NLL National Lacrosse League

10 Things to Know for Week 20

Published on April 13, 2023 under National Lacrosse League (NLL) News Release


PHILADELPHIA - Four clubs (Toronto, Buffalo, San Diego, Calgary) have punched their tickets to "The March to May" through a Week 19 that saw the defending champion Mammoth keep their playoff hopes very much alive and the Swarm continue their mid-to-late-season run as the hottest team in the National Lacrosse League (@NLL), the world's largest and most successful professional lacrosse league. And the games grow even more critical in Week 20 as some key matchups may mean the difference for teams seeking postseason berths.

National audiences across the U.S. and Canada will be witness, as two key contests serve as NLL Games of the Week on TSN (Las Vegas @ Calgary, Friday, 9 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. MT. also KVMY-TV; and Philadelphia @ Toronto, Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, also WNYA-TV) and another finds a home on ESPNU (San Diego @ Colorado, Friday, 9 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. MT, also WPSG-TV).

Here are 10 things to know about the NLL for Week 20:

"The March to May" clinching/elimination scenarios include:

Buffalo (already in playoffs) can earn a quarterfinal home playoff game with a win vs. New York

San Diego (already in playoffs and clinched QF home playoff) can secure the West Conference #1 seed with at Colorado on Friday, OR a Calgary loss vs. Las Vegas Friday

Panther City would clinch a playoff berth with a win at Vancouver on Saturday AND one of the following:

Philadelphia loss at Toronto on Saturday, OR

Halifax loss at Saskatchewan on Saturday

Colorado would clinch a playoff berth with a win vs San Diego on Friday AND Saskatchewan loss vs Halifax on Saturday AND Philadelphia loss at Toronto on Saturday

Saskatchewan would be eliminated with a loss vs Halifax on Saturday AND Colorado win vs San Diego on Friday

Las Vegas would be eliminated from playoff contention with:

a loss at Calgary on Friday, OR

Colorado win vs San Diego on Friday, OR

Saskatchewan win vs Halifax on Saturday

Rochester, Georgia, Halifax and Philadelphia are still in playoff consideration but do not have clinching scenarios in Week 20

New York, Albany and Vancouver have been eliminated from postseason contention

Just like the battles for first place in the East and West Conferences will likely go down to the last weekend, the race for the scoring title is a tight one. With New York and its superstar Jeff Teat (Brampton, Ont.) idle, Rochester's Connor Fields (East Amherst, N.Y.) pulled to within a goal of the season lead: Teat 49, Fields 48. The Riptide have three games remaining, all away contests, while the Knighthawks take this week off before hosting Georgia (April 22) and Philadelphia (April 29). Teat's 115 points are seven ahead of Buffalo's Dhane Smith (Kitchener, Ont.) for the overall lead.

'Tis the season for spoilers, when the pride of NLL teams and players left out of the playoffs is put to the test. First up: Albany (3-10), which edged Rochester (9-7) on Saturday in Western N.Y., in the process snapping a 10-game losing streak. The FireWolves will look to do the same to streaking Georgia on Saturday (7 p.m., ESPN+, TSN+, WNYA My4) at MVP Arena. Vancouver (4-12) has similar aspirations against Panther City (9-7) on Saturday (10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT, ESPN+, TSN+, Bally Sports SW) at Rogers Arena, while New York (4-11) aims to keep Buffalo (11-4) out of the top spot in the East.

San Diego's Curtis Dickson (Port Coquitlam, B.C) has been through the NLL wars. Entering Saturday's game vs. Las Vegas, the Delaware grad now in his 12th season (11 with Calgary) had 497 goals. And with just 30 seconds left in the game, he netted his third, getting him to the magic 500 and making him only the eighth player in league history to reach that plateau. He currently leads the Seals in goalswith 42, and sits at #4 overall in the league.

