DENVER – With the Mann Cup right around the corner as Canada’s top-ranked teams from respective Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) and Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) continue to duke it out for the rights to the true endgame battle north of the border, postseason lacrosse is HERE!
Throw in the Premier Lacrosse League’s (PLL) upcoming playoff gauntlet and some would say this couple of weeks is a holiday slate in itself.
The four members of the Colorado Mammoth set to compete in the outdoor, field-style platform to close out the summer stretch are certainly within said group, as the likes of Dillon Ward, Jack Hannah, Warren Jeffrey and recent Mammoth signee Joe Juengerkes are each slated to compete for their respective squads when the PLL’s postseason begins THIS weekend.
With six of the league’s eight teams qualified for the opening set of “win or go home” contests, just four of them will be in action, as the No. 1 Philadelphia Waterdogs and No. 2 Utah Archers successfully secured bye weeks as respective Eastern and Western conference champs.
Which means fans of midfielder Jack Hannah (Waterdogs) and defenseman Warren Jeffrey (Archers) will be forced to wait until this season’s semifinals, which are set to take place in Salt Lake City, Utah, next weekend on Sept. 7 – Which becomes quite the home field advantage for Jeffrey and the Archers!
As for this weekend’s opening pair of quarterfinals competitions set to be hosted at TCO Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Ward and his California Redwoods will clash with the Denver Outlaws to kick off the afternoon before seeing SSDM Joe Juengerkes (2025 Colorado Mammoth NLL Entry Draft class) and his Maryland Whipsnakes take on the Boston Cannons to round out the night.
Ward enters another outdoor postseason tied with Blaze Riorden (Carolina Chaos) with the second-most saves (142) on tour, balanced by a .536 save percentage and 12.4 scores-against average.
Juengerkes, who continues to embrace his rookie PLL campaign, brings two points (0g, 2a), four ground balls, one caused turnover and one penalty minute across his eight games played into his first-ever professional postseason appearance come Saturday, Aug. 29.
Awaiting an eventual semifinals opponent alongside his Philadelphia contingent, Hannah has racked up 15 points (11g, 4a), 12 ground balls and 2.5 penalty minutes throughout his 10 regular season appearances, while Jeffrey has amassed 12 ground balls, two caused turnovers and four penalty minutes in 10 games played for his Archers.
Both of this weekend’s quarterfinals matchups can be view on ESPN+
No. 4 California Redwoods vs. No. 5 Denver Outlaws: 4 p.m. MT on ESPN+
No. 3 Boston Cannons vs. No. 6 Maryland Whipsnakes: 6:30 p.m. MT on ESPN+
Mammoth fans can stay tuned to coloradomammoth.com and Colorado Mammoth social media channels for the team’s latest news, transactions and beyond.
