Sign up for the latest news & updates

© 2024 USA Lacrosse. All Rights Reserved.

At around the halfway point of the season, the NLL divisional races are as tight as ever.

Both the East and West Divisions feature a tie at the top, Saskatchewan (4-4), San Diego (4-4) and Calgary (5-5) out West and Toronto (7-1) and Buffalo (8-2) in the East, after this weekend’s results.

The East, particularly, looks like a thrilling battle to watch the rest of the season. Both Toronto and Buffalo are red hot. Combined, they’ve won 10 straight.

The Rock opened the weekend with their sixth consecutive victory, this time a close 12-11 contest against the San Diego Seals. It came down to the final seconds, as Nick Rose needed one last save on Dan Dawson to clinch it. Toronto never trailed but led by three or less goals a majority of the game.

“It was a good win for us,” Rock Head Coach Matt Sawyer told TorontoRock.com. “We were clearly rusty having 14 days off and that was evident. San Diego really tested us and they’re a good team.”

Dan Craig notched a hat trick and Tom Schreiber had a goal and four assists.

The Bandits won their fourth straight, besting Calgary at home in a game Buffalo trailed for the majority of. Buffalo held the Riggers to two goals in the second half and took its first lead of the game halfway through the fourth quarter in a 12-10 triumph.

“I thought they were the better team for the most part of the game,” Bandits co-head coach John Tavares said. “We finished it off and got the W.”

Dan Smith, Corey Small and Jordan Durston each had four-point nights and Chris Cloutier, wearing No. 2, scored his first goal as a Bandit.

How the West was tied

Saskatchewan moved into the first-place tie thanks to San Diego and Calgary’s losses and its own 15-13 road victory against the Vancouver Warriors. All three teams sit at .500.

Vancouver took a 5-4 lead after one quarter, but the Rush outscored their fellow Canadians by one goal each of the next three periods to pull out the close win. Mark Matthews had three goals and four assists and Robert Church had three of each as the Rush halted a three-game losing streak.

Mammoth defensive effort

Last week I wrote Colorado needed to rely on its defense if the Mammoth hoped to beat Georgia. Well, the back-door unit stepped up, holding one of the top offensive units in the league to only eight goals in a 10-8 Mammoth win.

That’s the fewest goals the Swarm has scored in a regular season game since their regular season finale against Rochester in 2017.

"We knew that (Georgia) is a very high-powered offense," Mammoth goalie Dillon Ward told ColoradoMammoth.com. "We had a game plan that we wanted to make them shoot from uncomfortable positions, and I think, for the most part, we did a good job of that. I think I made a couple big saves, and then, I think I got bailed out from the posts a couple times too, so I think it was just a culmination of great defense, some big plays, and some luck."

Offensively, Eli McLaughlin scored four goals for the second straight game as the Mammoth pulled away in the fourth after entering the period tied at six.

I know you, I was you

Philadelphia and New England split a home-and-home this weekend and ignited a rivalry that has the makings of one of the best in the league. At its core is the Philadelphia fans’ animosity toward the Black Wolves, originally the Wings until ownership packed its bags and moved to Connecticut.

“It was a physical game,” Wings forward Matt Rambo said after the game Saturday. “There’s obviously a little bit of a rivalry between these two teams. … The physicality is part of the game and I felt we did well holding up on the offensive side.”

Rambo had his best night so far as an indoor player in the series opener in Philadelphia, notching a hat trick in the Wings’ 14-10 win. Kevin Crowley scored four times and Jordan Hall dished out five helpers.

New England earned its revenge less than 24 hours later when Callum Crawford notched 12 points, Tyler Digby added eight and Stephan Leblanc seven in a 17-11 win at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

It marked the best offensive performance of the season for the Black Wolves, who had previously scored 16 times twice. Philadelphia scored the first two goals of the game but a 6-1 run that stretched between the first and second quarters put New England back in the driver’s seat.

With the Wings in last place and New England holding the final playoff spot, Philadelphia could have turned the tides a bit with a sweep of the weekend. With a split, Philadelphia is already four games down on the Black Wolves in the loss column. Sorry Wings, not looking good for a feel-good first-year playoff story.

New identities

The two new franchises for next season both unveiled their names and logos this weekend, so an official welcome to the NLL to the Halifax Thunderbirds and the New York Riptide is in order.

I detailed my opinions on the two brands on Twitter – I’m notably a little weirded out by New York using a name that’s already been taken by a defunct Major League Lacrosse team – but overall both looks are professional and solid.

Longtime lacrosse fans, or those too young to call themselves that but understand the history like I do, will likely be a bit bummed New York opted against returning to the Saints name. It was less of an obvious choice than the Wings returning because of the increased absence and the fact that the city has seen another franchise, the Titans, since the Saints’ demise.

Get ready for a lot of orange in the East Division though between both new teams, the Bandits and the Black Wolves. Halifax even uses all three of the Bandits primary colors in black, orange and purple, though there is an obvious Iroquois tie-in.

Halifax will play in the Scotiabank Centre and New York in the Nassau Coliseum starting next winter.

Week 11 Preview

Bandits at Knighthawks
Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET

The heated rivals meet for the third and final time this season after splitting the previous two meetings. Buffalo dominated the K-Hawks defensively in the first outing, allowing a franchise record-low four goals, but gave up 18 the second go around. Rochester desperately needs to get going if they want to catch New England after losing a second straight this week.

Mammoth at Rush
Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET

Colorado, even with its tough start to the season, can move a game out of first place in the West with a victory. Saskatchewan survived last week without the services of captain Chris Corbeil, who was out with an injury.

Rock at Black Wolves
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET

Toronto begins its two-game road trip with a trip to New England, which has a shot at making a run for the third seed. The Black Wolves are tied in the loss category with Georgia despite playing two games less and have multiple chances left against teams above them in the standings.