The fourth and final month of the NLL season is about to begin and, after what happened this weekend, the same can be said now as was said before the first faceoff back on Dec. 29: Anything is possible.

No team is pulling away. No team is going away.

The Colorado Mammoth moved within one game of NLL West leader Saskatchewan with a 14-11 home win over the Rush.

“Nice to beat those guys,” Mammoth forward Zack Greer said. “We’re fighting for that first-place spot so this is a big win.”

The Toronto Rock moved within a half game of NLL East leader Georgia with a 12-11 overtime road win over the Swarm followed by a 13-7 home win over Vancouver.

“We were good in all areas,” Rock coach Matt Sawyer said after the win over the Stealth. “The final score was deserving.”

Competition for third and final playoff berths in each division heated up, too, as last-place teams Rochester and Calgary crept closer. The Knighthawks rallied to beat visiting Buffalo 11-10, while the Roughnecks moved to within a half game of third-place Vancouver with an 18-13 home win over New England that left the third-place Black Wolves just a half game ahead of Buffalo and one ahead of Rochester.

WARD AND ROSE

Dillon Ward again was the difference for the Mammoth, who got the win in the showdown with the Rush despite being outshot 57-47. His save percentage of 80.4 is best in the league and Colorado’s goals against average of 10.57 is second-best.

Nick Rose made 46 saves and scored his second goal of the season against the Stealth. The previous night, he made 46 saves in the big win over the Swarm. Toronto’s league-best goals-against average is 9.85 and only Ward has a save percentage better than Rose’s 79.4.

“Our defense was awesome all weekend,” Rose said. “If we can keep teams to the outside we’re going to be very successful.”

The play of Ward and Rose, both out of the Orangeville Northmen Junior A program in Ontario, gives their teams optimism they can win the Champion’s Cup, which Colorado has not done since 2006 and which Toronto last accomplished in 2011.

LUCKY GOAL

Stealth defenseman Pete McFetridge had a chance to stop the ball 20 feet in front of his net but whiffed on it and it bounced in for Rose’s second goal this year.

“Goals are pretty cool,” Rose said. “I probably shouldn’t have taken that [shot], but I just kind of launched her down. Their guy was there in plenty of time so I was lucky to have it drop in the net.”

WEEKEND TO REMEMBER

Reid Reinholdt had the most successful weekend of his rookie season. In Georgia on Friday, the Toronto lefty tied the score with a minute remaining, then dove into the crease to score the winning goal in overtime and lift the Rock to a 12-11 road win, and he scored two goals in a 13-7 home win over Vancouver on Saturday.

“It’s just the teammates I get to play with,” he said. “I’ve never played with such elite guys.”

Reinholdt has dressed for seven games after starting the season on the practice roster.

“It’s a ton of fun,” he said. “We just go out there and grind.”

Reinholdt played three years of NCAA lacrosse at Limestone before helping the University of Western Ontario Mustangs win Canada’s Baggataway Cup national universities championship last year. He was an unrestricted free agent when he signed with the Rock last summer after owner Jamie Dawick and assistant GM Josh Sanderson flew to the West Coast on a secret mission to scout the 24-year-old native of Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, who is now studying law at Western.

Working pick plays with veteran Stephan Leblanc has helped elevate his game. It was a gem of a Leblanc pass that set up the OT shot that slew the Swarm.

“Leblanc is super easy to play with,” Reinholdt said. “He crashes and bangs like me. He puts the ball right in your stick when you’re open, which makes it easy for me.”

“He’s getting better and better,” Sawyer said of Reinholdt. “He’s earned his opportunity and he’s making the most of it.”

SORENSEN SHINES

Brock Sorensen’s sweater number, 3, is the smallest on the team, but at 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds he had a large presence on the Rock defense this weekend after a lengthy recovery from left knee surgery.

“To be back in the lineup to support the boys is pretty special for me,” he said.

Sorensen buckled to the floor last May 15 in a home game against Buffalo. Surgery was July 22. It was his second ACL rebuild.

“This one was a little bit tougher,” he said of the road back. “The support and training staff we have at the TRAC (Toronto Rock Athletic Centre in Oakville) is unbelievable.”

Strength and conditioning coach Sean Holmes had a lot to do with Sorensen’s rehab. With the Rock challenging for first place after missing the playoffs last year, a different atmosphere prevails.

