A Turn of Events

This past weekend’s first round playoff games undoubtedly proved that results are unpredictable when it comes to the National Lacrosse League.

In the East Division, the Rochester Knighthawks were set to play Philadelphia in Rochester on Saturday. The game was a fight to the finish and the score was nail-bitingly close for most of the game. It was truly unclear which team would come out on top.

Midway through the game, when fans noticed Cody Jamieson’s mysterious disappearance from the game, they started to worry. It was later disclosed that Jamieson suffered an ankle injury and was unable to play for the rest of the game. It was clear when Jamieson left the game that defense would have to step up their game even more and goalie Matt Vinc would have to play at the top of his game, and they did! So much so that defenseman Paul Dawson was able to put the ball past Philadelphia goalie, Brandon Miller, to score his second goal of the season.

The offense stepped up to the plate when they were needed and scored enough to keep Rochester ahead.

Rochester eliminated Philadelphia from the playoffs with a 10-8 win. 
Whether Rochester was going to host a home game or not was the next shock of the weekend of games.

Toronto, the first place team in not only the East Division but the entire National Lacrosse League, hosted the Minnesota Swarm (as a result of the crossover rule) on Sunday. If Toronto won, Rochester would make the trip to the Air Canada Centre to play in the divisional final game. A Toronto loss would mean Minnesota would make the trip to Rochester to play the game, making it Rochester's first time hosting a Division Final since 2007.

Most would think that Toronto, the team that has shown the most success throughout the season, would put up a fight to the death to prove that they were the ones who deserved to move on but the score showed otherwise.

The team that played all season and earned a 10-6 record must have been on vacation because a 20-11 loss was completely unexpected, coming from the team who most thought would play in the NLL championship game.

Rochester is now set to host Minnesota on Saturday, May 4 at 4:00 and the winner of this game will move on the championship game.

Unfortunately, Rochester will not be hosting the championship game if they make it past this weekend due to the fact that both teams left in the West Division have a better overall record but to be able to defend the title would be a great honor and accomplishment!