Victoria’s lacrosse roots are once again in the spotlight.
As the Saskatchewan Rush prepare to face the Buffalo Bandits in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) championship series, two familiar names are carrying the team’s title hopes – Zach Manns and Adam Jay.
Both hail from Victoria, with Manns coming out of Claremont Secondary and Jay from Spectrum Community School. Though their age difference meant they rarely crossed paths on the Island, their bond has grown strong in Saskatchewan, where the Rush are just two wins away from claiming their third NLL crown.
“It’s pretty cool that we ended up on the same team and are good friends now,” Manns said. “We talk about the Island all the time – it always comes up.”
Their Victoria ties run deeper than just where they grew up. Manns, 26, will be returning home this summer to wear the green and white of the Victoria Shamrocks – the team that first inspired his love of the game. He called joining the Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) club he grew up watching a “dream come true.”
“I think every kid who plays lacrosse in Victoria wants to be a Shamrock,” Manns said. “Those were the games I watched as a kid at Bear Mountain Arena. That’s what made me fall in love with it.”
Jay, 29, suited up for the Shamrocks in 2024 and has spent several WLA seasons anchoring defences, including stints with the Nanaimo Timbermen. His gritty, no-nonsense play has been a key part of Saskatchewan’s stingy back end – one of the best in the league.
While both players cherish their WLA memories, their focus is locked on what lies ahead – dethroning the defending NLL champion Bandits in a best-of-three series that starts May 16 in Buffalo.
“It’s been a grind to get here,” Jay said. “This is my first final, and I know it’s the first for a lot of the guys. We’re excited, but we’ve been taking it one game at a time. That’s what’s gotten us this far.”
It’s been a breakout year for Manns, who led the Rush with 74 points in the regular season and has added another 15 in just three playoff games, ranking third in league scoring.
“Offensively, we’ve just been playing together,” he said. “Guys are getting to the middle of the floor, working for each other. Everyone’s bought in.”
While Manns provides the scoring punch, Jay has helped shut the door. The Rush defence has been smothering this postseason, backed by WLA standout goaltender Frankie Scigliano, and a core that has found chemistry at the right time.
“We’ve got the most athletic defence in the league,” Manns said. “They get in hands, they run, and they wear teams down. And Frankie in net has been a wall for us.”
Saskatchewan won league titles in 2016 and 2018 but missed the playoffs the past three seasons. This year’s resurgence has re-energized the fanbase, with the SaskTel Centre expected to be rocking when the series shifts back for Game 2 on May 18.
“You can feel the energy,” Manns said. “When that building is packed, we feed off it. The city’s been waiting for this.”
The Rush know it won’t be easy against a battle-hardened Buffalo team chasing a third straight title. But confidence is high – not just in their talent but in the belief that has grown in the locker room.
“You don’t get to this point without buy-in,” Jay said. “It’s been there all year. We’ve had each other’s backs since day one.”
For Manns and Jay, the chance to bring a championship back to Saskatchewan is already special. But doing it as proud products of Victoria, with their names now etched in both the pro and local lacrosse scenes, would make it unforgettable.
On the way to the final, Buffalo ousted San Diego and Vancouver, while Saskatchewan defeated Halifax and Georgia.
Game one goes Friday night in Buffalo. Game two hits the floor Sunday in Saskatoon. If a deciding third game is needed, it’ll return to Buffalo on May 24.
