The first game of the NCAA Division I semifinals at Lincoln Financial Field In Philadelphia seemed like more of a preseason game than a semifinal game for a championship, with a lot of unsettled play and a tremendous amount of turnovers. Either one can cause a team to be eliminated from championship play. The University of Virginia was fortunate to have solid goaltending that allowed them to be victorious in…
Winning came easily to the Buffalo Bandits this season, and they got hooked on the highs that came with the success of their 14-4 regular season. It was a harder road for the Calgary Roughnecks, however, to the NLL Cup best-of-three final series. The adversity they faced during a 10-8 season grizzled them. It made them even hungrier in the Bandits, and it showed in their 10-7 win in the…
Loyola Maryland seemingly shocked Syracuse when the Greyhounds ousted the Orange 15-13 from NCAA playoff action this past weekend, but with Pat Spencer contributing nine points (three goals and six assists) it seemed like that could be the only option. Spencer, who just confirmed that he will pursue a spot on an NCAA basketball team next season, worked his wizardry throughout the game and proved that he and Loyola could…
The Calgary Roughnecks will return to the NLL Finals for the first time since 2014 after defeating the Colorado Mammoth 8-4 last Friday night at Scotiabank Saddledome. The Roughnecks used a combination of suffocating defense and a near automatic power play to once again overcome the Mammoth and push their career playoff record to 10-1 against Colorado. When the game had reached its conclusion, it was hard to look much…
The party will continue in Buffalo after the Bandits defeated the Toronto Rock 12-8 on Saturday night in the NLL’s Eastern Division final. The Bandits will host games one and three (if necessary) of the NLL Cup beginning next Saturday, May 18 against the Calgary Roughnecks. The Bandits have won the Cup four previous times, but three of those wins came in the 90s. Their most recent championship was 2008…
In their first playoff game in franchise history, the San Diego Seals had the Calgary Roughnecks on the verge of elimination, but came up just short falling 12-11. Patrick Merrill’s club held the lead for nearly the entire game, but a resilient Calgary group came up with a massive fourth quarter performance to edge out the home town Seals. In a rare, but remarkably popular Monday night game, National Lacrosse…
And down goes the NLL’s other powerhouse. After the Toronto Rock’s 16-14 East Division semi-final win over the Georgia Swarm, the NLL Cup will feature two new teams for the first time since 2014. With the Saskatchewan Rush defeated on Friday night and the Rochester Knighthawks failing to make the playoffs, the Swarm were the last recent NLL Cup competitor left standing. They’ve had nothing but strong seasons since moving…
Dhane Smith, Shawn Evans and Matt Vinc lead the Bandits to Eastern Division final Saturday night the Buffalo Bandits moved ahead in their quest for the NLL Cup by defeating the New England Blackwolves 13-6 in front of 11,776 fans at the KeyBank Center. This marks the fourth time this season the Bandits have defeated New England, and a streak of eight that started on February 19, 2017. The Bandits…
There will be a new champion in the NLL this year. The Colorado Mammoth upset the defending champion Saskatchewan Rush 11-10 in overtime on Friday night. The win marked the first time the Mammoth have won a postseason game against the Rush and the first time they have ever won a game of any kind in Saskatoon. For the Rush, it was the abrupt end to a season that had…
It was a weekend of both elation and heartbreak for the #16 ranked Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, who narrowly missed out on an automatic NCAA tournament berth with an 18-17 loss to #1 Penn State on Saturday night at Highpoint.com Stadium. The Blue Jays went into the weekend as the second seed, matched up against the third seed Maryland Terrapins, who are ranked nationally at #5. They handily defeated the…