It was an exciting NLL Week 10 in the National Lacrosse League as the names and logos were announced for the two new franchises. The Halifax Thunderbirds and the New York Riptide will both begin play in the winter of 2019. We also had several exciting games that went down to the wire and saw some great performances by players on every team. Let’s see who had a winning weekend and who ended up in the losers column in this week’s Winners and Losers.
NLL Week 10 Winners
Steve Priolo
The Buffalo Bandits have been on fire recently as they have now won four straight games after beating Calgary on Saturday. Steve Priolo has been a big reason for their success as he has been the glue holding the Bandits D together and also has the most points of any defensemen in the NLL with 19. On Saturday he had his hands in plays all over the floor. Priolo had 2 goals, 1 assist, 12 loose balls, and 2 caused turnovers. One of his goals was a ridiculous behind the back in transition that landed him at No. 5 on the
Eli McLaughlin
Eli McLaughlin was practically unstoppable as the Colorado Mammoth downed the Georgia Swarm in front of an electric crowd at the Loud House. The Mammoth were without their lefty star Ryan Benesch who left the game early with an injury so McLaughlin would have to step up big time for them to pull out the win. He would answer the call and scored 3 goals in the 2nd half and 4 on the night while also dishing out 2 assists. The one they call “Liger” out in Denver was slicing through the Swarm defense and able to put the ball past Mike Poulin who has been one of the best netminders in the league this year. McLaughlin and the Mammoth are back in the hunt for the playoffs after rattling off two straight wins.
Home Teams
It was a bad weekend to be an away team as 5 out of 6 home teams were victorious in their games this weekend. It could be a mixture of the rowdy crowds out in Buffalo, Philadelphia, and Colorado or the travel wearing on the away teams, but nonetheless the teams who played in their own arenas were feeling good. Attendance has been solid around the league and it will be a big boost for teams later in the season in need of a win to have their home crowds on their side and make life tough for opposing teams.
*Honorable Mentions*
Adam Schute
Adam Schute got his first start of the season for the Saskatchewan Rush and was able to keep the Vancouver shooters at bay as the Rush snapped their three game losing streak and escaped Vancouver with a Win. Schute made 30 saves on 43 shots and he made some really big saves at the end to stop the Warriors from tying the game.
Callum Crawford
This is the second week in a row Callum Crawford is on my Winners list after posting a jaw dropping 18 points over the weekend in New England’s double header with Philadelphia. He had 5 goals and 7 assists in the Black Wolves win over the Wings on Sunday after losing to them the night before. Crawford is on pace for a record season and has been crucial to keeping New England in the win column.
NLL Week 10 Losers
Ben McIntosh
McIntosh had a good game against Vancouver scoring 1 goals and adding 3 assists, but he unfortunately lost his footing as he was backpedaling away from a dodging Mark Matthews. McIntosh took a tumble and watched Matthews score his third goal of the night while trying to get up from the Rogers Arena turf. That must have been a little embarrassing in front of thousands of Vancouver fans, but he would get the last laugh as the Rush went on to win.
Another Referee Got Hit By A Shot
In last week’s Winners and Losers my only loser was a referee getting hit by a deflected shot and I asked that we give the referees a little more love for putting themselves in the way of 90 MPH shots, but somehow we had another referee get hit for the second week in a row. This time a Chris Wardle bounce shot took a weird ricochet and went right for the corner referee hitting him in the shoulder. It’s a good thing the NLL referees are just as tough as the players because both referees the past two weeks have shrugged off the shots and kept calling the games. All the referees better keep the head on a swivel out there.
