By TRT Staff with notes from nll.com
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) opened the New Year with Week 6 Power Rankings. Since last week, more unexpected moves have been made on the league standings charts.
The number of played games still impact the standings in tandem with scores, placing the Albany FireWolves unexpectedly on top, followed by the Toronto Rock, Georgia Swarm, Rochester Nighthawks, Halifax Thun-derbirds, San Diego Seals, Philadelphia Wings, Calgary Roughnecks, Panther City, Buffalo Bandits, Colorado Mammoth, Saskatchewan Rush, Vancouver Warriors, Las Vegas desert Dogs, and New York Riptide consecutively.
According to the NLL website, the results from the start of this NLL season have seen stark changes in the power rankings more than any other season in recent memory. Between comebacks to the upset victories, this past weekend of NLL action saw an un-derdog take first place in rankings, the Albany FireWolves.
The FireWolves sit with a 4-0 record, and saw victories in both Week 5 and Week matches. In Week 5 they earned an 11-10 over-time win while visiting the Saskatchewan Rush. In Week 6 they earned a 2-1 victory over the Halifax Thunderbirds. This team was previously ranked in fourth place, but is now one of only two undefeated teams remaining the NLL season. Previously, Albany had been sat by many people at or near the bottom of the league rankings coming into this season. Doug Jamieson has served as a wall in net, and the defence in front of him isn’t making it easy for any opposing team to find an opening. Marshall Powless has also made moves on the offensive end.
The Philadelphia Wings are back in the Top 8, and in Week 5, it was a complete team effort. Despite not leading in the game until they won in overtime 16-15 against the Halifax Thunderbirds, the Wings still saw huge efforts. Team ties helped the Wings pull off one of the most impressive road wins of this early season.
The Rochester Knighthawks are a talented bunch – there’s a reason they were 3-0 heading into Week 5 action. But, with their opposition set in the San Diego Seals, the team had to endure a 17-14 loss.The Knighthawks head into a Bye Week to regroup after their first loss of the season.
The Buffalo Bandits have suffered uncharacteristic losses to start this season. They lost to the Georgia Swarm 9-0 after sitting near first place in rankings.
The Halifax Thunderbirds had a chance to be in the running for the #1 spot this week, but they couldn’t close out at home. The Thunderbirds scored 15 goals in Week 5, so that’s a very good thing, but they also allowed 16 goals, which fed them the defeats against the Wings.
The Georgia Swarm picked up their signature win this weekend, defeating the Bandits in Buffalo, and doing so by holding them to eight goals.
The San Diego Seals are an impressive team this season. They defeated the Knighthawks with a decided victory 17-14 and enter a Bye Week.
The Toronto Rock have been a very dominant team this NLL season still, sitting in second place below Albany. They earned a strong win over the Riptide 14-8 before entering a Bye Week of their own. Justin Martin scored in the second period before a hometown crowd in Hamilton.
