Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© Location: Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium, Chicago, IL After taking a week off for the PLL and WLL All-Star festivities, Justin’s Picks is back as we officially enter the second half of the season. If the first half has taught us anything, it’s that predicting professional lacrosse is a lot harder than it looks. Some weekends have made me look like a genius,…
Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© Location: Torero Stadium, San Diego, California Justin’s Picks finally found a little momentum last weekend, finishing with a 2-2 record and proving that maybe—just maybe—the ship is starting to turn. The season record still has plenty of room for improvement, but there have been some encouraging trends. The Redwoods continue to reward my faith as one of the hottest teams in the PLL, the…
Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© Location: James M. Shuart Stadium, Long Island, New York After another 2-3 week, Justin’s Picks heads to Long Island looking for a winning weekend. With only three PLL games and one WLL matchup on the schedule, there won’t be many places to hide. Every game carries major implications, from the Atlas’ desperate search for momentum in a doubleheader weekend to a heavyweight showdown between…
Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© Location: Ridley American Legion Memorial Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina Week 3 was better, but it wasn’t great. Justin’s Picks correctly predicted two of the four PLL games, and struck out on the second WLL matchup. The debut of Joey Spallina sparked the Whipsnakes to two weekend wins, no adjustment time needed. Other rookies playing their first game in the PLL sparked big plays and…
Justin Ivey, Co-Editor Lacrosse is Awesome© Location: Ridley Athletic Complex, Baltimore, Maryland Week 2 was a disaster of epic proportions. After opening Justin’s Picks with a respectable 2-2 record, I somehow managed to go winless in Week 2, proving that predicting professional lacrosse is significantly harder than it looks from the couch. The good news? Every team has now shown strengths, weaknesses, and a few surprises, giving us a much…
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…