The New England Black Wolves are continuing a push they hope will take them to the top of the NLL East.

Leading team point-getter Shawn Evans, who hurt his left ankle Feb. 26 and missed two games, returned to score three goals and set up four in a 13-8 victory over division leader Georgia on Sunday. Goaltender Evan Kirk was outstanding. It was a second consecutive impressive win. The Black Wolves had won 10-9 on a Sheldon Burns OT goal the previous weekend in Toronto.

 “If we can continue that type of goaltending and defensive effort, we’ll be in good shape,” said head coach Glenn Clark.

They can get back to .500 with a home win over last-place Rochester this Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Newly-acquired lefty forward Daryl Veltman has fit in nicely and the defense has gone into high-pressure mode in front of Kirk. Holding Georgia, the highest-scoring team in the league, to eight goals was showed what can be accomplished by this group. And it certainly helps to have Evans back.

NLL ON TWITTER

The league has announced a two-year live streaming partnership with Twitter.

There will be a game of the week beginning March 17 plus playoff and Champion’s Cup games as well as highlights packages at NLL.Twitter.com.

“This is a historic broadcast relationship that will unlock the great game and we are honored to partner with Twitter,” says NLL commissioner Nick Sakiewicz. “The future of the sports viewing experience is digital and this partnership will not only elevate the fan experience by making the game more accessible to audiences but enable simultaneous real-time conversations and connections with other fans on the same platform. Another critical step in the league’s transformation, this collaboration is a pivotal opportunity to enhance the NLL’s digital presence in North America.”

The league looks at this partnership as an opportunity to deliver the NLL experience to a wide range of audiences and provide the broadest access to games in the league’s history.

HALL OF FAME BOUND

Colin Doyle’s No. 7 was retired to the rafters in Toronto’s Air Canada Centre in a touching ceremony before a 16-10 Rock win over Calgary.

In introducing Doyle, who is third in all-time NLL points, owner-GM Jamie Dawick described him as “the ultimate professional” and “greatest clutch goal scorer of all time.”

The banner joined the No. 29 of former Rock goalie Bob Watson, the only other player to be on all six of the Toronto teams that won the NLL championship. Dawick gifted Colin, Stacey and kids Brooklyn, London and Lyla a cruise.

“Man, I miss that,” Doyle said after extended applause from 10,370 lacrosse fans. “This is the great honor I can imagine.”

Six-year-old London stole the show by pumping pompoms and dancing when her name was announced.

Her dad thanked all of his NLL coaches including the late Chris Hall, Terry Sanderson and Les Bartley and singled out Watson and Dan Stroup as two special teammates.

“It’s important for young kids to dream big,” he said. “You never know what might happen.”

Doyle’s name will undoubtedly be included among those named for induction later this year into the NLL Hall of Fame.

LOST WEEKEND

Colorado went from challenging for first in the NLL West to barely hanging onto second last weekend. The Mammoth lost 10-6 at home to Vancouver on Sunday after being edged 12-11 in overtime at Saskatchewan on Saturday.

Yet, head coach Pat Coyle is confident his players can still give the Rush a run for the division title.

“I guess they’re the benchmark because they’ve won (the championship) the last two years in a row,” Coyle said in Saskatoon. “We don’t really think of them as the defending champions. We just think of them as another team in our way. We feel like we lost that game (Saturday), not so much that they beat us. They’re a good team but we know we can beat them.”

The Mammoth rested Dillon Ward and gave backup Alex Buque the start in goal at home. He played well enough to get a win but the offense couldn’t get much going against the Stealth defense and goaltender Tye Belanger.

A 3:25 a.m. wakeup call for a 5:25 flight out of Saskatoon, with a stop in Minneapolis before at 12:40 p.m. landing in Denver, had to have reduced the effectiveness of some Colorado players.

BELANGER DOES IT AGAIN

Tye Belanger, who began the season as Vancouver’s backup goalie, has taken over as the No. 1 with a string of spectacular performances.

Colorado outshot the Stealth 59-38 only to lose 10-6.

Stealth GM Doug Locker got Belanger from New England for transition player Mitch McMichael, which has turned out to be quite the bargain. Belanger’s goals-against average, 10.41, is third-best in the league and his save percentage, .807, is the best.

“Tye is playing great and our defense is playing an excellent system,” says head coach Jamie Batley.

SCORING MACHINE

Curtis Dickson of the Roughnecks retained the league goal scoring lead by upping his total to 33 with three in his team’s 16-10 loss in Toronto. The University of Delaware’s all-time leading scorer from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, reached the 500-point milestone in his previous game and his five-point night pushed his regular-season career total to 505. He’s in his seventh season with the ‘Necks.

Vancouver’s Corey Small has 29 goals and New England’s Kevin Crowley is third with 28.

TEEN TERROR

Dickson is slippery. He has left some of the NLL’s best defensemen chasing air, which made what Rock rookie Latrell Harris did to him all the more impressive. With Toronto up 15-7 in the fourth quarter, Dickson scored his third goal of the night with his back to the net. He wasn’t as successful the next time he carried the ball into Toronto’s end.

