Rookies Acchione, Anderson, Haley and Naso crack opening night roster
Nov 25, 2024The Saskatchewan Rush have announced their 21-man roster to start the regular season.
GM Derek Keenan and company made the final moves Sunday night, setting the active roster which includes four rookies.
Left-Handed Forwards: Ryan Keenan, Zach Manns, Clark Walter and Levi Anderson
With ¾ of this group being returnees, the expectations remain high, especially with 2023 1st round pick Levi Anderson entering the mix. The 6’4 power forward can play an effective two-way game, which should complement the high-flying abilities of Manns and Keenan, who combined for 174 points last season. 26-year-old Walter is coming off a career year which saw the dynamic depth forward score 20 goals and add 28 assists.
Right-Handed Forwards: Robert Church, Austin Shanks, Mike Triolo and Brock Haley
Church hit the 100-point mark for a second straight season to be the clear leader of the pack offensively, but new for this season, 85-point scorer Austin Shanks will get integrated into the offence that averaged 12.1 goals per game in 23/24. Fan favourite Triolo will be hard to miss with his 6’8 frame and knack for scoring clutch goals including a hat trick in last season’s finale against Toronto. Rounding out the righty’s is Brock Haley, a rookie out of the Whitby Warriors program where his 119 goals in the summer of 2022 (OJLL regular season, playoffs plus Minto Cup) might be one of the most impressive on record. He’ll break into the league after being acquired at the 2024 draft from Vancouver for a first-round pick.
Left-Handed Defenceman: Holden Garlent, Jake Boudreau, Ryan Barnable, Isaac Ngyou and Matt Acchione
Veteran Holden Garlent leads the charge when it comes to the lefty group out the back gate. The squad will have to do a bit of heavy lifting early as Connor McClelland has been moved to the Injured Reserve list after sustaining an upper body injury. The dynamic duo of Boudreau and Barnable will be looked upon to provide a spark in transition, while also accepting larger defensive responsibilities. 23-year-old Ngyou hops into his third season after contributing with eight points, 75 loose balls and 11 caused turnovers last season. 2024 first-round pick, 5’10 speedster Matt Acchione hops right onto the active roster after a successful summer with the Snake Island Muskies. To make room for the rookie, the club released Evan Messenger to the free agent pool.
Right-Handed Defenceman: Mike Messenger, Matt Hossack, Adam Jay, Jerrett Smith, Bobby Kidd III and Jake Naso
One of the best 1-2 punches reunites as Messenger and Hossack lead the charge out the back gate this season. The physical duo brings a combined 220 games of NLL experience to the lineup, along with a pair of championship rings picked up in 2018. Jay heads into his sixth season in the league after the 29-year-old set career highs in loose balls (67) and caused turnovers (21) in his first year on the prairies. Manitoba’s own, Jerrett Smith will look to continue his strong two-way game where he’s contributed with 30 points in 36 games played. Kidd III enters his fourth year in Saskatchewan after being selected in the 2nd round of the 2020 draft. Since entering the league in 21/22, BK3 has scooped up 230 loose balls, caused 53 turnovers and chipped in with 31 points. Naso, a Duke University grad, specializes at the dot where he holds multiple records, and finished the 2024 preseason with a 73% success rate on draws. The 5’9 product of Holtsville, NY is in his first year of playing box lacrosse but has proved in the preseason he’s determined to excel at more areas than just faceoffs.
Goalies: Frank Scigliano and Thomas Kiazyk
Scigliano was peppered more than any other goalie in Saskatchewan Rush history last season in which he set the record for most saves with 665 during the 23/24 campaign. The 32-year-old from British Columbia is going into his 13th season, where he’s accumulated a .774 career save percentage and a record of 60-54, with nine playoff appearances. Kiazyk, the 20th pick in the 2023 NLL Draft took over the backup role last season from Laine Hruska and hasn’t looked back since. The 20-year-old who stands at 6’3, 180 pounds has continued to take leaps forward in his game under the mentorship of Scigliano, along with the coaching of goaltending expert Evan Kirk.
Practice Roster: Keegan Bell and Josh Zawada
Bell started on the practice roster in 2023 as well, but worked his way onto the active roster and didn’t stop there, dressing in 12 games and scoring four times in those contests. 2023 second rounder Zawada has dominated the field lacrosse game at Michigan and Duke, while most recently spending the summer in the Premier Lacrosse League with the Denver Outlaws where he had 16 points. Re-adapting to the box lacrosse game could take some time for the former Okotoks Raider, who last played box lacrosse in 2018. Practice Roster players are allowed to take part in all team activities but must be moved to the active roster before suiting up in game action.
Injured Reserve: Connor McClelland
Through three seasons, McClelland only missed one game with the Rush. An upper body injury is expected to keep him out of the season opener, but the club’s first round pick in 2020 would be a welcome injection back into the lineup when he’s fully healthy, bringing over 50 games of NLL experience with him.
Holdout List: Patrick Dodds
After being acquired by Saskatchewan in 2023 which saw a first-round pick and Matt Beers’ rights go to Panther City, Dodds posted 10 assists and 31 assists in 17 games last season. Due to work commitments, Dodds was placed on the Holdout List in September and did not attend the 2024 training camp. The “Holdout List” is for any player under contract but has either not reported or left the club indefinitely per the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Protected Player List: Cam Wengreniuk
Edmonton-born Wengreniuk filled a depth role for the team last season, putting up five points in five games. The 27-year-old lefty has 11 career games played in the NLL. Players on the Protected Player List are not free agents as the club owns negotiating rights to the player if they offered them a contract, but the player has not signed the contract.
Draft List: Charlie McFadden
McFadden, from Edmonton, Alberta is a 6’0 190 lbs lefty defender who went to the Minto Cup final in 2022 with the Miners, before heading out to Coquitlam to get some Senior A experience with the Adanacs. He’s currently attending Fairfield University in Connecticut for his grad year of NCAA lacrosse. This list is exclusively for players that were drafted into the NLL but have never signed a Standard Players Contract with a Club.
FULL ROSTER HERE
By the numbers, the Rush will look to take a step forward into the playoffs as the club returns their top five goal scorers from last season, while adding the likes of Austin Shanks, Levi Anderson and Brock Haley to the mix. Along with their top five loose ball and caused turnover defenders, while adding Matt Hossack, Matt Acchione and Jake Naso to the squad.
Catch the season opener live on 92.9 The Bull with Cody Janzen as the Rush kick off the 24/25 campaign in Albany against the FireWolves on November 30th. Faceoff is set for 6PM against last season's NLL finalists.
The Rush are back on Co-op Field for the home opener presented by SaskTel on December 14th against the Halifax Thunderbirds! Tickets can be purchased here.