Wolves begin playoffs at Rochester

It's a formula the New England Black Wolves followed to get themselves back into the National Lacrosse League playoff picture in the first place.

Following a four-game losing streak, the Black Wolves took things one game at a time until they had won three straight, tipping the scales back in their favor. Tonight's game will follow much the same pattern.

Third-seeded New England (9-9) will play at No. 2 Rochester (10-8) at 7:30 p.m. in a single-elimination first-round playoff game.

The winner will advance to the Eastern Division final next weekend, which will also take on a single-elimination format, new this season.

Not until the Champions Cup, played between the Eastern and Western division champions, will there be a best-of-three series.

"In some ways it's kind of simplistic, you know. It's coming right at you," Black Wolves coach Glenn Clark said in his weekly conference call. "You have to go all in in effort and planning. You don't have to hold stuff back. Adjustments are right in front of you. They happen quickly.

"You have to be ready to go right away."

It is the third straight playoff appearance for New England, which swept the season series against Rochester this season, winning 9-8 Jan. 13 at Rochester, 11-9 Jan. 21 at Mohegan Sun Arena and 11-6 April 21 back at Rochester.

The Black Wolves are coming off a season-ending 16-11 loss to Georgia on Sunday, which would have clinched the division title for New England. Rochester ended with a win, going on the road to top Buffalo 15-13 last Saturday.

"We're disappointed with our result on Sunday because I thought we had a pretty good chance to battle for that first seed ... but we don't want to lose sight of the fact we earned our way into the playoffs," Clark said.

Clark dismissed the sweep of Rochester as a non-factor entering this matchup.

"They were all tossups," he said. "... I think they just have such a complete game. (Rochester's) Matt Vinc has been one of the best goalies in the game for a long time now and he's been a playoff performer and a championship-level performer, so he's always difficult.

"It's going to be one of those battles of attrition where I think mistakes are really going to determine the outcome. If you can minimize the mistakes you're making and capitalize on the ones that are made, that's going to be the key."

The Black Wolves are led by Kevin Crowley, who had 51 goals and 25 assists for 76 points during the regular season, and Stephan Leblanc with 25 goals and a team-best 45 assists for 70 points.

Goalie Aaron Bold led the NLL with 712 saves.

Joe Resetarits led Rochester with 100 points, with 37 goals and 63 assists. Cody Jamieson had 26 goals and 63 assists for 89 points. v.fulkerson@theday.com