Check out some of the top performers from around the National Lacrosse League in Week 6 with Stephen Stamp’s Three Stars on IL Indoor. Preview some of the stars and honorable mentions below as the schedule keeps rolling with five games in Week 7 starting on Thursday.
“Week 6 of the National Lacrosse League season saw the Rush explode on the Roughnecks, the Roughnecks come back to beat the Swarm, the Bandits hold on to exact revenge on the Black Wolves and the Stealth find their mojo in a big way to trounce the Mammoth,” Stamp writes. “The common theme, as usual, was that there were great individual performances in every game. And the common theme for great individual performances in the NLL is that the best of them are recognized here in IL Indoor’s 3 Stars. Scroll down to see who made the cut this week.”
First Star
Zack Greer, Saskatchewan Rush
7 goals, 2 assists
Greer doubled his goal total for the season by going off for seven against Calgary. Most remarkably, six of the goals came in a span of 4:45 in the second quarter, when he was absolutely unstoppable. The fifth of that run came on a penalty shot. It’s hard to imagine an easier decision for Derek Keenan than choosing who to take that shot. I don’t recall ever seeing someone score so many goals so quickly.
Second Star
Curtis Dickson, Calgary Roughnecks
8 goals, 5 assists
Dickson scored 4 goals in each of Calgary’s games on the weekend. As is his wont, he finished several of them in spectacular fashion. There’s little question that, even with all of the players who are so difficult to cover without slide help, Dickson is the most dangerous one on one player in the NLL. In fact, you could say the same about one on two, because as we saw on the weekend yet again two players are often not enough to keep him from scoring. When he determines that he’s going to the net, he goes to the net and finishes more often than you’d imagine someone could against multiple defenders.
Honorable Mentions
Logan Schuss (Vancouver): 3g. 6a. Schuss has picked up his game in Vancouver’s last two outings and has been rewarded by picking up 9 points in each…Tye Belanger (New England): 34/38, .895 save percentage. Belanger was probably even better than Penney when you take out the intangibles of what Penney was overcoming from earlier in the season. He stepped in when Evan Kirk was off his game for the first time this season and stoned the Bandits, allowing New England to battle back and make a game of it…Chris Corbeil (Saskatchewan): 1g, 2a, 10LB, 4CTO. When Corbeil is really on his game he’s a force all over the floor. He may well be the best defender in the game so far this season because he’s been on his game often and was eminently so Friday night…Tyler Digby (Calgary): 6g, 2a. One piece of evidence that Corbeil was really good Friday is that Digby got only one of his goals from the weekend in that game. The big man pumped home 5 to aid the huge Calgary comeback against Georgia Saturday…Dhane Smith (Buffalo): 3g, 3a. Statistically this game constituted a bit of a drop for Smith, whose scoring average fell from 7.8 to 7.4 points per game. He’s second in the league in goals and assists, first in points, points per game and most likely fear level induced in opponents when he gets the ball…Randy Staats (Georgia): 3g, 4a. Staats moved to fifth overall in league scoring and is 9 points ahead of the next rookie on the list. That’s pretty amazing given the wave of first-year talent that flooded the NLL this season…Robert Church (Saskatchewan): 3g, 5a. Church did it again; he had a big night but managed to stay in the shade of a teammate, this time Greer. It’s like Church wants to be the best player nobody is really talking much about…Davide DiRuscio (Buffalo): 43/53, .811 save percentage. With Anthony Cosmo nursing a lower body injury, the Big Fish stepped in and played even better than Coz has been. DiRuscio was beaten by the first shot he face then was lights out for a long stretch as the Bandits built a lead from which New England wouldn’t be able to come all the way back.. There’s no goalie controversy in Buffalo—Cosmo is the number one when he’s healthy—but there’s also no hesitation to go to DiRuscio when needed…Garrett Billings (Vancouver): 1g, 5a. Duch, Small and McCready could all be here. Duch and Small are both ahead of Billings on the team’s scoring list. But it’s just so important to the Stealth that Billings gel with his new teammates and on Saturday we saw further evidence that is happening That’s big for Vancouver…Shawn Evans (New England): 1g, 5a. Similarly to Billings, some of Evans’ teammates could have been here instead (Buchanan with a hat trick, Crowley with 5 points including a pair of goals), but the significance of Evans finding chemistry so quickly with his new cohort is huge. He had 4 assists on the 5-goal run that pulled the Black Wolves almost all the way back against Buffalo…Matthew Bennett (Buffalo): 1a, 8LB, 4CTO. With Nick Weiss in concussion protocol, there was some pressure on Bennett to step in and take on a bigger role than he has in the past. He was more than up to the challenge, looking very comfortable both in his own end and pushing the pace. His athleticism…
Click here for the Third Star and full list of honorable mentions for Stephen Stamp’s Three Stars of NLL Week 6 on IL Indoor. Photo by Candice Ward/Calgary Roughnecks.
