Weekend Shake-up in MLL

http://blogs.insidelacrosse.com/2008/08/11/quint-kessenich-mll-moments-to-remember-2008/

This weekend I was able to watch the Boston vs. Denver game, as well as Rochester vs. Chicago. From these games, and looking at the scores of the other MLL games this weekend, I was able to get a good reading of how the four MLL playoff teams should do in a few weeks when they play for the Steinfeld Cup in Boston:

Barrage-They played the New Jersey Pride in Portland, Oregon and lost by one 17-16 in OT. New Jersey is an up and coming team, so losing to them is not too big of a deal, except that its probably not a good idea to go into the playoffs with a loss.

Denver Outlaws-They played the Cannons in a dry run of their trip to Boston in a few weeks. They lost by six to Boston 20-14. Costing them a #1 seed in the playoffs. Boston is a good team that just missed going to the playoffs. Depending on who they match up with should determine if they can win their semifinal game in a few weeks.

Los Angeles Riptide- After beating the San Francisco Dragons on the road last weekend, the Dragons returned the favor for their fourth win of the season beating the Riptide 19-15. Los Angeles will probably be affected the most by a loss in the last week of the regular season. Losing to a mediocre team is not the way to go into the playoffs.

Rochester Rattlers-The only playoff team that won their last game of the regular season, they beat the Chicago Machine by four in a Sunday matinee 19-15. Rochester started the game off with a huge run in the first quarter, but let Chicago back into the game instead of shutting the door. Rochester has great talent at every position but goalie. They also have a problem with consistency on defense. If John Grant Jr. is hot, they should do well. He had 8 goals and 1 assist in the win.