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Two teams with serious doubters entering the season solidified themselves as contenders in their respective divisions in Week 6.

The San Diego Seals completed a weekend divisional sweep, besting Calgary on Friday and Vancouver Saturday, and the New England Black Wolves won for a third straight time by upending the Swarm 13-12 on Saturday.

Both teams now sit solidly in playoff position. The 3-1 Black Wolves are third in the East (two games up on fifth-placed Rochester) and 4-2 San Diego is second in the West (three games up on fifth-placed Vancouver).

Casey Jackson scored a pair of hat tricks for the Seals, which don’t look like the expansion teams of the past. Austin Staats had five goals and four assists on the weekend.

“We’re working really hard,” Jackson told media following the Vancouver game. “We come in day-in and day-out, busting our butts. Wins are just starting to collect. This was a big weekend for us, divisional games. We’ll take it any way we can get it.”

As for New England, Tyler Digby scored the game-winner with just under three minutes to go on the Pack’s fourth power play goal of the evening. He continued his return-to-form season, notching two goals and three assists and earning the team’s player of the game honors.

Teammate Reilly O’Connor tied his career high with six assists. His final helper came on the game-winner.

“I think there’s a lot of doubters outside our room,” Digby said. “We have a lot of character guys on this team that take that to heart and want to prove people wrong every week.”

Mammoth End Slide

Talk about a must-win game.

Colorado finally ended its season-opening skid, earning its first win of 2019 in the lone Sunday game. The Mammoth beat Calgary, 12-7, to move to 1-3.

Ryan Benesch led the team with three goals and four assists, Eli McLaughlin had his best night of the season so far with six points and Kyle Killen added some much-needed secondary scoring with the first two goals of his career.

The Mammoth were strong in the second half, outscoring Calgary 7-3 in the final 30 minutes. Colorado shut out the Riggers in the fourth.

“We know that 0-3 isn’t ideal, but we knew that we could battle out,” Benesch said. “Eventually we’re going to break out and I think tonight’s the start of that.”

Wings Fall in a Close One

The Wings’ close-but-no-cigar season continued on Saturday night in Buffalo.

Philadelphia tied the Bandits at 10-10 5:54 into the final frame on a goal from Kiel Matisz, but Buffalo ended the game on a 4-0 run thanks to a pair of goals from Shawn Evans and a goal each from Dhane Smith and Thomas Hoggarth.

Buffalo had a great start, meaning Philadelphia needed an 8-2 run in the middle of the game to put pressure on the Bandits down the stretch.

“I wasn’t feeling really good about our chances at the end of the third, but guys pulled it together in the fourth and we buried our chances,” Bandits co-head coach John Tavares said.

Buffalo lost Josh Byrne to a lower-body injury, but Tavares said postgame he hoped shutting the second-year forward down for the game was a precautionary move.

Rush Win Third Straight

Saskatchewan general manager and head coach Derek Keenan said there was nothing he didn’t like from the Rush’s 12-7 win against the Rochester Knighthawks on Saturday.

“I’m the happiest I’ve been with our play this year,” Keenan said. “I’ve always kind of had that defensive mentality, and when we play that way I’m real happy. It’s been a work in progress. A lot of new bodies back there, learning a system, getting comfortable with one another in terms of learning where to be at the right time, communication. Tonight I thought we played our system to a T.”

The Rush held a narrow one-goal lead at the break but pulled away in the third thanks to a 5-0 period. Robert Church had two goals and five assists, Mark Matthews had three goals and four assists and Ben McIntosh had two goals and two assists for division-leading Saskatchewan.

Georgia Blues

It was a rough 0-2 weekend for the previously hot Swarm, which dropped into the fourth and final playoff spot in the East.

Toronto kept pace with Buffalo atop the East by handing the Swarm its first loss of the weekend on Friday night. Dan Craig had three goals as the Rock pulled away with a late 3-0 run to win 14-9 and hand Georgia its first loss of the season.

“It’s amazing to beat a team like that and to do it like we did, play a complete game on both sides,” Craig said.

Week 7 Preview

Rock at Wings
Saturday, 7 p.m. ET

Offense: Kevin Crowley improved on his Wings debut by one point against Buffalo, notching three goals and two assists on 17 shots. The Wings’ power play unit is posting a measly 11.79 percent success rate, 25 percent lower than second-to-last Vancouver. Craig said the Rock focused on increased pressure from the lefties against Georgia Friday.

Defense: Trevor Baptiste had a second strong performance against the Bandits, winning 20 of his 28 draws. Toronto’s Billy Hostrawser, Brad Kri and Challen Rodgers have each caused seven turnovers.

Bandits at Knighthawks
Saturday, 8 p.m. ET

Offense: The Knighthawks scored less than 12 goals for a third straight game. Rochester’s Joe Resetarits is on pace to score 22 goals, 15 fewer than his total last year. Evans scored his second game-winning goal for the Bandits this week. He’s tied for the NLL lead in that category.

Defense: The Bandits defense tied a franchise record by allowing only four goals to Rochester in the first meeting this season. Matt Vinc has settled in, leading the league in save percentage.

Mammoth at Warriors
Saturday, 10 p.m. ET

Offense: The Mammoth’s 12 goals this week tied a season high. Stephen Keogh missed the game after being placed on injured reserve. Mitch Jones put up seven points for the Warriors for the second time this season against San Diego.

Defense: Colorado goalie Dillon Ward got much-needed support from the Mammoth Sunday. Warriors captain Matt Beers showed he’s willing to stand up for his team when he dropped the gloves with Seals captain Brodie Merrill.

Rush at Swarm
Sunday, 4:05 p.m.

Offense: Saskatchewan has the best power play in the league, led by McIntosh (five man-up goals). Randy Staats currently holds a one-point lead on Lyle Thompson. Thompson has led the Swarm in points the past two seasons, with Staats earning the crown in 2016.

Defense: Rush goalie Evan Kirk has a league-leading 10.00 goals against average, but Saskatchewan is struggling on man-down. Georgia’s Zed Williams snagged nine loose balls against Toronto.

Bandits at Black Wolves
Sunday, 6 p.m.

Offense: Buffalo averaged 19 goals in its two games at New England last season. With seven goals, Digby has now surpassed his total from last season while with the Roughnecks.

Defense: The Bandits’ league-leading penalty kill is successful 75 percent of the time this season. The Black Wolves’ defense is balanced in terms of ground balls, with David Brock, Andrew Suitor and Adam Bomberry having 21 and Joel Coyle having 20.