The rookie was ready. Harris threw his 215-pound, muscle-bound body into Dickson, sending him crashing to the floor, scooped up the loose ball and sped away on a breakaway. He did not score but his manhandling of Dickson was what witnesses were talking about.

Harris turns 19 on March 15.

HARNETT AND NOBLE RETURN

Defenseman Greg Harnett returned to Calgary’s lineup in Toronto, scoring a goal in the process, after serving a five-game suspension assessed after his hit on Colorado forward Jeremy Noble on Jan. 20 in Denver. Noble returned to Colorado’s lineup for the home game Sunday and scored a goal.

SUBS FOR COACH

Vancouver rookie Evan Messenger made his NLL debut in Denver subbing for his coach.

Explanation: Messenger, 21, played junior lacrosse for his hometown Delta Islanders in British Columbia. An assistant coach with the team was Stealth forward Logan Schuss. When Schuss was unable to make the trip last weekend, Messenger was activated to take his place. He earned one assist in the 10-6 win over the Mammoth.

As a teen, Messenger had hoped to be drafted by Vancouver, and he was _ fourth round, 39^th overall, in 2015. It was a dream come true, as was suiting up for his first pro game.

JOEL WHITE ACTIVATED

Transition player Joel White returns to the Georgia Swarm lineup for a home game Friday against Calgary after missing the first 10 games.

 “Joel’s a character guy and an impact player,” says head coach Ed Comeau. “Those are two things you can never have enough of on your team. When the opportunity came to activate him, there was no discussion about it. He’s going to help us be better.”

GOALS

Gary Gait was the top goal scorer in indoor pro lacrosse seven times (1995-1999, 2003, 2004).

TIME TRAVEL

MARCH 28, 2002: The board of governors unanimously voted to raise the price of expansion franchises from $1 million US to $3 million US.

WEEK 12

Four games are on tap and all four are on Friday night. All times EDT:

COLORADO (6-6) at TORONTO (6-4), 7:30 p.m.

Toronto is 3-3 at home after a 16-10 win over Calgary last Saturday.

Colorado is 3-3 on the road. It lost 12-11 in OT in Saskatoon on Saturday and 10-6 at home to Vancouver on Sunday.

The Mammoth trot into Air Canada Centre for the first time since a March 8, 2013, loss.

This is the only meeting this season. In their lone 2016 meeting, Colorado was outshot 54-45 but won 10-5 at home on April 23 thanks to Dillon Ward’s 49 saves.

The goalies with the two best goals-against averages, Ward (10.32) and Nick Rose (9.45), will be at opposite ends so don’t expect a high-scoring game. The Rock D will target leading Mammoth scorer Callum Crawford while the Mammoth D will try to keep a tight rein on leading Rock scorer Tom Schreiber.

ROCHESTER (4-7) at NEW ENGLAND (5-6), 7:30 p.m.

This will be the third of four meetings. Rochester won 15-8 at home Jan. 7 and New England won 10-9 at home Feb. 3 thanks to Chad Culp’s OT goal. They’ll finish things up April 22 in Rochester.

Rochester had last weekend off, while New England thumped first-place Georgia 13-8 in Connecticut.

Rochester is 2-4 on the road. New England is 3-2 at home.

Rochester’s offense has been the least potent in the league. There is not one Knighthawk among the league’s top 15 scorers. New England’s Kevin Crowley is having a super season with 28 goals so far.

CALGARY (4-7) at GEORGIA (7-3), 7:35 p.m.

This is the second of two meetings this season. Calgary, with Dane Dobbie scoring seven goals, smashed visiting Georgia 18-11 on March 4.

Calgary is 8-0 against the Swarm since a 2012 loss when they were based in Minnesota.

Calgary is 2-3 on the road after a 16-10 loss in Toronto last Saturday.

NLL East leader Georgia, coming off a 13-8 loss at New England, is 4-0 at home but the offense is struggling without right-handed forwards Randy Staats, who has missed the last four games, and Miles Thompson, who also sat out against New England. Losing two in a row on the road is humbling after a 7-1 start, although the Swarm remain the highest scoring team in the league with an average of 13.8 goals/game.   

“It’s definitely nice to get back and play at home, get back in our dressing room, and we have the three-game stint at home,” said lefty forward Shayne Jackson. “Good or bad, we have to shake it off and move on to next week. We know any team can win in this league on any given night.”

Keying on league goal scoring leader Curtis Dickson will be a must for Georgia.

BUFFALO (4-6) at VANCOUVER (5-6), 10:30 p.m.

This will be the second of two meetings. Buffalo won 21-15 at home on Jan. 21.

Buffalo was off last weekend, while Vancouver won 10-6 at Colorado. The Stealth’s Corey Small has a league-high 72 points including 29 goals and could have a feast against the Bandits, who are allowing a league-worst 13.5 goals/game.

The Bandits are a disappointing 1-3 on the road. The Stealth are a dismal 1-4 at home.

Ryan Benesch has missed Buffalo’s last three games under concussion protocol. Nick Weiss is available to play Friday after being activated off the injured list.

BYE: SASKATCHEWAN (7-3)