MCMASTER CLINCHES PLAYOFFS WITH WIN FRIDAY NIGHT

Friday Night McMaster won their second straight at home, after topping Laurier 10-9 for the second time this season. Mark Phillips led the Marauders, putting in five goals.

Laurier’s Brandon Petter would score the first of the game at 3:45 to get Laurier on the board. McMaster would answer on the man up with a goal from Kyle Lindsay after connecting with Iszkula. Phillips would put in back to back goals in the first, but with a goal just over 18 minutes in from Laurier, they would end the first tied at 3.

McMaster wouldn’t take the lead back until 15:40 in the second quarter, but they managed to keep the lead for the duration of the game. Phillips put in the last goal of the first half and started off a 4-goal streak for the Marauders.

Keir Thornborow broke up McMaster’s 4-goal streak later in the third; as the lone goal throughout the quarter for Laurier. The Golden Hawks’ attempt to come back in the third wasn’t enough as Phillips put in his fifth of the game for Mac’s 10^th and final goal.

With the win over Laurier, the Marauders clinch their playoff spot. Their last appearance in playoffs were last year, but lost in their first game against Brock. McMaster’s last championship was in 2010 after entering playoffs with a .500 record in the regular season. The Marauders host Guelph Sunday in an afternoon match up at Alumni field for their last regular season game.

Playoff Update - MLL

Looks like I wasn't too far off from my predictions.
Denver is locked in for the first playoff spot.
Hamilton needs a win this week over Boston and they've clinched the number two spot.
Chesapeake is currently in for the third , while Boston and Charlotte are battling it out for the fourth.

Boston can't clinch a spot this week, but a win would definitely help them out more in the fight. Hamilton needs a win over Boston or a Charlotte loss for them to clinch it. While Chesapeake can clinch it with either a win or either Charlotte or Boston losing this weekend.

Rochester and New York are not out of playoff contention yet, but New York is coming close.
New York will be out of playoff contention with a loss or a win by either Boston or Charlotte , while Rochester can not be eliminated this week.

Boston, Charlotte, and Rochester can not clinch a playoff berth or be eliminated this week.

Hamilton hosts Boston   - 7pm (Live on Youtube)
Charlotte vs Ohio  - 7pm
Rochester vs NY - 6:30pm
Denver vs Chesapeake  - Noon

MLL - playoff predictions

Going into the second half of the season it’s the time of year we start talking play offs. With just 8 teams in the league things can change pretty quickly especially with the game of lacrosse.
But when you have teams like Denver who have gone 8-0, just dominating other teams. There is no doubt that they will continue their hot streak and be in first place to enter the playoffs.
The Nationals started off their season 5-0, but couldn’t handle the pressure from the Outlaws. The loss then started them on a short lose streak which ended with a 17-11 win over the Rattlers. Last year the Nationals were far from playoffs landing in 7^th place in the league just above Ohio. This year it’s looking to be a different story. Hamilton could lose 2 more games and make the playoffs ranked 2^nd or even lose 3 more games and still get into playoffs ranked third.
The Bayhawks and Hounds are currently both 4-4 records right now, but Chesapeake has a hard game this week in Hamilton… And three of those 4 losses have been in over time. The Bayhawks have a chance to pull ahead of the Hounds (who will face Denver this weekend) or they can continue to be tied for third place.

Between the Bayhawks and the Hounds it could come down to the last week of the season when they face off against each other for the final time of regular season.
The Boston Cannons currently with a 3-5 record are ranking in fifth in the standings, but their schedule is looking good for the second half of the season and they could see playoffs in the fourth spot.

My predictions for playoffs are these five teams with Denver in 1, Hamilton in 2, Charlotte in 3, and Chesapeake and Boston fighting for the fourth spot.