After battling each other to a 5-5 tie for the first 50 minutes of the game, a late four-goal run by the host Calgary Roughnecks put them over the top for a hard-fought 9-5 win over the San Diego Seals on Friday night, in front of 12,696 fans in the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Roughnecks improve to 2-1 on the season and are in sole possession of first place in the…
NLL: Last-minute heroics from Thompson give Swarm win over Rock
With Toronto’s other two in-season professional sports teams out of the GTA for the night, the city stood witness to a nail-biting 12-11 home-opening loss for the Rock at the hands of the Georgia Swarm. After the dust from an outstanding video tribute to former Rock captain Colin Doyle, new captain Challen Rogers and his team took the floor. They sprung out to a 2-0 lead early in the first…
NLL: Nine-point debut for Staats in Seals’ win
Saturday night the San Diego Seals took the floor in the franchise’s first game in the National Lacrosse League. Their opponent was the Colorado Mammoth, on the road, in “The Loud House” in front of 13,207 fans. Not an easy task for your first game. But, thanks to rookie Austin Staats, the Seals played nothing like an expansion team in collecting their first win 17-12 in convincing fashion. Staats scored…
NLL: Roughnecks get revenge on Warriors
As the whistle blew on the opening face-off between Tyler Burton and Zack Porter, a new era of lacrosse got underway in downtown Vancouver. Finally, for the province of British Columbia, courtesy of Canucks Sports and Entertainment, the highest level of lacrosse got a deserving stage at Rogers Arena to showcase the best talent in the world. The only thing missing on this night was a win by the home…
NLL: Second-quarter comeback leads Rock over Bandits
The Toronto Rock and Buffalo Bandits played a classic to open their season series on Friday night at Keybank Center in Buffalo with the Rock prevailing 17-12. A good crowd of 10,370 was on hand for the Bandits’ home opener and the first of three games the rivals will play against each other this season. Their first meeting was a high energy, high scoring affair that saw all the expected…
NLL Preview: Toronto Rock
Embarking on their highly anticipated 2018/19 season, the Toronto Rock find themselves with new expectations and new faces. Coming off a modest 2017/18 season the Rock are looking to assert their dominance in the Eastern Division once again. This year, that may come as a challenge as the club lost some key players in the NLL expansion draft including 40-point contributor Brett Hickey. Hickey was a non-argumentative piece that led…
Boston Box Lacrosse: PrimeTime and Minutemen pull off upsets
The Minutemen and PrimeTime both pulled off minor upsets in Boston Box Lacrosse league games on Dec. 18, further confusing the standings as four teams stand a game apart after the stretch run for the playoffs started. In the opener at South Shore Sports Center, Will Jennings scored seven times and Rob Murray added six goals and an assist to lead the Minutemen to the 16-12 win over the Blazers….
A Philadelphia Christmas Carol: connecting the past, present and future of the Wings
Everyone loves the Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol. It is only fitting that the Philadelphia Wings started playing again in December as their story parallels that of Dickens’ classic tale, a story that teaches the importance of learning from our past, preparing for our future and appreciating our present. Anyone who followed the former Philadelphia Wings knows who the Ebenezer Scrooge in their history is so there is no…
NLL Preview: San Diego Seals
Perhaps the hottest new teams in the NLL, the San Diego Seals have made a serious splash in the lacrosse world through many facets. So much so, it seems as if lacrosse is here to stay in California this time. Billionaire owner Joseph Tsai has done a great job of attracting the right people to be involved with his club. A former Yale Bulldog himself, he has more than an…
ILWT Feature: The Transition Game, Explained
Every team sport has a similar system. To the amateur fan, it’s just the neutral play, where no one quite has the advantage. But people that understand the game acknowledge that this is one of the most crucial areas of lacrosse. I’m talking about the transition game. But why is transitional play so crucial in box lacrosse? What makes transition players so critical to a team’s long-term success? What even makes…