After clinching their postseason appearance with a win over Albany in their matchup of the regular season, the San Diego Seals are on the road to familiar territory for the first quarterfinal matchup of the 2025 NLL Playoffs. The Seals are headed back to Buffalo for the first time since Week 12, steeling themselves for another matchup against the No. 1 Buffalo Bandits. This weekend’s quarterfinal match is Buffalo and San Diego’s third time seeing each other this season, with both teams 1-1 against each other, with both teams’ wins on the road.
The Seals are on the hunt for a Week 12 repeat, eyeing an upset in the single-elimination round for the chance to play the winner of this Saturday’s matchup between the No. 5 Rochester Knighthawks and the No. 4 Vancouver Warriors. Early forecasts for this weekend are calling for a shootout of epic proportions, pitting San Diego’s top shooters against the Bandits’. Buffalo led the NLL with 242 goals during the regular season, including five 50-point scorers and the two top point scorers in the League, Josh Byrne and Dhane Smith, while the Seals were fifth with 215 goals, thanks to the offensive efforts of Rob Hellyer and San Diego captain Wes Berg. With the rest of their postseason and a personal tiebreaker on the line, neither squad will be willing to give an inch.
National Lacrosse League game between the Halifax Thunderbirds and Calgary Roughnecks on December 7 2024 at the Scotiabank Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Trevor MacMillan/Halifax Thunderbirds)
The No. 3 Halifax Thunderbirds are making franchise history in their quarterfinal game this Saturday, hosting their first-ever home playoff game at Scotiabank Centre against the No. 6 Calgary Roughnecks. The Roughnecks first saw the Thunderbirds in Week 2 for both squads’ first game of the season, in which Calgary took a late lead in the fourth quarter thanks to five back-to-back goals, starting with the Superman, Curtis Dickson. Dickson has had a monumental season, racking up 108 points of his own (48 goals, 60 assists), and becoming the second player in League history to tally 500 career points with a single team; the first Roughneck to do so. Additionally, nu-Roughneck goaltender Nick Rose has made quite a name for himself in Alberta since his acquisition from Toronto midseason, leading his new teammates to two regular-season wins against the No. 1 Buffalo Bandits and the No. 2 Saskatchewan Rush.
The Roughnecks are entering this weekend’s quarterfinal match having clinched the No. 6 seed after two last-minute wins in the final week of the regular season. But Calgary isn’t the only dog in this race with a few wins under their belt and a few top scorers to get the job done. The Thunderbirds have proven themselves a force to be reckoned with this season, including a five-game win streak from Weeks 10 to 14, a 17-9 upset against Saskatchewan in Week 16, and securing Cody Jamieson’s induction to the 1,000 Point Club, marking him the 17th player to reach the achievement and the first first Indigenous player in League history to do it, on top of clinching the No. 3 seat in the postseason. Halifax is eager to keep the good times a-rollin’ with a win this weekend, while Calgary looks for its third win in a row and its ticket to the semis.
After accomplishing what was once considered the impossible, the No. 7 Georgia Swarm are marching up to Saskatchewan to take on the No. 2 Rush. After starting the season 4-0, the Swarm have fought hard and heavy through injuries, lineup changes, and trades to clinch their seat at the playoff table, including the upset of the season against the Buffalo Bandits, clinching their postseason with a 14-11 win at Gas South Arena. But after climbing the mountain, the range is only beginning for Georgia as they saddle up for their playoff revenge match against Saskatchewan.
In their Week 15 regular season meeting, Saskatchewan took home the victory, finding an 8-7 win in Duluth thanks to a goal from forward Josh Zawada with just over four minutes left in regulation. With both teams’ championship dreams on the line, tensions will run high in Saskatoon as the Rush look for their first Cup win since 2018, and the Swarm, their first since 2017, where they took the series 2-0 against the then-defending champs, the Saskatchewan Rush. With so much playoff history shared between the teams, their quarterfinal match is bound to turn heads.
Rochester Knighthawks at Vancouver Warriors @ Rogers Arena
It’s a weekend full of firsts in Vancouver, as the No. 4 Warriors get set to host their first home playoff game in their first franchise postseason appearance against the No. 5 Rochester Knighthawks. This Saturday’s quarterfinal also marks Curt Malawsky’s first postseason appearance as the Warriors head coach after a decade-long stint with the Calgary Roughnecks, during which he helped the team to nine playoff appearances, including a Championship run in 2019.
On the visiting side, this postseason marks the Knighthawks’ third straight playoff berth. However, Rochester has been knocked out in the quarterfinals the past two years, falling in the 2023-23 postseason to the would-be Champs, the Buffalo Bandits, and the Toronto Rock in 2024. But this year seems different, carrying two of the season’s top goal scorers (Connor Fields, Ryan Smith), as well as being one of the few teams to secure a six-game win streak, the Knighthawks are shaping up to be worthy competitors in the playoffs. The home team, similarly, is also one of the squads to stack up six consecutive wins, going 6-0 in their last six games since acquiring goalkeeper Christian Del Bianco from Calgary midseason. Both teams are on the edge of franchise history with a win this weekend, and neither is willing to give up the chance.
