Justin Ivey, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Standings:
Shawn Palmer 5-1
Justin Ivey 4-2
Chris Vale 4-2
Stephonya Hunter-Penner 2-4
Pretty straight forward Week 2 for the NLL. The expansion New York team struggled as expected against Halifax, a team whose core has been together for years. New England showed that they are a team to be watched this year, beating the Rock in Toronto. San Diego kept it close, but the fire power of Buffalo was too much in the end. Shawn jumped up to our top spot with perfect predictions last week. Week 3 has four games, all on Saturday!
Philadelphia Wings (0-0) at Georgia Swarm (1-0)
Saturday, December 14 at 7:00 PM EST
The Wings will be better this year than their inaugural season but travelling on the road to play the Swarm for their first game is a heck of an uphill battle. Georgia is 1-0 after their Week 1 win in Rochester. A big win where their stars came ready. I expect some fireworks in this game, but the Swarm come through.
My Pick: Georgia
Stephonya Hunter-Penner: Georgia
Chris Vale: Georgia
Shawn Palmer: Georgia
New England Black Wolves (1-0) at Saskatchewan Rush (1-0)
Saturday, December 14 at 8:30 PM EST
New England played an excellent game in Toronto last week to start their season on the right foot. They scored in every way possible and Doug Jamieson looked the best he has in between the pipes. Saskatchewan defeated Colorado in Week 1, 9-8. Those two teams always play each other closely no matter what the situation is. The Rush have the home turf advantage, and it is a big one. The Black Wolves will try to start the season with two road wins. This is the must watch game of the weekend.
My Pick: New England
Stephonya Hunter-Penner: Saskatchewan
Chris Vale: Saskatchewan
Shawn Palmer: Saskatchewan
New York Riptide (0-1) at Vancouver Warriors (0-1)
Saturday, December 14 at 10:00 PM EST
In their first games this season, New York could only put up four goals and Vancouver only 7. New York is expected to struggle a bit to start off this year as an expansion franchise, and Vancouver should be able to benefit from their longer time together. That and playing in front of the home crowd. Our panel is split 2-2 showing how up in the air this could be.
My Pick: Vancouver
Stephonya Hunter-Penner: New York
Chris Vale: New York
Shawn Palmer: Vancouver
Toronto Rock (0-1) at San Diego Seals (0-1)
Saturday, December 14 at 10:00 PM EST
Both teams lost to strong opponents last week to start the season 0-1. San Diego stunned us all last year with strong play at home as an expansion franchise. I think their West Coast energy wins them this one over the Rock, but again the panel is split.
My Pick: San Diego
Stephonya Hunter-Penner: Toronto
Chris Vale: San Diego
Shawn Palmer: Toronto