National Lacrosse League season is almost here, and this weekend saw each team in action over the course of three locations in Ontario and British Columbia. Each team played twice, except just a single game between Toronto and Georgia.
Bandits 12 Knighthawks 10
Rookie Kevin Orleman made his debut in net for the Bandits after being drafted this year. Mark Steenhius found the back of the net in the Bandits win.
Dan Dawson scored a goal with five assists to lead the Knighthawks. Josh Currier and Kyle Jackson each scored two goals in their first NLL games. Kevin Ross had two assists in his first game in a Knighthawks jersey after being acquired just days before.
Rock 10 Swarm 8
Mikey MacDonald emerged in his first NLL contest with five points to lead the Rock. Second year forward Dan Lintner also added three goals and free agent pickup Matt Crough tallied once with two assists.
Kieran McArdle also scored in his indoor debut, with Brodie Tutton finding the back of the net as well. Field players Connor Buczek and Tom Schreiber saw action as well. Zach Higgins played the second half between the pipes for the Rock in his first action with Toronto since being released by the Swarm.
Kiel Matisz scored three times for the Swarm. Adam Shute and rookie Warren Hill split time in the cage with free agent signing Mike Poulin. Rookie Matt Kristiansen also scored his first goal.
Black Wolves 12 Bandits 12
Eight different goal scorers tallied in the third quarter for the Bandits to lead to the tie.
Making their Black Wolves debuts were Reilly O’Connor, Garrett Lewis, Martin Bowes, Josh Hawkins, Jay Thorimbert, and Dan Michel.
Roughnecks 13 Stealth 6
Jeff Shattler scored four times along with two tallies each from Karsen Leung and rookie Holden Cattoni. Riley Loewen scored for the first time in a Calgary jersey, and rookie Brody Eastwood also got on the board.
Rush 16 Mammoth 10
With only 25 runners available in the two pre season games, the Rush saw a standout performance from rookies Ryan Keenan and Mike Messenger.
Stealth 11 Rush 10
Eric Penney and Tye Belanger split time in net in a tight game against the Rush.
Aaron Bold and Tyler Carlson played in the crease for the Rush.
Knighthawks 9 Black Wolves 8
Rochester scored with just moments remaining, and it came off the stick of Quinn Powless, who was originally drafted by New England before being traded to the Knighthawks. Joe Resetarits scored three times to lead the way offensively, while rookie Kyle Jackson scored once with three assists. Matt Vinc and Angus Goodleaf split time between the pipes.
Doug Jamieson and Doug Buchan split time in net for the Black Wolves. New England had debuts from Seth Oakes, Chad Culp, Derek Searle, and Pete Rennie.
Mammoth 11 Roughnecks 10
Callum Crawford and Jeremy Noble each scored twice in Colorado’s second pre season match up on Sunday. Zack Greer scored his first goal with Colorado, while Taylor Stuart scored his first NLL tally. Eli McLaughlin picked up four assists.
Robert Hope iced the game with an interception with Calgary had the final possession.
Peter Dubenski and Christian Del Bianco allowed just three second half goals against for Calgary. Tyler Digby also scored twice for Calgary while Wes Berg had three tallies and Dane Dobbie added another duo.
