The 2024 National Lacrosse League Playoffs are set and we now know who will play in the four quarterfinal games. Among the eight NLL quarterfinalists are two Canadian based clubs. They are the Toronto Rock and Halifax Thunderbirds.
The Rock had the best record in the 2023-24 regular season at 15 wins and three losses for 30 points. They outscored their opponents 218-169 in 18 games. Mark Matthews of Oshawa, Ontario led the Rock in scoring with 98 points (31 goals and 67 assists). However, Matthews was only 14th in NLL scoring, and the only Rock player in the top 20. The Rock superstar this year was goaltender Nick Rose of Orangeville, Ontario. Rose led the NLL in wins (15), and goals against average (9.18). He also had a stellar save percentage of 81%. Toronto will play the eighth seed Rochester on Saturday.
The Thunderbirds are the sixth seed, and will play the Albany FireWolves in the quarterfinals on Sunday. They had a regular season record of 10 wins and eight losses. The Halifax leading scorer this season was Clarke Petterson of Etobicoke, Ontario with 104 points (40 goals and 64 assists). The other two quarterfinal games have Georgia versus Buffalo and Panther City versus San Diego.
Meanwhile, the NLL leaders in goals, assists and points this season were Canadian. New York Riptide forward Jeff Teat of Brampton, Ontario led the NLL with 58 goals, Buffalo Bandits forward Dhane Smith of Kitchener, Ontario led the NLL with 101 assists, and Bandits forward Josh Byrne of New Westminster, British Columbia led the NLL with 135 points (53 goals and 82 assists).
