PK’s NLL Power Rankings - Week 12

1.       San Diego Seals - 6-3 (Last Week: #1)

I was close to move this team back after their 10-8 loss to NY on Saturday night but a bad 4th quarter was not enough to sway me. San Diego held a 7-2 lead at half and it looked like they would ease their way to being the first 7 win team on the year. Then NY found their game. The Riptide would go on to score 8 of the next 9 goals including 6 straight to end the game. 1 goal in the whole 2nd half for the Seals and no goals in the final 22:52 of the game. Dunkerley played incredible but for a team with the offense they have, that shouldn’t have happened. Austin Staats finished with a 3/2/5 line while Curtis Dickson went 2/2/4 and Wes Berg saw a 1/3/4 night. Only scoring 8 was not for lack of shots. They put up 60 including 33 between Dickson and Staats. Chris Origlieri made 37/47 saves and in no way can he be blamed for the loss. The team gets a rest before hosting Georgia next week for try #2 at win 7.

2.       Toronto Rock – 6-2 (Last Week: #2)

Just like it was with the Seals, it was tough to not move down the Rock after their 11-10 loss to the Roughnecks. But I felt like one bad quarter shouldn’t take away from what they have done all year long. Going into the 3rd Calgary held a one goal lead. But all 4 goals scored in the 3rd were from the Roughnecks to take a 10-5 lead into the 4th. The Rock would cut that lead to just 1 with 5:35 but they could not find that tying goal past Del Bianco. Corey Small (5/0/5) and Mark Matthews (2/4/6) provide most of the offense in this one while the reliable Chris Boushy, Dan Craig and Tom Schreiber were held scoreless on a combined 19 shots.  Nick Rose for just the 3rd time this year allowed double digit goals past him in the 38 save performance. This offense has to find a way to put the ball in the net if they want to stay near the top of the power rankings in the weeks to come. They get the red hot Riptide on Friday night.

3.       Buffalo Bandits – 5-3 (Last Week: #3)

Holding steady at 3 are the Bandits after their bye week. I was tempted to move them up in the ranks but couldn’t bring myself to do it when they sat idle. This team can score with anyone out there. They have shown it multiple times and have scored under 12 goals in just 1 game. The team will head into 10 straight weeks of lacrosse action. This can help or hurt the team. While it’s a long stretch without any rest, it can also build rhythm playing multiple games in a row. With 6 of their remaining games vs team currently under .500, their chance to rise in the overall standings is there for the taking. But their defense needs to improve whether that by getting healthy, a trade or just overall better play. They travel to Halifax Friday night.

4.       Halifax Thunderbirds – 5-3 (Last Week: #4)

Halifax used a solid 1st half to move their record to 5-3 and hold onto their 4th spot in this week’s power rankings. The game was tied 3-3 until Halifax would go on a 6 goal run to take a 9-3 lead. While Vegas went on their own 4 goal run to cut the lead to 2, Halifax would score the next 3 to take a 5 goal lead into the 4th which they’d hold onto for the win. Clarke Petterson provided a hat trick on his 6 point night. Cody Jamieson went 2/2/4 while Ryan Benesch sent out 4 helpers on the night. But it was 28 year old rookie Aaron Woods who shined once again scoring 2 in his 6 point night. This is now back to back 6 point games for Woods in his first 2 NLL games. Warren Hill made 45 saves in net to continue his winning ways and extend their winning streak to 3. The team currently sits 5th in the standings as they try and climb into the top 4 seeds to have a home playoff game. They host the Bandits on Friday night with a chance to jump them and slide into that top 4 spot.

5.       New York Riptide – 5-4 (Last Week: #7)

The win streak is now at 4 and they have won 5 of the last 6 games. This is a completely different team than we saw in the first 3 weeks of the year. After being down 7-2 after the first half, NY would score 8 of the next 9 goals including the final 6 with 5 of them being in the 4th to take the win 10-8. This is now back to back games where the team has shown they can win lower scoring games as well as winning shootouts. Jeff Teat continued his heater scoring 4 in his 7 point night. Connor Kearnan went 2/2/4 including the game winner with 1:25 left in the game. But the story of the night was Cam Dunkerley in net. 52/60 saves vs one of the best offenses in the league. I said it in last week’s rankings. While his season long numbers are not at the top tier level, his play is a massive reason they are sitting where they are. This tough schedule continues Friday when they face off vs Toronto in Montreal in the unboxed showdown.

