Toronto and Vancouver will be in their home arenas for the NLL division semifinals but it’s a dubious advantage.

Of the six playoff teams, only the Rock and the Stealth have losing home records, 4-5, and their opponents are partly responsible: the New England Black Wolves won their only regular-season game in Toronto and the Colorado Mammoth split two games at Vancouver.

Game times Saturday are 7 p.m. ET in Toronto and 10 p.m. ET in Langley, British Columbia.

The winners will be at home to begin the division finals against top seeds Georgia and Saskatchewan the following weekend.

East

NEW ENGLAND at TORONTO

Toronto last won the Champion’s Cup in 2011. The last title won for the New England franchise was in 2001 by the Philadelphia Wings.

2016 PLAYOFFS: Toronto missed the playoffs; New England beat Georgia 14-13 in the division semifinal before losing 15-10 and 20-15 to Buffalo in the division final.

2017 SEASON: New England took the season series 2-0. On March 3 in Toronto, Kevin Buchanan scored four goals and Evan Kirk made 47 saves in a 10-9 win. On April 2 at Uncasville, Connecticut, Shawn Evans scored three goals and Kirk made 56 saves in a 15-14 win.

The Rock have struggled of late. They lost four in a row before a late-game rally lifted them to a 19-15 win in Buffalo in their schedule finale last Saturday. Now they must win their next game to stay alive.

“It’s one game, win or go home,” said head coach Matt Sawyer. “We’re excited to have got in and about playing at home. We have to be at our best playing a really good opponent in New England. They’ve got a really good offense and some big-time players you need to pay attention to.”

He’s hopeful: “We plan on sticking around for a while.”

The Black Wolves lost their last two games including a 17-16 overtime thriller to Vancouver in blowing a chance to finish second and be host for this semifinal. They are 3-6 on the road this season and 8-10 overall.

“Now the real season starts,” said head coach Glenn Clark. “We probably had a bit of a disappointing regular season based on expectations but the slate gets wiped clean. People really show their worth at this time of the year.”

On the Rock, Clark said “they’ve got some guys who can really shoot the ball.”

“Tom Schreiber is having a remarkable season. They push the ball in transition well. You have to worry about shutting down their transition and be active on defense and not give up easy shooting lanes.”

OFFENSE

New England is ranked No. 4 with an average output of 12.22 goals a game and Toronto is No. 5 with 12.17/game. Schreiber had a team-best 94 points for the Rock and Brett Hickey scored a team-high 45 goals. Shawn Evans led the Black Wolves in points, 104, and Kevin Crowley led in goals, 45.

Keep an eye on Crowley.

“He’s having an unbelievable year,” said Clark. “He’s been playing so well all over the floor. He’s one of the best in the league in shutting down transition and creating turnovers as an offensive player. He’s had such an impact all over the floor, not just scoring big goals.”

Schreiber is a key cog in the Rock attack. He’s a disciplined player. He takes a ton of punishment from checkers but does not retaliate. He has yet to be assessed a penalty.

“He’s faced a lot more attention and he seems to be handling it well,” Sawyer said. “Teams have tried to rough him up and intimidate him. He’s a special player and we’re glad to have him.”

DEFENSE

Toronto’s 11.11 GAA is No. 2 in the league compared to New England at No. 8 with a 13.56 GAA. Nick Rose of the Rock has the fifth-best save percentage in the league, .774, while Evan Kirk of the Black Wolves has a seventh-best .771. Both started and were pulled during their games last Saturday.

“Kirkie would admit he’s had an up and down season but we’re not looking at 18 games now,” Clark said. “We’re looking at one. We’re hoping we get his A game.”

“Evan Kirk is on a two-year run being one of the top goalies in the league so we have to find a way to solve him,” Sawyer said. “We had a lot of shots in the two regular-season games. We’ve got to be better finding the back of the net behind him.”

Rose’s April starts saw more balls go into Rock nets than during earlier games, but Sawyer has the utmost confidence in him.

“Defensively, down the stretch we weren’t as strong as we wanted to be,” he says. “But we have no concerns. We feel we have two strong goalies and we expect either of them to be good.”

WEST

COLORADO at VANCOUVER

The Mammoth won their lone title in 2006. The Stealth last won the Champion’s Cup in 2010 when they played out of Everett, Washington.

2016 PLAYOFFS: Vancouver missed the playoffs for the third year in a row. The Mammoth lost the division semifinal 11-10 to Calgary.

2017 SEASON: Vancouver won the season series 3-1. On Jan. 7 in Denver, Rhys Duch scored six goals and Logan Schuss got four in a 15-9 Stealth win; on Feb. 12 in British Columbia, Brent Adams scored three goals including the OT winner as the Mammoth won 10-9; on March 12 in Denver, Duch got four goals and Tye Belanger made 53 saves in a 10-6 Stealth win; and on April 22, Corey Small scored three goals and Belanger made 52 saves as the Stealth won 13-7 at home.

The Stealth, 9-9, have won three in a row.

“We’re excited about our accomplishments so far but we’ve only reached a couple of our goals and we’ve got a couple left,” said coach Jamie Batley. “We’re excited about that challenge. Our fans deserved a home playoff game. We’re hoping they’ll fill the rink.”

The Mammoth, 9-9, have lost their last two and have dropped three of their last four.

Coach Pat Coyle’s message to his players?

“Relax and enjoy the moment,” he said. “This is what we play for all season, to get to this point. The last thing we need to worry about is being nervous. Just enjoy the opportunity we’re getting.”

The Langley Events Centre is a 15-minute drive from Coyle’s home. He takes a philosophical approach when asked what concerns him most about his semifinal opponent.

“At this point, any team that has made it this far has the potential to move on,” he said. “We know Vancouver is a good team. They’ve beaten us already this season so we know they’re capable of that.”

OFFENSE

Vancouver is ranked No. 6 with an average output of 12.11 goals/game, while Colorado is No. 8 with 11.22/game. Corey Small led the Stealth in points, 111, and goals, 46. Callum Crawford led the Mammoth in points, 98, and goals, 36.

Small’s heroics last weekend got the Stealth where they wanted to be.

“We’re allowing our forwards to be creative,” Batley said. “Corey is one of the most natural shooters in the league. A lot of guys blast away but he can pick corners. He’s a knowledgeable player and with that and his skills he’s able to be an impact player.”

Expect super-talented lefty Zack Greer to return to Colorado’s lineup.

“He’ll be ready to go,” Coyle said.

DEFENSE

Colorado has a big edge here. It was No. 1 with an 11.06/game average, while Vancouver was No. 7 with a 12.28/game average. Tye Belanger of the Stealth and Dillon Ward were 1-2 among all first-string goalies with save percentages of .796 and .793 respectively.

“They have one of the best goalies in the league and a high-powered offense,” Batley said. “Not that we’re not worried as well about their defense.”

Belanger emergence out of his previous backup role is one of the best stories of the NLL year.

“He had a 1,000 minutes in the league when we traded for him and he was at the age where a goalie has to step up to show what he has,” Batley said. “He worked his butt off, he earned the No. 1 job and we’ve created a system that is conducive to letting him see the ball.”

On Colorado's No. 1 ranking on defense, that starts with Ward.

“I think we have the best goalie in the league,” Coyle said.. “A lot of players hit their peak around 30 so the best is yet to come for him. He’s a level-headed guy who doesn’t get rattled. But it’s also a real team effort. We didn’t let a lot of teams transition against us so it starts with players getting off the floor quickly.”

ANTICIPATION: Coyle summed up the feelings of all four head coaches taking their teams into the semifinals when he said, “We’re really looking forward to it. Can’t wait to go.”