NLL Power Rankings: The Winners and Losers of Faceoff Weekend

The National Lacrosse League is off and running after 10 teams took the floor as part of the league’s opening weekend.

While the top three teams in our inaugural power rankings have yet to play, there was still plenty to learn from the weekend’s action.

1. Buffalo Bandits (0-0)

The Bandits begin their title defense Saturday when they travel to Albany.

2. San Diego Seals (0-0)

The Seals kick off the season Saturday when they host the Roughnecks. But if you’re itching for some San Diego content, a new five-part documentary series titled “War on the Floor” is available on Amazon Prime.

3. Toronto Rock (0-0)

The Rock begin their campaign Saturday when they host Philadelphia.

4. Halifax Thunderbirds (1-0)

A faceoff specialist as MVP? The idea was floated in the first NLL game of the season. But as TSN’s Pat Gregoire noted, Jake Withers is no FOGO. The Peterborough, Ontario, native tied the NLL record for single-game loose balls (32) in addition to a hat trick in the T-Birds’ 17-12 win against Saskatchewan. Oh, and he also won 31 of 33 draws. Offensively, Halifax got a five-point night from Ryan Benesch as he kicked off what is likely to be his final year.

5. Philadelphia Wings (1-0)

Mitch Jones started the season as hot as he ended the last, tying the weekend high for scoring with eight points in a 13-10 win against New York. Blaze Riorden had four goals, and Joe Resetarits dished five assists to best a regional rival on ESPN2. Zach Higgins was heavily tested but responded with 49 saves.

6. Rochester Knighthawks (1-0)

No contender was doubted in the offseason quite like the Knighthawks, at least based on the sportsbooks. Yet Rochester put up strong evidence that last season was not a fluke with a season-opening, come-from-behind 14-13 win over Calgary. The K-Hawks went into the break down 10-5 and responded with an 8-0 run to take command. The Riggers had a late spurt in them after scoring their first second-half goal five-plus minutes into the fourth quarter, but Connor Fields netted the eventual game-winner to start the year strong.

7. Panther City Lacrosse Club (1-0)

Callum Crawford got a bit of a wakeup call in the form of a chirp against Vancouver Saturday. “Well, today I was terrible in the first half ‘til somebody on their team told me I was washed up,” Crawford said in his postgame interview. “That kind of lit a fire.” The ageless wonder scored four of his five goals after the break, lifting PCLC to an 11-7 win against Vancouver. He scored four straight in a span stretching from the second quarter into the third to give his team a lead it would not relinquish.

8. Calgary Roughnecks (0-1)

New Roughnecks head coach Josh Sanderson pointed to turnovers as a major contributor to the team’s collapse in the second half. The squad finished with 30 on the night. “You’ve got to play 60 minutes in this league,” Sanderson said.” If you don’t, that’s what happens.” Captain Jesse King was a bright spot with a goal and six assists.

9. Colorado Mammoth (0-0)

No Colorado fan is pleased to see Dillon Ward start the year on the PUP list or Connor Kelly on the holdout list. With Ryan Lee already out for the year, the outlook is murky. Saturday’s matchup with Georgia will tell us if the team is simply manipulating its roster or if there should be real concern.

10. Georgia Swarm (0-0)

The Swarm open at home with Colorado before earning some serious miles in December, with trips scheduled to Vancouver and Denver.

11. Albany FireWolves (1-0)

A game-closing 3-0 run was powered by three new FireWolves — Alex Simmons, Travis Longboat and Tye Kurtz — as Albany’s young guns proved they shouldn’t be overlooked in a 12-10 win over Las Vegas. The prettiest goal of the night came when Kurtz scored his first in the NLL on a wicked backhander.

Sim Firth was named the team’s player of the game after a five-point performance against his former team. Now let’s see if they can do it against a team that isn’t the Desert Dogs.

12. Vancouver Warriors (0-1)

The offense didn’t quite click in Curt Malawsky’s first game as Warriors head coach. No one had more than three points, and the unit went cold for nearly 36 minutes. As Malawsky noted postgame, there’s a lot new about this Warriors team, and it’s fair to think it will take time to come together.

13. New York Riptide (0-1)

The Riptide rebounded from going down 5-0 by cutting the deficit to one by halftime but never quite caught up to Philadelphia. Jeff Teat and Connor Kearnan each had five points.

14. Saskatchewan Rush (0-1)

The Rush brought Frank Scigliano in to stabilize the team’s goaltending, but he didn’t last long in his Saskatchewan debut. Scigliano played just 26 minutes, splitting time with Laine Hruska, as the squad tried to stay afloat against Halifax. A late 5-0 Saskatchewan run made the game look closer than it was. On the bright side, Zach Manns notched six points in his team debut.

15. Las Vegas Desert Dogs (0-1)

Casey Jackson contributed five points in his Desert Dogs debut — tying Zack Greer for the team lead — but it was a quiet showing from Dylan Watson, the team’s top draft pick. Watson was held to just an assist for Vegas, which was held scoreless for the final five minutes.