Last season, the Albany FireWolves finished with a 3-15 record. The team went through a near entire rebuild and entered the 2023-24 season with a fresh new team. But the young FireWolves exceeded expectations early. They began the season 6-0, including a win over defending champion Buffalo in their home opener. Following consecutive losses, the FireWolves went on a four-game win streak. Throughout the season, the FireWolves have flirted with first place in the NLL. After two consecutive losses to Rochester, Albany has a 10-4 record. They are tied for second place with San Diego (the Seals own the tiebreaker based on their 14-7 win in Albany on January 20) and is one game behind Toronto. Four games remain this season, which are arguably the most important in Albany FireWolves history.
Calgary Roughnecks
The first of the important games for the Albany FireWolves will be on Friday night when they face the Calgary Roughnecks. This will be the first time these two teams have met in Albany team history. While the FireWolves are battling for one of the top three playoff spots, the Roughnecks sit one game back of Panther City for the final playoff spot. While the Roughnecks don’t score a lot of goals, they have allowed only 140 goals, fourth best in the NLL. Goaltender Christian Del Bianco is fifth among all goaltenders with a 10.57 GAA in 13 games. The Albany offense will have to get around Jeff Cornwall, who is third on the team with 59 loose balls and is the team leader with 11 blocked shots. Defensively, they’ll need to contain Roughnecks forwards Tyler Pace (24 goals) and Jesse King (23 goals).
Toronto Rock
The second of the important games for the Albany FireWolves will be on April 6 against the Toronto Rock. Both teams will be coming off the Easter bye week and it will be Albany’s regular season home finale. Toronto is currently second in the league in both offense (174 goals scored) and defensive (137 goals against). The FireWolves’ offense will to do its best to solve goaltender Nick Rose, who is first in the NLL in saves (543) and GAA (9.55). Albany’s high-powered offense will have to be especially disciplined around a Rock defense who are adept at causing turnovers. Mitch deSnoo (28) and Brad Kri (25) are among the league leaders in caused turnovers. On defense, the FireWolves will need to stop a balanced Rock attack led by forward Mark Matthews, who is third in the NLL in assists (56).
Panther City Lacrosse Club
The third of the important games for the Albany FireWolves will be on April 14 against Panther City Lacrosse Club. This is the second meeting all-time for these two teams with Panther City winning the first in 2023. Panther City currently occupies the final playoff position in the NLL. After a 1-4 start, Panther City has won five of their last eight games. This game should not be taken for granted and the FireWolves defense should not take Panther City’s top two scorers for granted. Forwards Callum Crawford (31 goals) and Will Malcom (49 assists, 76 points) will be a tough task for the FireWolves’ defense. Defensively, Panther City sits just ahead of Albany with 149 goals against. Goaltender Nick Damude is eighth in the NLL with an 11.21 GAA. The FireWolves need to be careful of their hosts in a pivotal match.
New York Riptide
The final of the important games for the Albany FireWolves will be their regular season finale on April 20 against the New York Riptide. The Riptide are currently 1.5 games behind Panther City for the final playoff spot. The FireWolves defeated the Riptide 14-8 on March 2. Expect the Riptide to look for revenge and potentially spoil Albany’s playoff positioning if they’re out of playoff contention. The game will depend on whether the FireWolves can contain the league’s top scorer, Jeff Teat. In their first meeting, Teat was contained to two goals and three assists as the FireWolves’ defense and goaltending frustrated Teat. On the other side of the ball, the FireWolves sprinted to a 6-2 first quarter lead and never looked back. Look for this game to be more competitive with one team playing for playoff positioning and the other for survival.
As for the two teams ahead of the Albany FireWolves, these are their remaining games:
San Diego: vs. Las Vegas (March 23), vs. Panther City (April 5), at Saskatchewan (April 13), vs. Vancouver (April 20)
Toronto: vs. Halifax (March 23), at Albany (April 6), vs. Rochester (April 13), at Saskatchewan (April 20)
