PK’s NLL Power Rankings - Week 15
1. Toronto Rock – 10-2 (Last Week: #1)
This was a weekend that the Rock showed up and showed out to prove they are one of the top team s in the league if it wasn’t already known. It started Friday night when the team took care of business and beat the Desert Dogs 16-11 in Vegas. The game got within 1 early in the 3rd until the Rock would score 7 of the final 10 to win it. Chris Boushy had his best game of his young Rock career scoring 7 in an 11 point night. Mark Matthews, Corey Small, and Tom Schreiber combined for 3 goals but 18 assists in the victory. It was a quieter night for Nick Rose as he made just 27/38 saves in the win. Move into Saturday night where the Rock take on the Seals in the biggest game of the weekend. It was a back and forth game through 58 minutes through the game when the Rock would score the final 3 to take the game 15-13. It was bit of what we had hoped the game would play out like. Corey Small (3/2/5) and Tom Schreiber (3/4/7), provided more of a scoring touch in this one that the Vegas game netting a hat trick each while Mark Matthews handed out another 6 assists in the win. Nick Rose made 38/51 save in the victory to continue his run to his first goalie of the year title. Looking ahead for the Rock they get the Mammoth aft home on Saturday before a big rematch game in Buffalo on the 16th against the struggling Bandits. The team is inching closer to locking in a playoff spot as well as a home playoff game.
2. Albany Firewolves – 9-2 (Last Week: #3)
Up to #2 on the week are your young Firewolves bunch after their 14-8 win over NY on Saturday. Albany jumped out to a 7-2 lead and never looked back. The rookie duo of Tye Kurtz (2/4/6) and Alex Simmons (3/4/7) led the way while Ethan Walker (3/2/5) continues to be that steady veteran type presences. Doug Jamieson continues to put his name up there with Nick Rose and Chris Origlieri for Goalie of the Year with another stellar performance making 45/53 saves in the win. As we look ahead with 7 game remaining, one 1 of their remaining opponents has a winning record (Toronto). They host Vancouver on Friday with a chance to be the second team this year to reach the 10 win mark. With just 7 weeks remaining in the NLL season, they are getting closer and closer to clinching a playoff spot. Without diving too far into it, if things break their way they could lock in a playoff seed next weekend.
3. San Diego Seals – 8-4 (Last Week: #2)
A 1-1 weekend for the Seals that started in dramatic fashion. Friday night they took on Panther City in a game that went to overtime after a back and forth regulation game. 3:23 into OT, Austin Staats (3/3/6) completed his hat trick and ended the game to give the Seals the 10-9 victory. Wes Berg continues to have an MVP type season with a 4 point night while the team saw 6 players score at least 1. Chris Origlieri made 46/55 saves in the win. Flash forward one day in the biggest game of the weekend for some NLL fans. Toronto came into SD and took the game 15-13 over the Seals. After a 1st half that saw San Diego hold a 109 lead, the rock would score 5 of the 7 goals in the 4th including the final 3 with under 2 minutes remaining in the game to secure the win. While the Seals did score 13, only 6 players recorded a point in the game. Austin Staats netted 4 to collect 7 on the weekend. Dobbie got his hat trick on the night, while Jacob Dunbar, Tre Leclaire and Berg scored 2 each. It was not the strongest performance for young Origlieri making 36/50 saves in the loss. The Seals will head to Halifax on Saturday to try and get back in the win column and stay ahead of the Thunderbirds in the standings.
4. Halifax Thunderbirds – 7-5 (Last Week: #4)
They gave it all they could until the final whistle but Halifax dropped their game Friday 12-11 to the Swarm. Down 12-6 with just 9:32 remaining in the game, Halifax would go on a 5 goal run and had control of the final FO with just 6 seconds remaining in the game. But Clarke Petterson tripped while gathering the LB and was not able to put a shot on net. Ryan Benesch (2/0/2), Clarke Petterson (2/4/6), Austin Shanks (2/2/4), Dawson Theede (2/2/4), and Randy Staats (2/1/3) each netted 2 in the defeat. In goal, Warren Hill played well making 42/54 saves. The streak continues for this team though. They are 7-1 win scoring 12 or more goals. They are 0-4 when scoring under 12. They are averaging 13.33 goals a game so the numbers work in their favor but they get San Diego on the road next who are averaging 10.25 goals against on the year. They are currently in a home playoff spot but with a loss and a Georgia win they drop out of the top 4.
