Only 1 game this past week in the NLL, but this week everyone is in action. The Toronto Rock kick it off Friday night as Buffalo shuffles in, then they travel to Rochester for a Saturday night game against the Knighthawks. The Swarm will face the Black Wolves, Edmonton faces Calgary, and Colorado with battle Vancouver.
NLL Power Rankings Week 3
(1)1—Toronto Rock (2-0) Has two big games this weekend. Friday night they open their home schedule against a hungry Buffalo team. Then on Saturday, they return to Rochester for their second meeting of the year. A win over Rochester will give them an early season tie-breaker. A pair of weekend wins can show just how strong this Rock team is.
(2)2—Colorado Mammoth (2-0) Mammoth host the Stealth this weekend. Mammoth are coming off a big win 2 weeks ago over Calgary 17-16. A win by the Mammoth can strengthen an early season hold on the western conference. Both these teams face each other next week in Vancouver. This week they are in Denver for a 9pm start Saturday night.
(3)3—New England BlackWolves (2-0) Black wolves return to the Mohegan Sun as the face Miles Thompson and the Swarm (1-1). This will be a big test to see how they will handle the quickness of rookie Miles Thompson and second year player Logan Schuss. Kevin Crowley leads the attack for the Black Wolves with 7G/9A.
(4)4—Buffalo Bandits (2-1) Coming off a big win in Vancouver. Dhane Smith led the way with 5G/3A. Bandits will shuffle off to Toronto in a battle for first place Friday night. Bandits have started off strong and look to keep the ball rolling. Game time 7:30pm
(6)5—Minnesota Swarm (1-1) This week the Swarm will buzz into the Mohegan Sun for a big game and look to sting the Black Wolves. Swarm has had both their decisions decided by a big fourth quarter. They gave up 11 to Colorado in a season opening loss, then scored 9 against Edmonton for a win. Game time set for 7pm Saturday.
(5)6—Vancouver Stealth (1-2) Stealth fall to the Bandits 14-13 in the only game this past weekend. Game was up and back for the full sixty minutes. Rhys Duch (2G/6A), and hat trick by Tyler Digby and Lewis Ratcliff led the Stealth scoring. Stealth fly into Colorado for the first of two games against the Mammoth. Game time 9pm this Saturday. Teams face each other in Vancouver next Saturday as well
(7)7—Calgary Roughnecks (0-2) Last years western conference champions are winless in 2015, and face the Rush who are also winless this season. Both teams could be 2-0 if not for second half collapses. Game time 9pm Saturday. Some one will leave Calgary with their first win.
(8)8—Edmonton Rush (0-2) Sitting at 0-2 is not how they wanted the season start. Mark Matthews (4G/6A), Robert Church (4G/5A) and rookie and number one overall pick Ben McIntosh (5G/1A) lead the Rush, and look to go into the Scotia Bank Saddle Dome and escape with their first victory. Saturday 9pm.
(9)9—Rochester Knighthawks (0-2) Will face the Rock this weekend. When they last met the Knighthawks raised their three-peat banner, and lose 13-12. A loss to Toronto this weekend will put Rochester at 0-3 and give the Knighthawks another three-peat, one they don’t want. A loss will also give the Rock the tie-breaker over the Knighthawks. Corey Vitarelli leads the Hawks with six goals. Knighthawks will look to get a huge win in front of their home crowd. Game time Saturday 7:30pm.
