Rochester must win Thursday night, and Boston must lose, in order for the Rattlers to gain a playoff berth.
The Rochester Rattlers have to have two things happen in order for them to make the Major League Lacrosse playoffs, and it is the result of their own making.
The nightmare for the Rattlers well could be Brodie Merrill’s 92-yard Hail Mary goal for the Boston Cannons that tied the game at the buzzer in Boston, before the Cannons pulled out the victory in overtime. Boston then beat the Rattlers in Rochester to complete the sweep of the season’s series, and thus hold the tie-breaker advantage.
The Rattlers absolutely must beat the Atlanta Blaze on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Wegmans Sports Complex at Aquinas Institute to make the playoffs, but because of head-to-head matchups, they need the Florida Launch to beat the Cannons on Saturday as well.
Even if Rochester wins against Atlanta, the Rattlers will be eliminated from the postseason play if Boston wins its final game against the Launch. The Top 4 teams will make the playoffs. The semifinals will be played in Minnesota and Connecticut.
Current Standings:
Team Wins Losses
Chesapeake Bayhawks 8 5
New York Lizards 8 5
Denver Outlaws 8 6
Rochester Rattlers 7 6
Ohio Machine 7 6
Charlotte Hounds 7 6
Boston Cannons 7 6
Atlanta Blaze 4 9
Florida Launch 3 10
Last week the Blaze upset the Ohio Machine, 14-10. This was a huge statement game for the Blaze as they made a coaching change last Wednesday, promoting Associate Head Coach David Huntley to Head Coach for the reminder of the season.
The Blaze also picked up Rochester Knighthawks’ Stephen Keogh earlier in the week as he scored 1 goal and assisted on 3 others.
Former Rattler Randy Staats and Mark Matthews each had big games for Atlanta. Staats scored 3 goals and Matthews added 4 goals and 1 assist.
The Blaze used both goalies against Ohio. Dillon Ward played the first half and made 6 saves. Adam Ghitelman recorded 11 saves in the second half.
Injuries have affected the Rattlers as the team’s leading scorer, Jordan Wolf (48 points), and Jordan MacIntosh (15 points in 8 games) have been sidelined with injuries.
*NOTES — Irondequoit native and Rochester Knighthawk, Joe Walters, plays for the Chesapeake Bayhawks.