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Playoffs Update: Six Teams Are In, Three More Vying for Final Two Spots

April 14, 2013 - National Lacrosse League (NLL) News Release


The National Lacrosse League has announced updated playoff scenarios entering Week #16, the final week of the 2013 NLL regular season. The Calgary Roughnecks, Edmonton Rush, Minnesota Swarm, Philadelphia Wings, Toronto Rock and Washington Stealth have all clinched playoff berths while the Buffalo Bandits, Colorado Mammoth and Rochester Knighthawks will vie for the final two postseason spots next weekend.

East Division

Toronto (10-6) has clinched a playoff berth and the East Division regular season title. The Rock will clinch the NLL regular season title with an Edmonton loss to Calgary. Toronto will host a first-round home playoff game at Air Canada Centre on Sunday, April 28 at 3 p.m. ET.

Philadelphia (7-8) has clinched a playoff berth and can clinch a first-round home playoff game with a win over Washington AND a Rochester loss to Buffalo.

Rochester (7-8) can clinch a playoff berth and a first-round home playoff game with a win over Buffalo. The Knighthawks will clinch a playoff berth with a Colorado loss to Minnesota. Rochester will be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss to Buffalo AND a Colorado win over Minnesota.

Buffalo (6-9) can clinch a playoff berth with a win over Rochester. The Bandits can clinch a first-round home playoff game with a win over Rochester AND a Philadelphia loss to Washington. Buffalo will be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss to Rochester.

West Division

Edmonton (9-6) has clinched a playoff berth and can clinch the NLL regular season title with a win over Calgary. The Rush will clinch a first-round home playoff game with a Washington loss to Philadelphia.

Calgary (8-7) has clinched a playoff berth and can clinch the West Division regular season title with a win over Edmonton. The Roughnecks will clinch a first-round home playoff game with a Minnesota win over Colorado AND a Washington loss to Philadelphia.

Washington (8-7) has clinched a playoff berth and can clinch a first-round home playoff game with a win over Philadelphia OR with a Minnesota loss to Colorado AND a Calgary loss to Edmonton.

Minnesota (7-8) has clinched a playoff berth.

Colorado (6-9) can clinch a playoff berth with a win over Minnesota. The Mammoth will clinch a playoff berth with a Buffalo loss to Rochester. Colorado will be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss to Minnesota AND a Buffalo win over Rochester.

Playoffs Outline

Eight teams will advance to the 2013 Playoffs, which start on the weekend of April 26-28. The crossover rule allows the 5th place team in the West Division to take the place of the 4th place team in the East Division if the 5th place team has a better record.

In the event that the 5th place West team and 4th place East team finish the regular season with identical records, the tiebreakers used for overall seeding will be applied to break to tie and determine which team claims the final playoff berth.

Each division champion faces the fourth place finisher from their division (or the crossover team should that team qualify for the playoffs). The second place finisher in each division faces the third place finisher from their division in the Division Semifinals. Each game is hosted by the higher-seeded team. The winners advance with the higher-seeded teams hosting the Divisional Finals. The winners of the Division Finals meet in the 2013 NLL Championship Game, hosted by the team with the higher overall seeding.

Playoffs Calendar

April 20: Final day of regular season

Weekend of April 26-28: Divisional Semifinals

Weekend of May 3-5: Divisional Finals

Weekend of May 10-12: 2013 NLL Championship Game, presented by Reebok

Divisional Tiebreakers

The following is the tiebreaking procedure for clubs having identical won-lost records at the conclusion of the regular season within their division, to determine the order of finish and seeding within the division:

A) Head-to-head record during the regular season (best won-lost percentage in games between tied clubs).

B) Win-loss percentage against divisional opponents.

C) Win-loss record against common opponents played an equal number of times during the regular season.

D) Goals for/goals (most net points) against in head-to-head matchups.

E) Per-game goal differential (goals for minus goals against, divided by games played) within Division.

F) Total goals for/goals (most net points) against for the regular season.

G) Coin toss.

Overall Seeding Tiebreakers

The following is the tie-breaking procedure for clubs having identical won-lost records at the conclusion of the regular season to determine the Overall Order of Finish and Overall Playoff Seeding:

A) Head-to-head record during the regular season (best won-lost percentage in games between tied clubs).

B) Win-loss record against common opponents played an equal number of games during the regular season.

C) Goals for/goals (most net points) against in head-to-head matchups.

D) Total goals for/goals against (most net points) for the regular season.

E) Coin toss.

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