Combining both playoff and regular season games, the Buffalo Bandits matchup against the New York Riptide will be the franchises 500th game played. Debuting in 1992, the Bandits are the second franchise to reach the mark, but first team representing one city to hit the milestone. The only other franchise is the Colorado Mammoth, which began as the Baltimore Thunder in the league's first year of existence in 1987 before relocating to Pittsburgh and Washington DC before settling in Colorado for the 2003 season where they have been since.

Fans can bid on shorts, jersey, game balls and nameplates that will be used by both teams in the Buffalo Bandits' Tucker Out Lymphoma Night game on Saturday vs. New York (7:30pm, ESPN+, TSN+). The night honors the son of former Bandit and NLL Hall of Famer Shawn Williams, who fought Burkitt's Lymphoma until his death in 2014. Other activities planned include a Lacrosse Ball Surprise pre-game, commemorative posters, a post-game meet and greet at Aloft hotel in Buffalo with players as well as raffles with proceeds going toward TOLN fundraising. Las Vegas held a similar event on March 25.

The Roughnecks hosted their annual "Superhero Party" on WestJet Field at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday, and the local media had a little fun matching Calgary players with caped counterparts: Kyle 'Aquaman' Waters (Orangeville, Ont.), Tanner 'Cookie Monster' Cook (Courtice, Ont.), Haiden 'Superman II' Dickson (Delta, B.C.), Shane 'The Flash' Simpson (Hamilton, Ont.) and Josh 'The Mailman' Currier (Peterborough, Ont.). And Tyler Pace (Coquitlam, B.C.) dubbed himself "Batman" and Jesse King (Victoria, B.C.) "Robin" for a Dynamic Duo that subdued Panther City, 12-5. This week the club's final home date of the regular season vs. Las Vegas (9 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. MT. also KVMY-TV) has been designated as "Fan Appreciation Night," which Josh's brother Zach Currier (Peterborough, Ont.) previewed on GlobalTV.

The Saskatchewan Rush are turning back the clock on "Retro Night" on Saturday vs. Halifax (9:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. MT, ESPN+, TSN+), The team will wear jerseys representing the Syracuse Smash, an NLL expansion team in 1997 which moved to Ottawa to become the Rebel (2001-2003). Later, the Edmonton Rush (2005-2015) moved to Saskatchewan to begin play in the SaskTel Centre. The jerseys morph the old Smash logo into a "Retro" Rush look for the night, presented by First Nation Power Authority.

In addition to the national games on TSN and ESPNU, four games this week will be simulcast locally in the U.S. across six networks: Albany (WYNA My4); Las Vegas (KVMY Ch. 21); Panther City (Bally Sports SW) and Philadelphia (WPSG CW57).

Some milestones players eclipsed last week include:

Georgia defenseman/transition player Jeremy Thompson (Syracuse, N.Y.) now has 1643 loose ball recoveries, passing Mark Steenhuis for sixth on the all-time list, after grabbing 11 vs. Saskatchewan

Panther City defenseman/transition player Tyler Burton (London, Ont.) now has 804 loose ball recoveries after nabbing six vs. Calgary

San Diego goaltender Frank Scigliano (Coquitlam, B.C.) needs became the 16th goaltender in league history to reach 50 in the Seals' win over Las Vegas

Rochester forward Connor Fields (East Amherst, N.Y.) now has 100 goals after scoring twice vs. Albany

Saskatchewan goaltender Alex Buque (Whitby, Ont.) has now played 4022 minutes after minding the net for 57 vs. Georgia

Saskatchewan defenseman Ryan Dilks (Edmonton, Alb.) now has 100 career points after an assist vs. Georgia

Some milestones players may reach this week include:

Albany defenseman Brett Manney (Newtown, Pa.) needs three loose ball recoveries to reach 600

Buffalo forward Josh Byrne (New Westminster, B.C.) needs six assists to reach 200

Buffalo forward Kyle Buchanan (Nepean, Ont.) needs two loose ball recoveries to reach 900

Buffalo transition player Ian MacKay (Port Elgin, Ont.) needs two points to reach 100

