Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© Location: Centreville Bank Stadium, Rhode Island Week 1 of Justin’s Picks started hot and ended with a little bit of humble pie. The Redwoods and Atlas came through with impressive opening weekend wins, and both picks felt strong from the opening whistle as California shut down Utah and New York proved it could win even while missing major stars. Unfortunately, the back half of the…
Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© The #4 Georgia Swarm played in their home uniforms in Game 3 against the #8 Halifax Thunderbirds at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax Sunday night. Due to a scheduling conflict, Gas South Arena was unavailable to host the winner-take-all matchup, and on short notice the teams settled on staying in Halifax. After pouring on 21 goals to force the decisive game, the Swarm hoped to…
Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© The #8 Halifax Thunderbirds hosted the #4 Georgia Swarm on Saturday night at Scotiabank Centre for Game 2 of their semifinal series. Halifax had stolen Game 1 in Georgia and could clinch a spot in the NLL Finals with another win. Georgia, meanwhile, needed a bounce-back performance after being held to just seven goals in the opener to force a winner-take-all Game 3 on…
Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© Location: Zions Bank Stadium, Salt Lake City, UT Welcome to the very first edition of Justin’s Picks for the PLL and WLL season. Every week, I’ll be breaking down matchups, giving my picks, and taking a look at the storylines shaping the lacrosse world as the season unfolds. This offseason brought massive roster movement across the league, with contenders reloading through free agency, blockbuster…
Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© The #4 Georgia Swarm hosted the #8 Halifax Thunderbirds for Game 1 of the NLL Semi-Finals Saturday night at Gas South Arena. After an impressive six-goal, four-assist performance in the first round, Lyle Thompson (1G, 2A) could not repeat the magic in back-to-back games. There was only one multi-goal scorer for the Swarm, Richie Connell (2G), as the entire offense struggled. Jason Knox (4G,…
Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© The Georgia Swarm finished the season as the #4 seed this year, and as a reward they welcomed the three-time defending champion Buffalo Bandits, the #5 seed, in the opening round. The Saturday night game was the first home playoff game for the Swarm since 2019. Buffalo had been playing playoff-style lacrosse for weeks after an early-season slump forced them to play catch-up. Georgia…
Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© The NLL Playoffs started Friday night as the #1 seed Vancouver Warriors hosted the #8 seed Halifax Thunderbirds at Rogers Arena. Just two weeks ago, these two teams battled in the same arena. Halifax escaped that regular season matchup with a one-goal victory, 8-7. With the top overall seed and the home crowd in a frenzy, the Warriors jumped out to a commanding lead…
Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© Last night at the SaskTel Centre, the Saskatchewan Rush (12-6) hosted the Toronto Rock (11-7) in a game that mattered to both teams in the final weekend of the regular season. With a win, the Rush would clinch a first-round home playoff game. With Buffalo’s loss earlier in the evening, Toronto would also clinch a first-round home playoff game with a win. The two…
Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© Coming into the final weekend of the NLL regular season, the Las Vegas Desert Dogs and the San Diego Seals are locked in a battle for a postseason berth. The teams played the first game of a doubleheader weekend on Friday night at Pechanga Arena. To set the stage, if either team swept the two-game weekend series, that team would clinch a playoff berth….
Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© The Buffalo Bandits (11-6) hosted the Rochester Knighthawks (6-10) Saturday night at KeyBank Center with the goal of continuing their win streak as the playoffs approach. Winners of six straight coming into last night’s matchup, the defending champion Bandits have firmly overcome their early-season struggles and are firing on all cylinders. The visiting Knighthawks entered the game with a statistical chance to make the…
Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© The Vancouver Warriors (12-5) hosted the Halifax Thunderbirds (7-10) Saturday night as the NLL regular season winds down. Vancouver has already clinched a spot in the playoffs, but the #1 seed is still up for grabs. Halifax, on the other hand, finds itself on the edge, needing a win to move closer to securing a playoff spot. Rogers Arena was treated to a defensive…
Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© The Buffalo Bandits (10-6), donning special Marvel jerseys, hosted the Vancouver Warriors (11-5) at KeyBank Center on Saturday night. The Warriors started the night atop the NLL standings and had already clinched a playoff spot. The Bandits have yet to clinch but came in winners of five straight games, a late-season push that has seen them climb to the middle of the field. The…