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NLL Power Rankings: Week 7

Writer's picture: Dan ArestiaDan Arestia

Only four games played in Week Six, so not a ton in terms of movement. But there were still big moments. New York got their first win with a quality, complete performance. Buffalo won the championship rematch in fairly convincing fashion, and Albany just refuses to be anything remotely close to what we all expected. 


Here’s this week’s power ranking:


15 Las Vegas Desert Dogs (1-3)


Idle this week, but jumped by New York for their win. Vegas takes on San Diego this weekend.


14 Vancouver Warriors (1-3)


Idle this week. They host Rochester this weekend.


13 New York Riptide (1-3)


New York got out quick to a 3-0 start, but Philly battled back to tie it at four. From there, New York went on a four goal run and never looked back. Teat was a wizard, Connor Kearnan keeps producing. Offseason acquisition Austin Madronic scored his first goal of the year, and if he can really get going on the right side, New York will get the balance they need. The Riptide scored settled, in transition, and on the power play, scoring in the moments you’d expect them to score. They welcome PCLC to New York this weekend before going on a brutal stretch of schedule into March. 


12 Saskatchewan Rush (1-3)


Idle this week. They travel to Philadelphia this weekend to take on the Wings. 


11 Panther City Lacrosse Club (1-3)


A valiant comeback effort came up just short against Georgia. Callum Crawford and Jonathan Donville have been excellent and just keep scoring in bunches. That’s impressive, given the difficult schedule that PCLC has played over the season’s first month. They keep hanging tight with good teams, but coming up just short. A trip to New York to play the Riptide is a major opportunity this weekend. New York will likely be favored after their win over Philly.


10 Colorado Mammoth (1-3)


Colorado got soundly beaten in Buffalo in the championship rematch. The Bandits got out to a 7-1 half time lead. Colorado’s offense could get nothing going. The defense was letting Dillon Ward get peppered. He made 45 saves on the night, but it just Colorado too long to get into the game. Eli McLaughlin sparked them a bit and had a hat trick, but right now, this Mammoth team looks a long way from the form they had in the postseason for the last two years. 


9 Philadelphia Wings (2-2)


A loss to New York stings, especially considering Philly is coming off a win against Halifax and just got Blaze Riorden and Holden Cattoni back. The injuries and roster shuffling can create some inconsistent play; it’s not easy having players in and out of the lineup. As their offense gets healthier and back into form, that end of the floor should take care of itself. The defense, however, needs some work. The Wings host the Rush this weekend. 


8 Calgary Roughnecks (1-2)


Idle this week. The Roughnecks travel to Vancouver this weekend. 


7 Halifax Thunderbirds (2-2)


A loss to Albany to follow up a loss to Philadelphia has the Birds moving down the list. The two losses are by a combined three goals. The Philly loss was as a sizable favorite, while the Albany game was closer to a pick ‘em. Losses are losses, however they happen. They play Toronto this weekend in the game of the week. With a win, they’ll be right back near the top of the rankings. 


6 Rochester Knighthawks (3-1)


Idle this week, Rochester welcomes the Bandits to town this weekend.


5 Buffalo Bandits (2-2)


Winning a championship rematch should be enough to jump up in the rankings, but it’s a tricky week. Can’t really drop San Diego for just being idle, same with Toronto especially from the top spot. The other teams ahead of Buffalo have beaten them. On top of that, Colorado has not looked great to start the year, as they hold only an OT win over Vancouver. Championship Rematch was dominant for Buffalo and they are trending up. They’ll jump teams ahead of if they can win in Rochester this Saturday. 


4 Georgia Swarm (4-1)


Little scary for Georgia this week, but they hold here because they have the win over Buffalo in Buffalo. Georgia was up 9-4 at half and let PCLC come all the way back to tie it at nine, then again at 10. If not for some Shayne Jackson heroics who knows how that all turns out. But they got the win, and that’s the most important thing. 


3 San Diego Seals (2-1)


Idle this week. San Diego visits Vegas and the Desert Dogs this weekend, and you can watch on ESPNU. They then play Colorado a day later in Ball Arena. 


2 Albany Firewolves (5-0)


Another week another win for Albany. Halifax was not an easy matchup. The edge that Joe Nardella gives Albany could get countered by Withers. The young Albany offense would have to deal with veteran stars like Graeme Hossack and Tyson Bell. The Thunderbirds offense is loaded with quality shooters and finishers. This was as tough a matchup as Albany had seen. They even found themselves down by two goals early in the 4th. Yet they found a four goal run to close the game, staying undefeated and playing like vets. 


1 Toronto Rock (3-0)


Idle this week. And it’s not crazy for someone to put Albany in the one spot, given their 5-0 record and wins over Buffalo and Halifax. But per my usual thinking, if you put Albany and Toronto on a neutral floor tonight, as of today, I’m picking Toronto.


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