6.       Albany Firewolves – 6-2 (Last Week: #5)

Albany used their bye week to get healthy getting Doug Jamieson off the IR. Now Jamieson not being in vs their game to Vegas was not the reason they took the loss. Their goal scoring has been missing in their last 2 games with just 13 combined goals. Currently sitting at 6-2 they would have to completely crumble to miss the playoffs. But this team is still extremely young and now are playing with more eyes and expectations on them. 5 of their remaining 10 games are against teams with a .500 or better record. Their magic number is likely 10 to get into the playoffs. They get their chance to get a game closer Saturday when the mammoth come into town.

7.       Georgia Swarm – 6-4 (Last Week: #6)

After starting the season 4-1, Georgia would lose 3 straight to slide back to .500. Now winners of 2 straight they are back on a roll with their 14-12 win over Rochester. It was their first time scoring over 12 goals in a game since December 22nd vs Colorado. Andrew Kew now in back to back weeks has scored the game winner this time in regulation with just 25 left on the clock. He finished the night with 4 goals to go with 3 assists. Bryan Cole was massive to the offense on Saturday night scoring 5 in his 7 point outing. Brendan Bomberry, Lyle Thompson, Shayne Jackson and Seth Oaks all score 1 a piece with a combined 13 assists. When the offense is getting contributions from everyone this team can beat just about any team in the league. Brett Dobson was on in this one making 47/59 saves. If this team can ever put all phases together with everyone contributing, the rise in the standings and Power Rankings can be on its way. They get a bye week before 3 games in 8 days vs San Diego, Panther City and Halifax.

8.       Panther City Lacrosse Club – 4-4 (Last Week: #8)

The confusing season of the Club continues. After starting the season 1-3, this team has now won 3 of their last 4 to pull back to .500 in their 14-13 OT winner vs Colorado. It was back and forth all night long with the largest lead only 3 goals two times which lasted a combined 6:02. With 2:12 to go Connor Kelly scored for the Mammoth to take a 13-12 lead. With just 34 seconds left on the clock, Will Malcom netted the game tying goal to send the game to OT. That is when Jonathan Donville would put the game away just 29 seconds into overtime to send the Mammoth packing. What is more interesting with this win is they did it without the Callum Crawford (1/2/3) Leading the way. Other players stepped up in this one which is promising for a team with playoff goals. Ryan Sheridan scored 5 in his best game of his career. Will Malcolm had a hat trick in a 7 point night, Jason Knox went 2/2/4 while Donville scored 2 with 5 points. In net Nick Damude made 34 saves on 47 shots in the victory. Panther City will head into a bye before playing 3 games in 8 days vs the likes of Georgia, San Diego and Rochester all at home. That stretch could make or break their season.

9.       Saskatchewan Rush – 3-4 (Last Week: #12)

Revenge was on their minds Saturday night after their earlier season loss 11-9 vs the Warriors. That revenge was completed with a 13-9 win in Rogers Arena. Frank Scigliano Dominating run continued making 35/44 saves in the victory. This included allowing just 3 goals in the 2nd half and just 1 of those came in the 4th. Ryan Keenan went 3/3/6 on the night while Clark Walter, Robert Church and Keegan Bell netted 2 each. This has been a team I have been expecting to take off after a slow 1-4 start to the year. If they keep getting games like they have been out of Scigliano, they are set up nicely to make a run to the playoffs. They get yet another bye week before Halifax comes into town.

10.   Calgary Roughnecks – 3-5 (Last Week: #13)

This was a massive week for the boys from Calgary. A loss puts them at 2-6 and likely preparing to sell at the deadline. But a big 11-10 win in Hamilton vs the Rock moves them to 3-5 and right back in the playoff chase. 5 straight goals from the end of the 2nd through the 3rd built up a 10-5 lead that they would hold onto. In fact, Calgary never trailed in this game which was only tied past the opening faceoff 1 time for about 27 seconds. The true story was the transition game which came alive on Saturday night. Of the 11 goals scored, 5 came from non-forwards with Robert Hudson and Harrison Matsuoka netting 2 each. Jesse King led the way for those forwards with a 2 goal, 5 point night. But it was the play of Christian Del Bianco in net making 44 saves which led the way for the 1 goal victory. The team will host Halifax Sunday night to try and pull within 1 game of .500.

