Of course the Lizards and Cannons will meet in the first round of the MLL Playoffs. It’s as if it was meant to be. Paul Rabil, the sport’s biggest star, takes on his former team. And while the Lizards won both matchups in the regular season, those were both back in May. It’s August now and a trip to the championship is on the line. The stakes are higher and the intensity will be, too.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s still Wednesday. InLacrosseWeTrust.com will have a Lizards-Cannons preview on Saturday before the game, so let’s pump the brakes and analyze where the Lizards are coming from.
New York enters this game in a slump. They’ve lost their last two regular-season games against Ohio and Denver. While the Lizards already had their playoff spot locked up, the key to a championship oftentimes is peaking at the right time—the Lizards aren’t doing that.
Despite having home-field advantage in the semifinals and garnering the top seed in the league, the Lizards must regroup if their season is to continue. In the past two games, head coach Joe Spallina did not rest his starters. He kept playing his best players in hopes to keep their momentum going. But it stopped. And now, the Lizards are at a crossroads.
For perhaps the first time all season, New York is facing some serious adversity: a two-game losing streak entering the MLL semifinals. Saturday night’s game should be a dandy. It should be fun to see how Rabil does against his former team. But if you like sports—especially in the playoffs—the Lizards-Cannons game will be worth watching. The ability for a team to rally together regardless of what has happened in the past—in the long term (Rabil’s past) and in the short term (the losing streak)—will be on display and all signs point to it being something special regardless of how it turns out.
