Can you believe it? It’s already Week Three of the 2024-25 NLL Season. It’s already been a year of twists and unexpected turns. Fear not, though; numbers can keep us grounded in times of chaos. Looking back at the week that was and ahead to the week that will be, this is By the Numbers.
14 – Connor Kelly Points Through Two Games This NLL Season
The Colorado Mammoth’s Connor Kelly is on his way to demolishing his current NLL single-season personal best in points. Through his first two games of the 2024-25 season, Kelly has already tallied 14 points. He is on pace to reach 126 points by the end of the season.
If Kelly finished this season with 126 points, he’d nearly be doubling his career-high of 68 points, which he set back during the 2022-23 season when he was with the Albany FireWolves. Those 126 points would be made up of career-highs in goals (54) and points (72).
CK put up an 8️⃣ point (2g, 6a) night in Vegas!#TuskUp pic.twitter.com/wNjy3wxY2D
— Colorado Mammoth (@MammothLax) December 9, 2024
Kelly is not only on pace to smash his points, goals, and assist records, he’s also on pace to set career-high marks in loose ball recoveries (63), caused turnovers (9), and he’s even on pace to have a career-low 54 turnovers.
Obviously Kelly and the Mammoth are only two games into this NLL season. However, if his first couple of games are an indication of what we should expect from him this season, “CK” is going to be a problem for the opposition this year.
28 – The Number of Face-Offs the Calgary Roughnecks’ Justin Inacio Won in Week Two
The Calgary Roughnecks’ Justin Inacio knows how to win face-offs. In Week Two action against the Halifax Thunderbirds, Inacio won 28-38 draws at the dot. The 28 face-off wins was a career-high, and so too was his face-off win percentage of 73.7%. That’s not a bad way to start your second season in the NLL.
For what it’s worth, the Roughnecks’ franchise record for face-offs in a single season is 317, set by Geoff Snider in 2014, and the NLL record for the most face-off wins in a single season is 362, set by Trevor Baptiste during the 2018-19 season.
Jake Withers was not in the lineup for this potential matchup of former The Ohio State graduates as he was serving his one-game suspension that was handed down to him after the Thunderbirds’ final game of last season’s playoffs, so Inacio did not have to face off against one of the best face-off guys in NLL history.
Instead, he faced three of Withers’ replacements. Ryan Terefenko went 5-18 vs. Inacio. Graeme Hossack went 3-14 and Max Wilson went 2-6 vs. Inacio. Inacio had an answer for whoever he faced last weekend.
Waiting for Inacio this week is the Albany FireWolves’ Joe Nardella, who won 86% of his own draws against the Rock on Saturday. It’ll be a tough test for Inacio, to say the least, but this is how the young guys learn: they battle the best in the business.
4 – The Number of Goals the Georgia Swarm’s Shayne Jackson Needs to Become The First Player in Swarm History to Reach 350 Regular Season Goals
Few names are more synonymous with Swarm lacrosse than Shayne Jackson. Jordan MacIntosh and Lyle Thompson are the only two other names that should be considered here. Jackson has been with the Swarm since 2013 (he was the 4th overall pick by the Swarm in the 2012 NLL Entry Draft). The only other Swarm player who has been on the team since that season is MacIntosh.
Since Jackson has been with the team, he’s been an incredibly consistent goal scorer. Heading into this season, he’s riding a streak of nine consecutive 30+ goal seasons. Credit to the wise Graeme Perrow on the assist for this, but Jackson is one of only three players in NLL history who have had nine or more consecutive seasons with 30+ goals (Lewis Ratcliff and Rhys Duch are the others).
He is now hunting down the next major milestone in his goalscoring journey. With 346 goals in his NLL career, he is approaching 350 for the career. According to NLL stats, only 26 players in NLL history have ever accomplished this feat, putting Jackson in some rare territory.
For those wondering if he’ll hit the special milestone this week, Jackson has notched 4+ goals in a game 17 times in his NLL career, including four times last season alone. Facing a Toronto Rock team that is battered by injury and looks like they’ll still be banged up for Saturday’s clash in Georgia, it’s definitely a possibility that it could happen again.
25 – The Number of Games Between the Thunderbirds and Rush Franchises After They Play This Week
These two organizations have been going head-to-head since 2008. Since the beginning, these two have been involved in epic matchups.
The first two times they faced each other (back in 2008 and 2010 when the Halifax Thunderbirds were the original Rochester Knighthawks and the Rush were located in Edmonton), the games went to overtime. Those games included some legendary names such as John Grant Jr. and Shawn Williams, as well as notable up-and-comers Shawn Evans and Corey Small.
The fourth time they played was in a win-or-take-all championship final for the 2012 NLL Champions’ Cup (now NLL Cup) that the Knighthawks won – this would not be the only time these organizations would be battling it out in the NLL Finals.
From 2016 through 2019 (the Rush had moved to Saskatchewan at this point), these two organizations met ten times, including in a thrilling three-game final in 2018 which the Rush won, marking their third title in four years.
Between 2012 and 2018, the Rush and Knighthawks combined for six championships. Rochester won three in a row in 2012, 2013, and 2014, while the Rush won in 2015, 2016, and 2018. Only the 2017 Georgia Swarm were able to unseat these two franchises.
By the time the Knighthawks moved to Halifax and became the Thunderbirds ahead of the 2019-2020 season, the games got close again. The first two times the Thunderbirds and Saskatchewan Rush played each other, the games went to overtime (sound familiar?) The last three games have been considerably more lopsided, including a 19-6 Thunderbirds win last season, but the 2024-25 Rush are a different animal than recent years. The Rush will be hoping to win their first game against the Thunderbirds since the COVID-shortened season.
The rivalry has taken many shapes and sizes (and cities!), but these two teams always seem to be appointment television. It should be no different Saturday night.