Seven teams finish with 8-6 records, but only 4 qualify for the playoffs.
Major League Lacrosse, the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, announced on Sunday the playoff teams, seeds, and locations for the 2016 Semi-Final Games. The Ohio Machine, New York Lizards, Denver Outlaws, and Charlotte Hounds have officially secured the 4 playoff berths.
The Chesapeake Bayhawks, Boston Cannons, and Rochester Rattlers also all ended their regular seasons with 8-6 slates, but lost out in the tie-breaker categories.
The semifinal pairings are:
#1 Ohio Machine vs #4 Charlotte Hounds in Blaine, MN. on Aug. 13 at 6:30 p.m. ET.
#2 New York Lizards vs #3 Denver Outlaws in Fairfield, CT. on Aug. 13 at 4 p.m. ET.
The CBS Sports Network will broadcast both games. The New York Lizards are the defending playoff champions.
After the first 14 weeks of regular season play, the 4 playoff teams were not finalized until the end of the final 3 games of the season. Even at the end of the regular season, 7 teams finished with an 8-6 record. Head-to-head matchups and point differential tie-breakers were used to determine the 4 playoff teams. Listed below is the tie-breaking procedure.
Three or More Teams Tied
a) Best won-lost percentage in all games among the tied teams.
b) Best total scoring margin (total point scored differential) in all games among the tied teams.
c) Best total scoring margin (total point scored differential) in all games.
d) Strength of victory (all games).
e) Coin Toss.
(Note: If two Teams remain tied after the third or other Teams are eliminated during any step, tie-breaker reverts to step 1 of the two-Team format).
2. Other Tie-Breaking Rules/Procedures
a) Only one Team advances in any tie-breaking step. Remaining tied clubs revert to the first step of the next applicable tie-breaker. For example, if two Teams remain tied in a three Team tie-breaker after all other clubs have been eliminated, the procedure reverts to step one of the two-Team format to determine the winner.
The Ohio Machine clinched their spot in the playoffs with a 22-13 win over the New York Lizards in the final regular season game. The New York Lizards were able to clinch their playoff berth, despite the loss to Ohio, based on head-to-head matchups against the other teams with 8-6 records.
The Denver Outlaws clinched their spot in the playoffs after finishing their regular season games last week, capped off by 6 straight victories. They enter the playoffs coming off of a bye week.
The Charlotte Hounds clinched their spot in the playoffs with a 15-12 win over the Chesapeake Bayhawks in their final regular season game.