This Sunday the Toronto Rock take on the Minnesota Swarm in the first round of the NLL playoffs. These two teams met twice this season with both games being decided by one goal. These two teams should put on one hell of a game on Sunday.
For the Swarm, they will be relying on the trio of Callum Crawford, Ryan Benesch and Shayne Jackson. Crawford led the swarm with 32 goals and 63 assists this season for 95 points. Benesch 34 goals and 50 assists for 84 points, while Shayne Jackson rounded out the trio with 24 goals and 39 assists for 63 points. These three players aren’t the Rocks only concern though as they also have to deal with the Swarms secret weapon; Jordan MacIntosh. MacIntosh put up an impressive 55 points but he has even more worth than his offensive output as he was the top transition player in the NLL. MacIntosh won the NLL transition player of the week award the last two weeks of the season. MacIntosh single handedly allows the Swarm to control games as he finished fourth in the NLL for face offs won with 241 and second in the league in loose balls with 197. If the Rock allow MacIntosh to dominate in these areas the Swarm will win this game. In net the Swarm have struggled as both Tyler Carlson and Evan Kirk have both had their problems in between the pipes.
For the Rock they are led by Garrett Billings, Colin Doyle and Josh Sanderson. Billings finished second in the NLL in points with 100 points. Colin Doyle had 84 points while Sanderson had 62 points. The Rock have the offense to go head to head with the Swarm. The Rock though will rely on their secret weapon in the form of Nick Rose. Rose has been outstanding this year posting a 10-5 record. Rose had a 10.61 Goals Against Average and a .791 save percentage. Rose will be tested in this game and if he stands tall the Rock will win this game.
In the end this game will be a battle of the X- Factors as Nick Rose will be the key for the Rock, while MacIntosh will be the key for the Swarm. This game will come down to the wire and when the dust clears one of these players will be the reason for their teams victory.
