(Rochester, NY)… It is officially playoff season in summer box, and the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) regular season has only one weekend remaining. 18 Knighthawks are playing in the PLL, Major Series Lacrosse (MSL), the Can-Am Lacrosse League (CALL), and the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL). Six remain in the MSL playoffs, one is playing in the CALL final, and one is already in the Presidents Cup for the RMLL.
MSL:
It’s playoff time in the MSL and two squads with Knighthawks remain. The Six Nations Chiefs have already secured their spot in the MSL Final after defeating the Cobourg Kodiaks 15-7, 11-9, and 8-5. Ryan Smith has continued to produce for the Chiefs’ offense. He tallied three goals and five assists in those games.
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On the other side of the bracket, the Peterborough Lakers are still playing against the Oakville Rock in their five-game series. The Lakers won the first and third games of the series, both on the road at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre. Brad McCulley scored the game-winning goal in the first matchup. Ryan Lanchbury had the assist on the team’s second game-winner when they won 7-3.
So far in their series, McCulley has three points with a goal and two assists, Matt Gilray has four goals in transition, and Ryan Lanchbury has nine points on three goals and six assists. They play Game Four on Aug. 11 in Peterborough. One more win would seal its place in the final.
PLL:
The PLL hosted “Throwback” weekend in Boston as they near the end of their regular season. With the slate of games that played out, the playoff field is almost completely set. Five teams have clinched one of the six playoff spots. The final spot will go to the Redwoods as long as they don’t lose by 12 or more next weekend.
Graydon Hogg and the Boston Cannons were the home team for the weekend. They went 2-0 over the Maryland Whipsnakes and the California Redwoods to clinch their spot in the playoffs. Hogg scored the first two goals of the weekend, only 37 seconds apart from one another.
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The next game of the evening was another Connor Fields vs. Blaze Riorden matchup as the Utah Archers took down the Carolina Chaos 13-12. Despite the Archers coming out on top, Riorden dominated the Knighthawks matchup. He held Fields to zero goals on five shots despite losing the game. Mitchell Dunham also played in the contest, scooping up two ground balls on defense for Utah.
Jake Piseno played on Saturday for the Denver Outlaws, helping them clinch a playoff spot with their 14-9 win over the New York Atlas. Piseno had the best Knighthawks performance of the week, posting a goal and an assist, four caused turnovers and two groundballs en route to the win.
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Senior “B”:
It’s championship time in Senior “B” as teams fight their way to a Presidents Cup appearance at the end of the month.
The RMLL will receive two bids to the Presidents Cup this year as the hosts. Because of that, Cam MacLeod has already secured his spot with the Edmonton Miners.
As for the CALL, Taylor Jensen and the Tonawanda Braves currently trail 3-2 in a seven-game series with the Newtown Golden Eagles. It was a close 10-9 game to open the series in July. Neither team has found a win on the road yet. Both of Tonawanda’s wins came at Logan Field, while the Golden Eagles’ wins all came at the Gil Lay. Taylor Jensen has been a big influence in transition for the Braves. In the five games of the final so far, he has two goals and three assists while playing a majority of the defensive shifts for the team.