“You can feel energy in that [dressing] room,” Sorensen said. “It’s a complete turnaround from last year. There are a lot of new faces. but a lot of the same leadership. A lot of the older guys have been around this league and won some championships. The weekend wins, it’s on them bringing us through like this. It’s a big change from last year.”

Sawyer is happy to see Sorensen on the floor again.

“He’s worked hard to get back,” Sawyer said.  “We’ve seen two really good games from him, and we expect Brock to get better and better.”

MATTHEWS MOVING UP

The scoring race has tightened. Curtis Dickson’s 14-point weekend moved him into a first-place tie with Corey Small, with Mark Matthews lurking in third spot after a 13-point weekend. He has games in hand, so has the best points-per-game average. The Top 10:

		GP	G	A	P
1	Curtis Dickson, Calgary	14	39	43	82
1	Corey Small, Vancouver	13	33	49	82
3	Mark Matthews, Saskatchewan	12	26	53	79
4	Callum Crawford, Colorado	14	28	50	78
5	Shawn Evans, New England	12	28	50	78
6	Lyle Thompson, Georgia	12	28	45	73
7	Dane Dobbie, Calgary	14	34	36	70
8	Tom Schreiber, Toronto	13	20	46	66
9	Wes Berg, Calgary	14	27	37	64
10	Rhys Duch, Vancouver	12	27	35	62

TOP ROOKIE

Toronto forward Tom Schreiber leads all rookies with 66 points, which is eighth-best in the league overall. The last American to finish in the top 10 was Casey Powell in 2011.

GOALS, GOALS, GOALS

Average number of goals scored per game since league went to 18 from 16 games per team in 2014:

2017: 23.8 after 58 games
2016: 24.2
2015: 23.7
2014: 22.7

INSPIRING COMEBACK

Rochester, trailing 8-5 after three quarters, rallied to defeat visiting Buffalo 11-10, saving itself from being doomed to a last-place finish. The Knighthawks outshot the Bandits 59-33 and summoned forth their best fourth quarter of the year.

“We’ve got to grind these games out,” coach Mike Hasen said. “Our games against Buffalo are great games and we’ve played our best lacrosse against them the past two games. We’ve just got to keep going.”

Matt Vinc is having an impressive season in the nets in helping the Knighthawks to the third-best goals-against average in the league despite their 5-8 record.

YOUNG JOINS KNIGHTHAWKS

Former Syracuse University standout Sean Young made his debut with Rochester on Saturday.

Young, 24, from Oakville, Ontario, played seven games with the Georgia Swarm in a transition role this season. He was released March 16 and the Knighthawks signed him March 22.

“Rochester was a team I grew up watching so, when I got the phone call, I was really excited about the opportunity,” he said.

Said Hasen: “He is young, big, mobile and can be physical inside. He can get up the floor for us once he plays that hard shift of D.”

By a Thread

Vancouver is holding onto third place in the NLL West ahead of Calgary by a thread. Can the Stealth make the playoffs for the first time in four years?

“We’re hoping to,” coach Jamie Batley said. “We didn’t play very well [in Toronto]. We didn’t get to the middle of the floor. We gave them the middle of the floor. It was pretty basic lacrosse and the score showed that.”

The Stealth are at home against the Rock on Friday and go to Saskatchewan the following weekend, so retaining third will not be easy.

Time Travel

APRIL 13, 2002: In Albany, N.Y., the Toronto Rock defeated the Albany Attack 13-12 to win their third championship in four years in front of a Pepsi Arena crowd of 9,289. Josh Sanderson’s fifth goal with 50 seconds remaining brought Albany to within one, but the Attack could not come up with a tying goal as the Rock held on for the win. Colin Doyle scored three goals and won the MVP award for the second time.

Week 14

Five games are on tap.

Toronto plays twice, and it’s a cross-continental doozy with a flight to Vancouver for a Friday night game against the Stealth, a flight to Newark, N.J., for a Sunday afternoon game against the New England Black Wolves in Uncasville, Conn., and return home.

That is nearly 12 hours in the air. Toronto to Vancouver is 4 hours, 41 minutes, Vancouver to Newark is 5 hours, 21 minutes and Newark to Toronto is 1 hour, 10 minutes. Oh, there’ll also be approximately five hours on buses since round trips from airport to arena on the West Coast will be 54 miles and on the East Coast will be 142 miles.