11.   Las Vegas Desert Dogs – 3-5 (Last Week: #10)

This was going to be an interesting week for the Dogs. Winners of 2 of their last 3 coming in with those wins over San Diego and Albany. I was interested if they could stack wins and get to .500. They came up short Friday night in the nest losing 12-10Trailing 9-5 at half and 12-7 early into the 4th, Vegas would score the final 3 goals to cut that lead down to 2. But this was more of a game to take stock in what they do have. Their young core were the keys in this game. Jack Hannah, Connor Kirst, Dylan Watson and Sean Westley combined for 7 of the teams 10 goals. In Net, Landon Kells made 39 saves vs one of the better offenses in the league holding them to just 3 goals in the 2nd half. A loss is always a loss but the fans in Vegas have to be excited for what the future may hold with some of these young players. They get a chance for win #4 on Friday vs Philly.

12.   Rochester Knighthawks – 3-5 (Last Week: #9)

And the losing streak has reached 5 for the Knighthawks after their 14-12 loss to Georgia. Down 3-1 after 1, 7-4 after 2, and 11-8 after 3, Rochester tied the game 12-12 with 6:17 to go in the game. But they just were unable to find that goal to put them in the lead. Andrew Kew in back to back weeks now netted the game winner with 25 seconds left in the game. Ryan Smith scored another hat trick to go with his 6 point night. Connor Fields dished out 8 assists while Ryan Lanchbury scored 2 to go along with 5 assists of his own. In Net Riley Hutchcraft made just 28/41 saves in the losing effort. There are not many, if any goalies left out on the market that Rochester can look to bring in. If they want to see this thing get turned around I think they need to look at bringing in a defender or two to help in front of the crease. They get some rest before taking on Vegas at home to try and break the drought.

13.   Colorado Mammoth – 3-6 (Last Week: #11)

I just don’t know. I really don’t. I know losing Ryan Lee was a big loss but they won a title and went back to another without him constantly in the lineup. So I really don’t understand what happened. I know this team has been slow out of the gate in years past but dropping this latest loss 14-13 to Panther City digs their hole even deeper. They were able to tie it and take the lead in this one with just 2:15 left in the game but say that disappear with 34 seconds left in regulation and 29 seconds into OT. Connor Kelly is proving to be a great pick up for the club with a 4/4/8 night. Zed Williams had a hat trick in his 5 point night. Tyson Gibson and Eli McLaughlin each went 2/3/5 while Connor Robinson chipped in 4 assists. In net Dillon Ward made 37/51 saves in the effort. The mammoth were able to take advantage of a weaker west schedule in years past to dig themselves out of early holes. But with the unified standings they will not get that luxury. 5 games in their remaining schedule are against teams currently in a playoff spot. They need to start stacking wins in a hurry otherwise they will be watching the playoffs from their homes this year. They look to start the run Saturday in Albany.

14.   Philadelphia Wings – 2-5 (Last Week: #14)

Philly has lost 3 straight after starting the year 2-2. Back to back weeks of 1 goal defeats. But this is also a team that has played just 7 games and only 3 since December. It’s nearly impossible to find any rhythm when you play one week and then are off the next. Well, it all changes Friday as they go on to play the next 10 straight weeks with 11 games mixed in. their first test is vs Vegas with their chance to try and climb out of this hole. With a win they get to 3-5 and have a chance at playoffs but a loss to fall to 2-6 might mean the end of their season is right around the corner.

15.   Vancouver Warriors – 2-7 (last Week: #15)

This has not been the start to his Vancouver coaching career that Curt Malawsky was expecting. Dropping their 3rd straight loss to the Rush 13-9. It was a back and forth 1st half that saw 5 lead changes and 6 ties. That carried into the 3rd which saw Vancouver trail by just 1 going into the 4th. But the Rush would score 3 straight and 4 of the final 5 to take the win. Adam Charalambides continues to be one of the only consistent forwards on the Warriors team going 3/3/6 on the night. Keegan Bal is likely right behind him in consistency with his 2 goal, 4 point night in net Aaron Bold made 34/47 saves in the losing effort. Their season is likely done now after falling to 2-7. It will be interesting to see what they do leading up to the deadline. They are on bye before heading to Toronto.