Shanks scores hat trick, Rush drop game one

May 16, 2025

Buffalo, NY – The Saskatchewan Rush fell 12-10 to the Buffalo Bandits in game one of the 2025 NLL Finals presented by PlayNow.

The green machine jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Clark Walter and Levi Anderson, but it was Austin Shanks who scored with 3:48 left in the first quarter to make it 3-2 after 15 minutes. 

In the second quarter, Brock Haley, Mike Messenger and Shanks found the back of the net, going punch for punch with the two-time defending champs from Western New York, tied 6-6 at half time. 

Zach Manns buried back to back goals to start the third quarter, but even with goals from Shanks and Ryan Keenan, Saskatchewan found themselves down 11-10 heading into the fourth. 

In the final frame, Buffalo’s empty net goal was the only of the quarter, sealing the game and putting the Rush down 1-0 in the best-of-three series. 

Between the pipes, Frank Scigliano made 32 saves. At the dot, Jake Naso went 16/26 against Connor Farrell of the Bandits. 

Next up, game two of the 2025 NLL Finals presented by PlayNow on Sunday, May 18th on Co-op Field. SaskTel Centre doors open at 5:00PM, faceoff is at 6:00PM. 

Tickets can be purchased here. 

Game three if necessary, would be at 2:30PM on Saturday, May 24th at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.