rush office at 716-7825.

Don’t forget to join Mark Binetti, “Voice of the Rush”, and Head Coach/GM Joe Ferras for “The Rush Hour with Coach Ferras”, presented by Miller Lite. The show returns to the air next Monday, November 18th, and will be held at 6 PM at H2O Bar and Grill. The show is broadcast on 100.3 The FOX, the official radio home of your Rapid City Rush.

Stay informed on Rush happenings through the official Rapid City Rush team website, www.RapidCityRush.com, and the Rapid City Rush mobile app, available on iTunes and Google Play.