Another week, another step closer to our playoff picture.

The New England Black Wolves locked up their spot in the playoffs, giving us our four East Division postseason teams – Georgia, Buffalo, Toronto and New England. Thus, Rochester and New England were officially eliminated

“It’s great,” Black Wolves captain Brett Manney said. “It’s certainly a reward to play in the playoffs. It’s just a show of hard work. … The ultimate goal of our team is to win a championship, and they aren’t won overnight.”

The Swarm clinched home field for the first round of the playoffs, while the Bandits missed out on their chance to. Vancouver’s slim hopes are still alive with a Mammoth loss.

Tightening up in the West

With three games combined between the two teams this weekend, Saskatchewan has moved just a half game behind the San Diego Seals for the first seed in the West Division. To make things even more interesting, the squads matchup next weekend.

San Diego dropped both its games, opening the weekend with a 17-10 loss at Georgia before a 17-14 loss Saturday in New England. It’s a tough back-to-back trip for a west coast team, and the travel may have been a factor in the Black Wolves’ ability to go up 10-2 in the first half.

Each opponents’ big guns were able to get the best of the San Diego defense. Holden Cattoni, Randy Staats, Shayne Jackson and Lyle Thompson all had six or more points for Georgia, while Callum Crawford put up nine points and Joe Resetarits seven for the Pack.

In more positive news for the Seals, Connor Fields returned from his severe knee injury and scored his first NLL goal.

As previously mentioned, the Black Wolves clinched the playoffs by beating San Diego. They needed just won more win or losses from New England and Rochester.

Saskatchewan won its only outing, beating Colorado 9-7 in a defensive battle. The loss halted the Mammoth from clinching a playoff spot, but Colorado still just needs one win or one loss from Vancouver to seal a slot.

A performance like Saturday’s from Dillon Ward isn’t too unusual, but Saskatchewan’s Adam Shute, filling in for injured Evan Kirk, really stepped up to the plate. He made 25 saves and allowed a career low amount of goals.

“Shuter played unbelievable,” said Rush defender Scott Campbell, who scored his first goal as a member of the team. “A lot of the goals that went in, we feel that they were in the crease and should have been called back. The score wasn’t even indicative of how well he played, and it was a low total.”

Jeff Shattler and Ben McIntosh each had three points for the Rush.

Rock Split Weekend

The Bandits have been the overtime wizards this season, but this time, Toronto got the last laugh.

Rock forward Brandon Slade caught Shawn Evans on defense a minute and eight seconds into the extra frame, allowing him to cut to the net from the right side with space and beat Matt Vinc to clinch a 12-11 Toronto victory and the season series.

“There’s no one better to see score that goal and have the moment,” Rock coach Matt Sawyer said. “He is somebody that has made himself into what he is.”

Unfortunately for Toronto, it didn’t secure a perfect weekend. The Rock got down into an 8-3 hole in the third and couldn’t claw their way back in a 12-10 upset loss to the Rochester Knighthawks.

“Ultimately our first half performance did us in,” Sawyer said. “It’s tough and it’s disappointing. With the win that we had last night and the push we had in the second half there, if we come out and play like that for 60 minutes, I’m sure the result would have been different.”

Ryan Benesch led the K-Hawks with six points, while Cody Jamieson had five. Rob Hellyer led the Rock with a goal and four assists.

Georgia and Buffalo are now tied atop the East Division standings, with the Rock positioned two games back.

Calgary Ends Philly's Hopes

Even without the New England win, the Wings’ playoff hopes would have came to an end after an 18-13 loss to the Roughnecks. The Riggers never trailed after going up 5-0 early. Dane Dobbie and Curtis Dickson each had monster games, notching 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Roughnecks are now a game and a half ahead of the Mammoth for the third spot in the West. Philadelphia, which is likely jealous of its expansion sibling Seals, saw five-point performances from Josh Currier, Kevin Crowley and Jordan Hall.

Week 18 Preview

Black Wolves at Rock
Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET

This is a big opportunity for the Black Wolves, positioned just a game and a half back of Toronto after the Rock’s loss to Rochester. These teams play only twice this season, meaning a New England victory secures the season series for the Pack. The Black Wolves won the first meeting in Mohegan Sun Arena, 13-11.

Knighthawks at Mammoth
Friday, 9 p.m. ET

If Colorado makes the playoffs, it will be doing so for the ninth year in a row. Rochester has now won two in a row after dropping eight straight.

Swarm at Roughnecks
Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET

Georgia is coming off an impressive special teams performance, scoring three goals shorthanded against the Seals. Taking a look at the remaining schedules for Georgia and Buffalo, the Swarm have Calgary and New England and Buffalo has New England and San Diego. Should be an easier path for Georgia, on paper.

Rush at Seals
Friday, 10:30 p.m. ET

The game of the week, for sure, plus a rubber match. Saskatchewan saw a nine-point performance from Ben McIntosh in the team’s first meeting, a 16-12 Rush triumph. He wasn’t neutralized in the second meeting, notching three goals and three helpers, but the Seals were better able to slow down the rest of the offense in a 13-12 win.

Wings at Rush
Saturday, 9:30 p.m. ET

The first ever meeting between these two teams will only have stakes for one of them. Saskatchewan could really pull ahead of the Seals with a perfect weekend. The Rush may be dealing with some fatigue in this one though, considering this is their only back-to-back of the season.

Wings at Warriors
Sunday, 6 p.m.

There’s a chance this game could be meaningless if the Mammoth win. If not, the Warriors should have much more motivation, but this Wings bunch has been feisty from the start even with the losses piling up. Trevor Baptiste set an NLL record this week for rookie faceoff wins when he eclipsed 280.