Buffalo defenseman Ethan O'Connor (Milton, Ont.) needs eight loose ball recoveries to reach 600

Buffalo defenseman Steve Priolo (St. Catharines, Ont) needs two points to reach 200; and five loose ball recoveries to reach 1200

Buffalo goaltender Matt Vinc (St. Catharines, Ont.) needs one game dressed to pass Colin Doyle and Mark Steenhuis for seventh all-time in league history with 267

Colorado forward Tyson Gibson (Maple, Ont.) needs one point to reach 100

Colorado forward Ryan Lee (Newmarket, Ont.) needs four goals to reach 100

Colorado forward Eli McLaughlin (Surrey, B.C.) needs one loose ball recovery to reach 400

Colorado forward Chris Wardle (Victoria, B.C.) needs one goal to reach 100

Colorado forward Zed Williams (Silver Creek, N.Y.) needs four goals to reach 100

Georgia head coach Ed Comeau needs one win to pass Darris Kilgour for second on the all-time list with 122

Georgia forward Andrew Kew (Oakville, Ont.) needs two points to reach 200

Halifax defenseman David Brock (Burlington, Ont) needs one point to reach 100

Halifax defenseman Graeme Hossack (Port Perry, Ont.) needs five points to reach 100; and 10 loose ball recoveries to reach 900

Halifax forward Randy Staats (Six Nations, Ont.) needs three assists to reach 300

Las Vegas forward Zack Greer (Whitby, Ont.) needs four loose ball recoveries to reach 600

Las Vegas forward Jacob Ruest (Cornwall, Ont.) needs one game played to reach 100

New York forward Tyler Digby (New Westminster, B.C.) needs four loose ball recoveries to reach 400

Philadelphia defenseman/transition player Trevor Baptiste (Denville, N.J.) needs seven faceoff wins to reach 1200

Philadelphia forward Mitch Jones (Delta, B.C.) needs 10 assists to reach 300; and nine points to reach 500

Philadelphia forward Blaze Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) needs five goals to reach 100

Rochester forward Curtis Knight (Oshawa, Ont.) needs six assists to reach 300

San Diego defenseman/transition player Brodie Merrill (Orangeville, Ont) needs one game played to pass Derek Suddons for third place on the all-time list with 275.

Saskatchewan forward Dan Lintner (Courtice, Ont.) needs one point to reach 200

Toronto defenseman TD Ierlan (Victor, N.Y.) needs three faceoff wins to reach 500

Toronto forward Challen Rogers (Coquitlam, B.C.) needs three assists to reach 100

Toronto goaltender Nick Rose (Orangeville, Ont.) needs 17 minutes played to become the seventh goaltender all-time with 9000 minutes played

Vancouver forward Adam Charalambides (Georgetown, Ont.) needs two points to reach 100

Vancouver forward Shawn Evans (Peterborough, Ont.) needs 10 points to pass Josh Sanderson for fifth on the all-time list with 1358

Vancouver defenseman Brett Mydske (New Westminster, B.C.) needs one point to reach 100

Schedule - Week 20 (All Times Eastern)

Friday

Desert Dogs (5-10) @ Roughnecks (11-5), 9pm, NLL Game of the Week on TSN, ESPN+, KVMY Ch. 21

Seals (12-3) @ Mammoth (8-7), 9pm, ESPNU, TSN+

Saturday

Swarm (7-8) @ FireWolves (3-12), 7pm, ESPN+, TSN+, WNYA My4

Wings (7-8) @ Rock (12-4), 7pm, NLL Game of the Week on TSN, ESPN+, WPSG CW57

Riptide (4-11) @ Bandits (11-4), 7:30pm, ESPN+, TSN+

Thunderbirds (7-8) @ Rush (6-9), 9:30pm, ESPN+, TSN+

Panther City (9-7) @ Warriors (4-12), 10pm, ESPN+, TSN+, Bally Sports SW

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