5. Georgia Swarm – 7-6 (Last Week: #9)
Up 4 spots this week are your Georgia Swarm. It’s a big jump for a 1 goal victory but when the teams ahead of you lose, it’s easier to make the leap. Georgia took down the Thunderbirds 12-11 but they felt like they had control of the game for the majority of it. A 5 goal lead between the 3rd and 4th quarters gave the Swarm a 12-6 lead with 9:32 left to play. Halifax would go on a 5 goal run themselves and actually controlled the final FO with 4 seconds remaining but failed to get a shot on goal off. Lyle Thompson with his 4 goal, 6 point night led the way while Shayne Jackson (2/2/4) and Andrew Kew (2/4/6), combined for 4 others. The defense caused havoc and caused 14 TOs in this one in front of a 42 save performance form Brett Dobson in net. The win moves the team above .500 again with a big matchup Friday night vs Calgary. Just 5 games remain for the Swarm as playoffs are approaching.
6. Calgary Roughnecks – 5-6 (Last Week: #5)
You can call that a massive opportunity missed for Calgary after dropping their Saturday afternoon game 11-9 to Philly. Leading 9-6 going into the 4th, the Roughnecks would go scoreless in the 4th and give up 5 straight goals in the losing effort. Tyler Pace scored 3, Tanner cook went 2/2/4 and Jesse King handed out 3 assists in his 4 point night. In Net Christian Del Bianco made 36/46 saves to give his team another chance to win it. The inconsistent scoring continues to be the problem for this team. Of their 11 games, they have scored 10 or under 5 times. In those games they have allowed 11.2 goals per game. That is good enough to get a win. They get a chance to get back in the win column Friday in Georgia.
7. Panther City Lacrosse Club – 5-6 (Last Week: #6)
This was not the weekend for the Club. With 2 games on their schedule they were looking to continue their rise in the rankings and standings. That came to a halt going 0-2 in week 14. Friday they fell in OT 10-9 vs the Seals. Callum Crawford led the way with a 3 goal, 5 point night. Will Malcolm finished with 5 assists while Jonathan Donville was shut out on 11 shots. But it was no fault of Nick Damude who was incredible in net making 59/69 saves to give his team that chance to win it in OT. Move forward to Sunday when the team took on Rochester. Going from a low scoring game on Friday night, we saw an offensive explosion Sunday with team combining for 34 goals including 13 in the 4th alone. But PC would come out on the losing end once again dropping this one 19-15. Rochester jumped out to a 4-0 lead less than 3 minutes into the game. Panther City would never get within 3 of the Hawks in this one. Will Malcolm netted 7 to go with his 11 point night. Donville went 3/4/7 while Crawford assisted on 5 goals. Damude was pulled in this one making just 18/26 saves in the defeat. Cam MacLeod did not fare much better making 36/47 saves in the loss. After winning 5/5 games, Panther City will travel to Philly on Saturday to try and stop the 2 game losing streak and get back to .500 on the year.
8. Buffalo Bandits – 5-6 (Last Week: #7)
The slide continues for the Bandits as they have now lost 3 straight after their 13-12 loss in Vancouver on Friday night. After a penalty filled 1st quarter, Vancouver would score the first 4 goals in the 2nd to Chase Devlin Shanahan from the game. They lead 9-5 at half. Buffalo would win the 2nd held scoring 7 of the 11 goals in the 30 minutes of action but any time the Bandits would get within 2, Vancouver would score 2 of their own to pull back ahead. The game ended on what looked like a good goal from Tehoka Nanticoke but was ruled inconclusive. Josh Byrne scored 5 to in his 7 point night. Chris Cloutier and Kyle Buchanan had mirror stat lines going 2/2/4 while Dhane Smith continued his 100 assist pace handing out 5 more. Like I mentioned Shanahan was pulled after making 14/21 saves but I don’t put many of those goals on him as 3 of the 7 alone were on the PP. Steve Orleman came in in relief in his 2nd appearance this year and settled down the team making 30/36 saves. The Bandits have played maybe 2 games all year where all units on the floor were rolling. Their biggest issue at the moment has to be the amount of penalties this team keeps taking. If they can get a control on that they should be able to stop this skid and get back to playing Bandit ball. They get the Rush Friday at home.
9. Saskatchewan Rush – 4-5 (Last Week: #12)
This confusing season for the Rush continues after their 15-7 win in Colorado Saturday night. Saskatchewan outscored the Mammoth in each quarter and outshot them by 20, 59-39. This was an absolute smashing by the Rush to pull a game within .500 on the year midway through their season. Ryan Keenan went 5/3/8 on the night while Robert Church went 3/5/8. Zach Manns continues his break out season with a 3/3/6 stat line and 4 others chipped in a goal in the victory. We saw the good Frank Scigliano in this one making 38/39 saves and besting Dillon Ward who was pulled. I think I have said this same thing in every write up. The rest of the season for the Rush is brutal. They have 9 games remaining in 7 weeks and the fun continues this Friday as the team travels to Banditland with a chance to jump the defending champs in the standings.
