MATT VOLZ

Editor in Chief

Just like in the real NCAA basketball tournaments, the semifinal of our “NLL Madness” tournament is upon us.

We began with 14 teams and have narrowed that down to four candidates, all vying for the championship.

Will we get a rematch of last year’s NLL Finals between the Bandits and Rush?

Will individual performances from stars like Andrew Kew or Brett Dobson push their teams over the top?

Let’s find out!

#1 Saskatchewan Rush vs. #4 Georgia Swarm

The Rush entered this tournament as the top seed in the league, a spot they’ve lost over the last couple of weeks.

They’ve lost four of their last five games after a 10-1 start.

In this bracket, they earned a first-round bye because of their first-place status.

In the second round of NLL Madness, the Rush faced off against the Las Vegas Desert Dogs.

We talked about how the Desert Dogs have some solid scorers in Mitch Jones and Jonathan Donville, but weak goaltending would ultimately be their downfall.

The Rush are faced with a much different opponent this time.

After facing one of the lowest-ranked starting goalies in the league in their Round 2 matchup, they’ll now be tasked with beating the best goalie in the league.

As we’ve discussed several times before, Swarm goalie Brett Dobson has not only been the best goalie in the NLL this season, but he’s made a case as the league’s best overall player.

If Dobson were to win league MVP, he’d only be the second goalie to win the award in the last 20 years.

Christian Del Bianco was the other, winning the award as a Calgary Roughneck in 2023.

In 15 games for the Swarm this season, Dobson has stopped 84.4% of the shots he’s faced.

He’s also allowing less than eight goals per game, by far the fewest in the league.

For any team to beat him, they’ll need to bring a lethal offense to the table.

Fortunately for the Rush, they have that luxury.

Three Saskatchewan forwards have put up 75 points or more this season, and all three have scored at least 32 goals.

Ryan Keenan leads the team with 34 goals and 84 points. Robert Church isn’t far behind with 33 goals and 80 points, and Zach Manns is right in the mix as well with 32 goals and 75 points.

Don’t count out Austin Shanks, though, as he’s contributed 26 goals and 62 points to the offense.

Saskatchewan also has a great goalie of their own, as Frank Scigliano is allowing the third fewest goals per game in the league.

Although the Rush may be a better collective team on paper, defense wins championships.

I’d expect this to be a very low-scoring game, but Dobson will put the team on his back and lead the Swarm to the title game.

Prediction: Georgia wins.

#3 Colorado Mammoth vs. #7 Buffalo Bandits

I can’t imagine that most NLL fans are thrilled to see the Bandits be the Cinderella team that advances to the semifinal as a lower seed.

The Bandits are in search of their fourth straight NLL Cup this season, and in the semifinal of this hypothetical tournament, they’re going up against a team they’re quite familiar with seeing in the playoffs.

The Bandits and Mammoth faced each other in the NLL Finals twice in a row, and they split the two championships.

Colorado upset the first-place Bandits in the 2022 NLL Finals, but the Bandits got revenge in 2023, ending their 15-year title drought.

They’ve faced each other twice this season, splitting those results as well.

On Saturday, Jan. 31 in Colorado, the Mammoth wiped the floor with Buffalo.

Kew played a massive role in the win, scoring seven goals and totaling 11 points.

Matt Vinc played less than half of the game, and the Bandits lost badly, 20-9.

The Mammoth came to Buffalo on Friday, March 13, and it was a much different game the second time around.

Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne each scored four goals to win a game in which Buffalo never trailed, 13-10.

It was relatively smooth for the Bandits, which has not been the case recently despite still putting wins on the board.

The Bandits’ offense has developed a knack for coming out of nowhere to steal games, and that’s exactly what they’ve done over the last two weeks.

They might want to avoid that against Dillon Ward, though.

The Mammoth goalie has stopped 81% of opposing shots, good for third in the league behind only Dobson and Del Bianco.

Buffalo would have to strike early and often in this hypothetical game.

Both teams have playoff experience, but the Bandits have more, and I think that gives them an edge in this one.

As I said in last week’s issue, Vinc is not going away easily, and this may be his last shot at a title run before retirement.

I’m going with the team that is seemingly made to play in the postseason.

Prediction: Buffalo wins.

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Stats for this story were provided by nllstats.com, a league-wide database run by NLL writer Graeme Perrow.

Check out his commentary on nllchatter.com as well as his updates on X (@GraemePerrow).