The National Lacrosse League has hit week 16 with three teams battling for the final two playoff positions. While the team battles are ongoing, so are the individual statistic battles of the players.
Every team plays this weekend except for the Toronto Rock. Garrett Billings has 100 points on the season, two back of the league leader Shawn Evans from the Calgary Roughnecks. This means that Billings will not be able to reach Evans. In third place is Callum Crawford with 89. It is unlikely that Crawford will be able to score 13 points while Evans scores none.
Rhys Duch of the Washington Stealth leads the goals race with 41 on the season. Behind him is Curtis Dickson of Calgary with 40, Dane Dobbie with 40 and John Grant Jr from the Colorado Mammoth with 40 Any of those five could end up with it.
Evans leads the league with 71 assists while Billings has 70. Behind him is Crawford with 59, so Evans should have the points and assists battles locked up in his favor.
Shawn Evans becomes an MVP candidate right there leading the league with points. The Roughnecks play the Edmonton Rush this week, and Evans is likely to get beyond the 102 mark he currently sits at. Calgary also has a chance to win the Western Division with a win.
Garrett Billings is a bit behind Evans with 100 points, but his Toronto Rock locked up the Eastern Division a long time ago and the Rock are known for their multiple scorers. An argument could be made for him as the MVP.
Callum Crawford is third in the league in scoring and has led a Minnesota Swarm team who lost their captain in Andrew Suitor earlier in the season. He is also third in the league in assists.
Rhys Duch is fourth in the league with 87 points that includes his league leading 41 goals. The Washington Stealth were not a playoff team last season and Duch has helped lead them back to western prominence.
Other players who might get arguments made for them are Jordan MacIntosh with the Swarm, second on the team in scoring and second in the league in loose balls; Geoff Snider of the Calgary Roughnecks, first in the league in loose balls and faceoffs won; Matt Vinc of the Rochester Knighthawks, first in the league in goals against average and saves.
