Full slate this past weekend. Colorado remains undefeated, Knighthawks get their first win of the year, and Calgary is still winless in 2015. Another busy week this coming weekend. Can teams pull closer? Will some pull further away? Tune in and find out!!!
NLL Power Rankings Week 4
(2) 1—Colorado Mammoth (3-0) Mammoth came off the bye week and completely destroyed the Vancouver Stealth 20-9. Adam Jones (4G, 6A), Alex Turner (4G), and Drew Westervelt (3G, 5A) led the offense as they remain the only undefeated team in the league. John Grant Jr., had an average game with 2G, 5A. The Mammoth next travel to face the Stealth, Saturday, 10 pm at the Langley Event Center.
(1) 2—Toronto Rock (3-1) Went 1-1 this weekend. On Friday night they opened up the home schedule with a 13-11 win over the Buffalo Bandits. Brett Hickey (3G), Stephan Leblanc (2G, 7A), Josh Sanderson (6A) carried the Rock to an emotional victory. This was their first home game since the passing of Terry Sanderson. On Saturday the Rock fell 8-6, after the Rochester Knighthawks scored the final three goals of the game. Kevin Ross (2G, 2A) led the Rock. Rock host the Calgary Roughnecks at 7:30 pm Saturday.
(6) 3—Minnesota Swarm (2-1) Picked up a huge win 19-13 over the New England Black Wolves. The Swarm led all but 15 seconds of the game. Shayne Jackson (4G, 3A), Callum Crawford (3G, 4A) and Miles Thompson (2G, 5A) led the Swarm attack. Transition player Jordan McIntosh showed why he is one of the best as he tallied (3G, 2A), picked up 11 loose balls and won 18 of 33 on the faceoffs. Minnesota travels to Buffalo for a matchup Friday night at 7:30 pm.
(3) 4—New England BlackWolves (2-1) Suffered their first loss as the Swarm buzzed them 19-13. The Black Wolves were playing from behind all game; good thing is they have 15 more games. Kevin Buchanan (5G, 4A) and Pat Saunders (2G, 5A) led scoring for New England. Black Wolves travel to Edmonton for a Friday night game at 9:30 pm.
(4) 5—Buffalo Bandits (2-2) Fell to the Rock 13-11, as they were outscored 8-4 in the second half. Mark Steenhuis (3G, 4A), and Ryan Benesch (5G, 1A) led the Bandits. John Tavares left the game early with a lower body injury forcing the Bandits to play with a short bench. The Bandits have two tough games this weekend. Friday they host the Swarm at 7:30 pm, then Saturday night they shuffle off to Rochester for a 7:30 pm faceoff.
(8) 6—Edmonton Rush (1-2) Picked up their first win of the year by defeating Calgary 16-8. Riley Loewen & Jarrett Davis had 3G, 2A each; Mark Matthews (3G, 5A) led the Rush attack. Rookie Ben McIntosh also had a huge game with 2G, 5A. The Rush outscored Calgary 8-2 in the second half. Edmonton will look to gain their second win as they host the Black Wolves Friday night at 9:30 pm.
(9) 7—Rochester Knighthawks (1-2) The defending champs finally picked up a win as they defeated Toronto 8-6. Knighthawks scored the final three goals of the game, and turned a 6-5 deficit to an 8-6 win. Cody Jamieson (2G, 2A) figured on the final three goals, scoring twice. Knighthawks look for another win as Buffalo comes to town for a 7:30 pm start.
(5) 8—Vancouver Stealth (1-3) Were bombed by the Mammoth 20-9. Joel McCready (3G, 1A) led the scoring for the Stealth. Recently acquired Corey Small and Tyler Digby chipped in with two goals apiece. Rhys Duch was held to 1G, 2A and Johnny Powless was basically invisible as he only had one loose ball. The Stealth look to get back on track as they host the Mammoth on Saturday night at 10 pm.
(7) 9—Calgary Roughnecks (0-3) Last year’s West Division champions are still winless in 2015. Calgary trailed 8-3 before scoring the final three goals in 1:21 of the first half to trail 8-6. Roughnecks looked to use that momentum in the second half, but Edmonton had other ideas as they were outscored 8-2. Calgary travels to Toronto and look to get their first win Saturday night at 7 pm.