10. New York Riptide – 5-7 (Last Week: #8)
After winning 4 straight, the Riptide have now dropped 3 in a row, all by 6 or more goals. And to be honest, this game they lost 14-8 vs Albany was never really close seeing the Firewolves jump out to a 7-2 lead early in the 2nd. Stephen Keogh, Jeff Teat and Connor Kearnan all scored 2 goals while only 5 others eve came away with a single point on the night. The offense that was averaging 12.5 in that win streak is down to 9.33 in their losing streak. In net, Cam Dunkerley did what he could making 49/61 saves. The team has a possible get right game next on deck vs Las Vegas on Saturday night. With just Albany left on their schedule with a winning record this team can go on a run but it needs to start up front with the goal scoring.
11. Rochester Knighthawks – (Last Week: #14)
The slump is officially over. After dropping 6 in a row, Rochester went down to Texas and took down the Lacrosse Club 19-15 in an offensive explosion. The team jumped out to a 4-0 lead less than 3 minutes into a game that would not get within 3 the rest of the way. Connor Fields had a field day scoring 3 himself but handing out 11 helpers in a 14 point night. Thomas McConvery was on the receiving end of 6 of them securing his first sock trick of his career. 7 other players had multi point nights for the Hawks. In net Riley Hutchcraft made 47/62 saves. While the win is great and it stopped the bleeding, this team needs to stack wins if they want any chance at getting into the playoffs. They get Albany in back to back weekends.
12. Philadelphia Wings – 4-6 (Last Week: #13)
A little split action here as the Wings take out the Roughnecks 11-9 on Saturday to split the season series 1-1. Philly used a 4-0 run in the 2nd and a 5-0 4th quarter to win at home and get to 4-6 on the year. Sam LeClair scored 3, while Mitch Jones (2/3/5) and Joe Resetarits (2/3/5) led the way in the points department. Allowing just 9 goals against is impressive but to do it all with just 2 caused overs makes it that much better. In net Zach Higgins continues to get peppered with shots and stand up to each one making 50/59 saves to best the goalie of the year in the other end of the field. Winner of 2 of their last 3 will face off against Panther City this week with a chance to jump them in the standings.
13. Las Vegas Desert Dogs – 4-7 (Last Week: #10)
This was a good measuring stick game for this young club to see where they stacked up against one of the best team in the league. Vegas would actually lead 2-0 midway through the 1st in this one. But the Rock would score the next 7 of 8 goals to take the lead they would not relinquish. Jack Hannah could not miss scoring his first sock trick in the defeat. Zack Greer had a solid 2/4/6 while Rob Hellyer handed out 6 assists. Landon Kells played well against a lethal offense in the Rock making 34/50 saves. Vegas heads to NY to take on the slumping Riptide with a chance to match their win total from last season.
14. Vancouver Warriors – 3-8 (Last Week: #15)
What a win it was from this Warriors club that has been struggling this year. They sued a 5 goal run and a 9-5 first half lead to secure the 13-12 win. Buffalo would make it interesting down the stretch scoring 3 straight and what looked like the game tying goal in the dying seconds, but the Warriors held off the defending champs for their 3rd win of the year. Riley Loewen (3/1/4, Kevin Crowley (3/4/7) and Keegan Ball (3/3/6) each provided 3 goals while Adam Charalambides went 2/6/8 to lead the team in point on the night. young Aden Walsh was very solid in net vs one of the top offenses in the league making 39/51 saves in the win. I still believe this team should be looking to sell off some pieces for the future but they will get Albany on Friday night to try and tack upset wins.
15. Colorado Mammoth – 4-8 (Last Week: #11)
The fall has landed this team in the bottom of the rankings this week and that happens when you get the doors blown off at home. After their big come from behind victory last weekend vs NY, Colorado drops an egg 15-7 vs the Rush. This game got within 1 for a matter of 7 seconds in the 1st as Colorado never got closer than within 2 the rest of the way. In fact they were outscored in each quarter finding the back of the net just 2 times in the 2nd half. Chris Wardle went 2/2/4 while Eli McLaughlin added another hay trick to his season. Dillon Ward’s up and down season continued making 33/46 saves on the night before giving way to Tyler Carlson who made 11/12 saves. Now losers of 4 of their last 5 games head to Toronto on Saturday to face off against the Rock. If they lose and fall to 4-9 they should be looking to sell before Tuesday deadline.