This Saturday will welcome the first entrance of the Ohio Machine to the playoffs of Major League Lacrosse. The Machine had to fight there way in, winning in the last week of the season to assure their spot in the final four. Rochester dismantled the Boston Cannons in the final game to lock the top spot in the tournament. Ohio: Ohio is built on the youth of the league making…
The Rattlers come slithering into their first playoff match one game ahead of the Ohio Machine. Rochester, sitting at 10-4, will play host to the Machine on Saturday August 16 at 3PM EST. ROCHESTER I’ve said it time and again, maybe I’m biased from personally having witnessed his coaching skills at NFC7, but John Ortolani always finds a way to create offensive momentum for his team. After 14 full-season games,…
The Major League Lacrosse playoffs are upon us. It has been a competitive regular season and these playoffs should be even better. This postseason field includes a little bit of everything: the first-time entrant (Ohio), the surprise team (Rochester), the perennial power (Denver) and the surging team (New York). As we have seen, the playoffs are unpredictable, but here goes my best shot trying to break down Saturday’s semifinal doubleheader…
A lot is on the line heading into the final weekend of Major League Lacrosse regular season action. Between the battle for first place, the quest for a home game in the semifinals and most importantly, the battle for the fourth and final playoff berth, three out of the four games played on Saturday will have an impact in the playoff race. Denver and Rochester are tied for first place…
Moments that will stand out to me are seeing a packed stadium for the final game between the U.S. and Canada, Uganda becoming the first team from Africa to compete in the championships (and securing a pair of wins), along with Israel coming together and playing tremendously despite everything that must have been on the players’ minds amidst what was happening back home. One (and possibly only) negative was pace…
With two games left in the regular season, Major League Lacrosse is heading down the stretch run with plenty of intrigue. Much of that intrigue is due to a change in the playoff format. Rather than have one “championship weekend,” with the semifinals and championship the same weekend, this will mark the first summer of semifinals a week before the championship and at the higher-seed team. The semifinals are set…
The path for the Rochester Rattlers organization has not been typical. One of Major League Lacrosse’s original franchises, the team has enjoyed its fair of good seasons and its fair share of bad seasons. Rochester has not made the playoffs since 2008 when the Rattlers won their only MLL Championship. The Rochester franchise even moved north of the border for the 2009 and 2010 seasons until the old Chicago Machine…
One of the best stories from the 2014 World Lacrosse Championships was the emergence of countries, nations earning more success than what was expected. When thinking about this, three teams stand out the most to me. Israel Turmoil and unsettled conditions in Israel led to high security surrounding the team in Denver. Rather than be a distraction, the team rallied together and took playing for its country to a new…
Photo Credit: Di Miller The 2014 World Lacrosse Championships wrapped up on Saturday night with Canada defeating the United States. It wasn’t a historic or monumental upset, but is certainly an upset. Perhaps it’s fitting that in an era of growth and parity in the sport that the tournament ended the way it did. Here are some of my takeaways from Saturday’s title game along with the tournament as a…
Photo Credit: Di Miller The closing day of the World Lacrosse Games saw a lot of talent and games played. England and Scotland provided a highlight reel of goals for the fans, as these two teams played a shootout for 4 quarters of play, England coming away the victor. The 5th place finish was a great way to end the games, after a slow start against the World’s best. The…