What another great weekend of NLL lacrosse. We had a few top teams go down in Buffalo and Toronto as well as more jaw dropping goals to add to the highlight reel. Let’s see who had a winning weekend and who ended up in the losers column in this week’s Winners and Losers.
Winners
Garrett Billings
Billings might not reach the 100 point mark this season like he has three times in his career, but he is playing like a 100 point scorer again as he seems to have gotten back into the groove after being away from the NLL last season. He came up big against Colorado with three goals and four assists as the Seals will be fighting for 1st in the West in their first ever season thanks to play of veterans like Billings. He was also named NLL Player of the Week, in addition to being featured on the NLL’s Top Goals. Definitely a guy who deserves to be in the Winners column on Winners and Losers.
Mike Poulin
Not only did Mike Poulin stymie the Buffalo Bandits offense by making 41 saves on 50 shots, but he also had three assists in the Swarm’s huge win over their eastern conference rivals. Poulin’s ability to pass the ball up the floor quickly off of a save allowed Georgia to really take the wind of the Bandits sails by scoring goals in transition and get a shorthanded goal. It will be crucial for Poulin to continue to have big games as the Swarm make a push for the first place.
Dhane Smith
Dhane Smith had a great weekend as the Bandits split their double header with a win against Philly and a tough loss to Georgia. In two games the Great Dhane had a balanced stat line of four goals, six assists, 14 loose balls, and three caused turnovers. He was scoring, battling for balls in the corners, and making it hard for the other teams to clear the ball. Smith is playing great lacrosse for the Bandits as they look to continue their dominate play in the last stretch of the season.
Honorable Mentions
Jeff Wittig
Wow! What a first NLL game for rookie Jeff Wittig. Not only did he score his first career NLL goal, but he finished with two goals and also two assists. Colorado has been struggling this season, but injecting some youth into the lineup and getting a player like Wittig some experience will be huge for the future. You can’t help but smile seeing Wittig’s reaction to scoring his first goal. Definitely a winner.
Curtis Dickson
Curtis Dickson is known more from his goal scoring ability, but when teammate Dan MacRae got high sticked, Dickson stepped right in and wasn’t afraid to fight Toronto’s Phil Caputo. Dickson wasn’t able to get his helmet off, but was able to land some good punches as the Roughnecks faithful cheered him on.
Losers
Phil Caputo
Phil Caputo had to pay for his hit on Dan MacRae by fighting Curtis Dickson and unfortunately for him he ended up having to try and punch Dickson’s helmet. Caputo would lose the fight and walk off the floor leaking some blood. Talk about a rough day at the office.
Philadelphia Wings
The Philadelphia Wings have done everything right in their first year back as an NLL franchise. Despite all of the players’ hard work they still haven’t been able to pull out games they are so close to winning. Everyone is pulling for the Wings and wants to see them be successful as they have drawn great crowds and have some of the best players in the league. Their record doesn’t reflect how good this team is and they have lost 2 overtime games as well as several games by only two goals. The Wings are in our ‘Losers’ column on Winners and Losers only because they keep getting the short end of the stick in terms of luck. The ball bounces differently and a few plays go the Wings’ way and they could have four or five wins. They have seven more games left and as long as they continue to play hard Philly lacrosse they will definitely get a couple more wins.