It’s cliche, but the Mammoth are in control of their playoff destiny for at least one more week. Heading into back to back games against the Washington Stealth last week, the Mammoth prospects looked good.
Going into the half Friday night, they looked especially good.
The Mammoth offense was playing aggressive, Andrew Leyshon was making phenomenal saves, the defense was stopping the Stealth, and the Mammoth were in the lead 8-5. But it was downhill from there.
The Mammoth lost Friday 14-15 and on Saturday 9-12, and the Stealth became the first team to clinch a playoff berth.
Heading into this weekend against the Buffalo Bandits, the Mammoth’s playoff hopes are slim, but they’re still alive. However, if they lose this weekend, their playoff fate is sealed as the remaining three western division teams clinch.
The Bandits are currently 6-6 and on a three game winning streak while the Mammoth are 2-9 and on a seven game losing streak.
The question of course is, can the Mammoth beat the Bandits? If they play like the team that started last weekend for four quarters instead of only two, than most certainly they can win. However, playing four strong quarters has definitely been an issue for the Mammoth this season.
The irony is that it just might take the Mammoth getting knocked out of playoff contention for them to finally start winning.
Around the league:
Minnesota Swarm 17, Calgary Roughnecks 13
Toronto Rock 8, Orlando Titans 10
Buffalo Bandits 14, Rochester Knighthawks 7
Minnesota Swarm 14, Edmonton Rush 16
Boston Blazers 7, Philadelphia Wings 13
