Happy New Year lacrosse fans! We are less than a month away from college lacrosse here in the US, and the pro outdoor season will be here before you know it. And of course, NLL season is heating up. Only two undefeated teams remain, and one of them puts their record on the line this weekend. Only two winless teams remain, and one of them can get that first W this weekend. It’s a light slate with just three games, but there’s still plenty to watch for.
All spreads come from DraftKings and are accurate as of time of publication. If you’re serious about betting games, you should line shop across all the books for the best value.
SATURDAY
Who: Las Vegas Desert Dogs (0-4) vs Albany FireWolves (1-3)
Where: MVP Arena, Albany
When: 7:00pm EST
The Spread: Albany favored by 2.5 (-120), game total set at 22.5
Who: Rochester Knighthawks (1-4) vs Georgia Swarm (4-0)
Where: Gas South Arena, Georgia
When: 7:30pm EST
The Spread: Georgia favored by 2.5 (+105), game total set at 22.5
Who: Ottawa Black Bears (2-1) vs San Diego Seals (2-2)
Where: Pechanga Arena, San Diego
When: 10:00pm EST
The Spread: San Diego favored by 1.5 (-125), game total set at 23.5
STORIES TO WATCH
There’s a first time for everything
Georgia hasn’t lost, and Las Vegas hasn’t won. Could this weekend be the first for either, or both, of those things? Georgia feels solidly battle tested at this point, and it’s safe to call them a serious contender. Two wins against San Diego and a win in Colorado last week, none of those are easy. The one that should have been easy, their win against Toronto at home, actually was a tight game. Georgia is home for Rochester, the Hawks have lost four in a row. They desperately need to get Connor Fields going; he’s shooting just under 12%. Only one player in the league with more than 20 points is shooting worse than Fields right now. Fields impacts the game in other ways, grabbing an amount of loose balls that is exceptional for a forward, but the Hawks will need to him to be on his game to beat Brett Dobson. On the other side of things, Vegas needs that first W. They didn’t play last weekend. They have given up 14+ goals in each game this season, and 15+ in their last three including a 19 spot to Philly. Not a good stat with the Albany offense in town. The FireWolves will be hungry for a win and to get things right after a 1-3 start, this is a tough task on the road for Vegas.
Will the real Ottawa please stand up?
The Black Bears sit at 2-1, a better start than they had in any of their seasons as the New York Riptide. But it’s hard to know just what the make of the Black Bears right now. Their two wins are against the winless Toronto Rock, the most recent of which was a nailbiter than came down to the game’s final minute. Ottawa trailed by two heading to the 4th and needed some Jeff Teat heroics to get back even late in the frame. Having to rely on Jeff Teat magic isn’t a bad thing; the more he has the ball the better. But those two wins might not be as impressive as we thought before the season start. Their loss was a blowout at the hands of the defending champion Bandits. So is Ottawa a winning club, like their record says, or is it another year in the middle of the table and trying to stay in the playoff hunt? A trip out to San Diego should reveal a lot. Jacob Dunbar was dealt to Ottawa from San Diego last September, and has been on a tear with the new club. A trip back home against his former club always stokes some fires.
New faces, new places
Two big pieces of player news this week. The Rochester Knighthawks signed Mike Sisselberger to a one year deal, and the Albany FireWolves signed Callum Crawford as a free agent. The Hawks have been hurting at the faceoff spot. Taylor Jensen takes the majority of draws, but he’s not a specialist. More and more NLL clubs have a dedicated faceoff specialist, in some cases a player who stays on as a defender as well. Buffalo’s season a year ago turned for the better when they signed Connor Farrell to win them more draws and get the ball to the offense. Saskatchewan has found a diamond in rookie Jake Naso. To say nothing of established names at the position like Trevor Baptiste and TD Ierlan (both currently on IR), and healthy draw takesn like Jake Withers, Joe Nardella, Jay Thorimbert, Jeremy Thompson, the list goes on. Conceding 70% of faceoffs on a given night isn’t something that most clubs can withstand. Sisselberger is the reinforcement that Rochester needs. He’s one of the most successful faceoff specialists the college field game has seen, and has been a Faceoff Specialist of the Year finalist in the PLL.
Crawford signing off the street to Albany is an interesting one. The FireWolves are at 1-3 and could use a spark to get things going. They ran it up against Toronto but otherwise haven’t really been able to score in bunches like they did a year ago. The interesting part of this move will be just how much of the ball Crawford gets. This is an offense with a plethora of weapons as it is, and Crawford is very ball dominant. Sometimes, even with a superstar, the addition of a player that results in role changes for an entire offense can do more harm than good. It’s early, Albany doesn’t need to get too aggressive, and Crawford as a free agent is pretty low risk, but the way he fits in will be a key to watch. His experience can also help this young offense find their way back into rhythm.
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