There weren’t many games last week, but there sure was a bunch of action! I feel like I blinked and when I opened my eyes Edmonton went from the bottom of the rankings to top of the West Division. Edmonton beat a sliding Buffalo squad then turned around to beat a good Toronto Rock squad. Buffalo only managed to score 7 goals, 3 of which came from the newly acquired Alex Kedoh Hill. Hill played in his first game this season and had tremendous output as I expected, so look for him to continue to shoot well.
https://youtu.be/AIvSZSwl5qA
For more games this weekend, check out The Lacrosse Network!
Edmonton has now won 5 of their last 6 and have clinched a playoff spot in the West Division. Even though Toronto lost to Edmonton, The Rock managed to clinch a playoff spot in the East Division. Calgary downed Colorado in an overtime thriller in Calgary. Curtis Dickson scored on a feed from Shawn Evans. Calgary also managed to clinch the 2nd playoff spot in the west. Three teams have clinched so far, and coming down the home-stretch teams are going to be fighting for position and final playoff spots.
- Buffalo Bandits @ Toronto Rock
Connor Wilson – Toronto Rock “Toronto rebounds after a disastrous outing against the Rush. I like their consistency, and I believe that crushing loss was an aberration“.
Chris Rosenthall – Toronto Rock “Last weekend was Toronto’s worst game of the season, but I’m giving the Rush credit over that instead of blaming the Rock. Toronto’s going to be just fine“.
Ryan Connors – Toronto Rock “Buffalo is really struggling and Toronto is at home. The Rock should gut this win out”.
- Philadelphia Wings @ Minnesota Swarm
Connor Wilson – Minnesota Swarm “I’m telling you, the Swarm are good. Eventually my Minny heavy picking is going to pay off. Or I’ll fall behind. That could happen too“.
Chris Rosenthall – Philadelphia Wings “I like the Wings to win this one 12-10 or so, they tend to keep their games low-scoring“.
Ryan Connors – Minnesota Swarm “Such a tough pick. I love both teams so much, but Minnesota is on the upswing and Philadelphia is starting to crumble. The Swarm have too much offense and are as good as Philadelphia in transition“.
- Toronto Rock @ Rochester Knighthawks
Connor Wilson – Rochester Knighthawks “My gut says Toronto beats Rochester. You know what that means… I’m picking Rochester to win. It doesn’t make sense, but I still contend it works“.
Chris Rosenthall – Rochester Knighthawks “Rochester scored single digits in half of their games so far this season; that’s not good enough to pick them over a defense like Toronto. But..this is Toronto’s second road game of the weekend, and they’ve already clinched a playoff spot anyway. It’s got to be tough to get up for that one. I changed my mind mid-prediction. Rochester wins it, they’re desperate“.
Ryan Connors – Toronto Rock “Rochester changed some players around this week on the defensive end. I don’t think their defense is the problem, they need to score more goals plain and simple. Even though the Rock are playing back-to-back they’ll put together a good game against the K-Hawks”.
- Philadelphia Wings @ Colorado Mammoth
Connor Wilson – Colorado Mammoth “Firepower kicks in for the Mammoth and they win a high scoring game“.
Chris Rosenthall – Colorado Mammoth “A rested Mammoth squad at home definitely has the advantage in this one, even though they came back down to Earth last weekend against Calgary“.
Ryan Connors – Colorado Mammoth “Casey
- Calgary Roughnecks @ Washington Stealth
Connor Wilson – Calgary Roughnecks “I keep getting this pick wrong. Let this be the week I get it right. Washington has come along way this year, but I still like Calgary’s fight. Roughnecks!”
Chris Rosenthall – Calgary Roughnecks “Calgary still gives up a ton of goals from time to time, but their offense has the ability to make up for it. Also, the Stealth scored five goals in their last game. That’s not going to cut it“.
Ryan Connors – Washington Stealth “Last time I think I got burned by the Stealth, but I can’t argue that they’re playing good lacrosse when they need to. All aboard the Stealth express!”
Correct Picks Running Tally:
Connor Wilson (23-29)
Chris Rosenthall (21-31)
Ryan Connors (22-30)