“It’s tough, but it’s the nature of our league,” Rose said. “When you look at the schedule, you usually have a couple of weekends like this and you have to be prepared for them. The guys are professionals and now what to expect so they come to play.”

“Getting those four points last weekend takes a little bit off our backs,” Reinholdt said. “We can play a bit more comfortable and relaxed this weekend.”

(All times Eastern)

FRIDAY

Toronto (8-5) at Vancouver (5-8), 10:30 p.m.

Toronto has to be favored in this one. It has a league-best road record of 4-1, while Vancouver has a league-worst home record of 1-5, and the Rock are 4-1 against NLL West teams while the Stealth are 0-5 against the NLL East.

The Rock beat the Stealth 13-7 in Toronto last Saturday, extending their winning streak against the Stealth to seven since a home loss in 2012.

It has been seven years since Toronto lost a road game to the Stealth. The Rock won their 2016 visit 13-11, making it 4-0 on the road against the Stealth since a 15-11 defeat in the 2010 title game in Everett, Wash.

SATURDAY

Colorado (8-6) at Georgia (8-4), 7:05 p.m.

This should be a good one. I’d bet on Colorado. Coyle’s Crew is hot and is 5-0 against NLL East teams.

This closes out the home-and-home season set with the Mammoth, who were Swarmed 17-10 when they ventured into the Atlanta burbs last April 10. In one previous meeting this season, Colorado won 14-10 in Denver on Feb. 4.

“We went out there, and they gave us a four-goal loss,” Swarm coach Ed Comeau said. “That will be fresh in our minds. We’ll need to make sure we play a complete game. Their goalie’s been playing real well, and they have a lot of young guys contributing.”

Georgia suffered its first home loss, 12-11 to Toronto in overtime, on Friday. Colorado is coming off a 14-11 home win against Saskatchewan on Saturday.

Colorado is 4-3 on the road. Georgia is 5-1 at home.  

Saskatchewan (8-4) at Buffalo (5-7), 7:30 p.m.

The Rush have to be favored. Why? They boast the No. 2 offense, while Buffalo is No. 8 on defense.

The last time these teams met, last June 4, the Rush edged the Bandits 11-10 in Saskatoon to complete a sweep of the best-of-three Champion’s Cup final. This is the only meeting this season.

Saskatchewan played twice this weekend, beating Calgary 13-10 at home and losing 14-11 at Colorado. Buffalo lost 11-10 in Rochester.

The Rush are 2-4 on the road. The Bandits are 3-3 at home.

Calgary (5-9) at Rochester (5-8), 7:30 p.m.

A meeting of last-place teams hungry for a win. Rochester is 3-3 at home and Calgary is 2-5 on the road, so give the Knighthawks the edge on that basis and on this tidbit of history: It has been seven years since Calgary won in Rochester. Overall, Rochester is 5-0 against Calgary since a road loss in the opener of the 2014 league final.

This will be the only meeting this season. Last weekend, Calgary lost 13-10 at Saskatchewan before going home to defeat New England 18-13, while Rochester rallied for an 11-10 home win over Buffalo.

“Right now we are playing for our playoff lives,” Joe Resetarits said. “We knew this was going to be a dogfight. It always is when we’re playing Buffalo.”

SUNDAY

Toronto (8-5) at New England (6-7), 1 p.m.

Regard this one as a tossup, but take into consideration that the Rock relish playing two games in one weekend. They are good at it, as they proved last weekend.

The Black Wolves won 10-9 in Toronto on March 3 thanks to an overtime goal by Sheldon Burns, making it 3-0 overall over the Rock since a 10-7 home loss on May 1, 2015. They don’t meet again this year.

Toronto is coming off a 13-7 home win over Vancouver, while New England lost 18-13 in Calgary on Saturday.

“A lot of our successes have come from good starts,” Rose said. “That’s going to have to be the key for us going forward. I’ve been saying that all year.”

Sorensen said he won’t worry about the travel 12 hours in the air and the five hours on buses.

“A lot of us play summer ball with the best-of-seven series,” he said. “You can think of this back-to-back as being pretty tough, and a little bit tougher on me because I’m just coming back, but it’s not something we’re not ready for. We work our butts off every single day to make sure we’re ready for things like this.”

New England is 4-2 at home, and a win would be a kick in the mouth to Buffalo and Rochester. Black Wolves defenseman Brett Manney remains on the injured list.