First Star

Warren Hill, Rochester Knighthawks

50 saves on 58 shots, .862 save percentage, 3 assists

As a young player in the National Lacrosse League, you never know how many chances you are going to get to prove that you belong. Hill got into a couple of games in relief with Georgia in 2018 and didn't play well. He did alright in three relief appearances for Rochester this year, including stopping all eight shots he faced in a 12-minute stint against Georgia on March 2, but then gave up 15 goals to the Swarm in his first NLL start on March 15. So Sunday afternoon was an important day for Hill when he stepped on to the turf in New England to face off against the Black Wolves' Doug Jamieson, who was taken one pick before Hill in the 2016 entry draft. What a performance Hill responded with. He allowed just 2 goals in settled five on five play. Of the other 6 he allowed, 2 came on power plays, 3 on transition breakaways and 1 on a two-on-one break when a gorgeous float pass by Colton Watkinson was dunked home on an equally gorgeous one-touch jumping shot by Callum Crawford. The point of listing all the goals Hill allowed? It was really hard to beat him without the shooter having a decided advantage in his second career start. Hill definitely earned some more looks by the Knighthawks and should draw some attention from the new Knighthawks and the Riptide if he winds up being available in the expansion draft, which looks a little less likely after Sunday.

Second Star

Johnny Powless, Toronto Rock

3 goals, 4 assists

The goals were nice; as Brian Shanahan said on the B/R Live broadcast, you could easily mistake Powless for the injured Adam Jones when he scored on a catch and shoot from the lefty shooter spot. But it was his pair of sublime behind the back assists—to Dan Craig and Brandon Slade—that leapt off the screen. Just watch these two beauties to see why Powless is in this spot in the column.

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

Third Star

Kyle Buchanan, San Diego Seals

4 goals, 4 assists

Entering this season, Buchanan had scored 8 points in a game once in his career, back in the opening game of his second season when he led the Philadelphia Wings to a 17-13 win over the Buffalo Bandits on December 28, 2013. He matched it in the Seals' first game this season. Now, in the last two weeks, Buchanan has doubled his career total of 8-pointers with back to back 4-goal, 4-assist efforts. Before his last two games, though, Buchanan was already on pace to match his career high in points of 69; he's now on pace for 80. Buchanan adds to his value with his knack for loose balls, creating second-chance possessions; he's on track to hit the century mark for the fourth straight season (he also had 98 and 97 in the two seasons before he started this streak).

Honourable Mentions

Jake Withers (Rochester): 2g, 1a, 6LB, 2CTO,18/25 faceoffs. Withers was dominant at the dot, as has become the norm, but contributed in a wide variety of ways with his usual sturdy defence and transition contributions...Dan Dawson & Garrett Billings (San Diego): 2g, 6a each. Which is the better comeback story: Billings from injury and being out of the league for a couple of years or Dawson from being a healthy scratch for two different teams last season? We'll leave that up to our IL Indoor staffers to decide when we vote on the site's new comeback player of the year award at the end of the season, but both will be strong contenders. Dawson also hit the 500 goal mark, becoming the first righty in NLL history to do so...Robert Church (Saskatchewan): 4g, 3a. All 7 of Church's points came in the first half...Aaron Bold (Vancouver): 23/26, .885 save percentage. Bold doesn't have a lot of experience coming into games off the bench, but he was spectacular doing so against the Rush and gave his Warriors a chance to get back into the game...Matt Rambo (Philadelphia): 3g, 3a.Had by far the best night of his young career...Rob Hellyer (Toronto): 3g, 3a.We've come to expect games like this from Hellyer and he continues to deliver...Graeme Hossack (Rochester): 1a, 13LB, 2CTO. Instrumental in helping Warren Hill keep the Black Wolves in single digits...Dane Dobbie (Calgary): 2g, 2a. Actually a below average night statistically for Dobbie, but it did move him into first place in the league scoring race past Lyle Thompson and Randy Staats of the idle Georgia Swarm...Frank Scigliano (San Diego): 44/53, .830 save percentage. His first nine-win season and Scigliano is already closing in on his career high in saves...Mike Messenger (Saskatchewan): 6LB, 3CTO. His 25 caused turnovers are fourth in the league, and there haven't been many defenders better all-around than Messenger in the second half of the season...Casey Jackson (San Diego): 4g, 1a. Jackson's night got overshadowed a bit by the Seals' trio of 8-point scorers, but he stayed hot and now has 17 goals in his last six games, more than he had scored in his 11 career games before this streak began...Mike Burke (Rochester): 2g, 3a. The second 5-point game of Burke's career; the first came two weeks ago...Greg Downing (New England): 7LB, 3CTO. There weren't a lot of bright spots for New England on Sunday but Downing's continued defensive excellence was one...Jordan Hall (Philadelphia): 4g, 1a. Hall was outstanding Saturday and contributed pair of back to back goals to help the Wings stay within reach of Toronto...Mark Matthews (Saskatchewan ): 1g, 7a. On pace to become just the second player to produce five consecutive 100-point seasons (Shawn Evans was the first, from 2013-17)...Challen Rogers (Toronto): 2g, 1a, 6LB. Matt Sawyer told sideline reporter Ashley Docking before the game that the defence would be encouraged to generate offence. Rogers did so...Kegan Bal (Vancouver): 3g, 2a. Since his 6-goal game in Week 11, Bal had scored one goal in each of his games until Saturday...Curtis Dickson (Calgary): 3g, 2a, 6LB, 1CTO. Dickson played the kind well-rounded game for which he doesn't tend to get the attention he deserves. It's kind of his own fault, though. How are you supposed to focus on the other things he does well when he produces this kind of jaw-dropping goal, which I saved to this point so we can end the column with it.

via GIPHY