The San Jose Stealth clinched its first National Lacrosse League playoff berth in three years on Saturday with a 9-8 victory over the Edmonton Rush at HP Pavilion.
Trailing 6-4 early in the fourth quarter, the Stealth rattled off four consecutive goals to take a lead it would never relinquish.
San Jose’s Colin Doyle started the rally with a power-play goal 3 minutes, 21 seconds into the period. Jeff Zywicki gave the Stealth the lead with two consecutive goals before Luke Wiles, who finished the game with three goals, capped the run at 8:24.
Edmonton (6-8) got to within 8-7 on A.J. Shannon’s goal at 9:46, but Doyle scored his second goal of the game for the Stealth (8-6) off assists from Wiles and Zywicki.
After a Rush goal at 13:55, the Stealth was able to hold on for a one-goal victory.
The Stealth last made the playoffs in 2004, during its inaugural season in San Jose, when it lost in the divisional semifinal round to Calgary, 15-14.
The Stealth finishes the regular season this week with two games against the Colorado Mammoth.
Summary in Scoreboard11C.
