Ottawa’s professional lacrosse team has a chance to end its inaugural season in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) with a postseason berth.
With three games remaining in the 18-game season, the Black Bears have notched a 7-8 record, leaving them tied for ninth in the NLL standings. The top eight squads qualify for the playoffs.
As such, Ottawa will have to finish strong over its final three-game stretch, which will include a matchup with the playoff-bound Rochester Knighthawks on Saturday in upstate New York.
The Black Bears will also face the last-place Las Vegas Desert Dogs at the Canadian Tire Centre on April 12, before finishing the season on the road the following Saturday against the top-seeded Saskatchewan Rush.
Ottawa sat well outside the playoff picture entering March, but subsequent wins over the Colorado Mammoth and Philadelphia Wings have brought the postseason back within reach.
The Black Bears have been led by Jeff Teat, a 27-year-old forward from Brampton, Ont., whose 43 goals is tied for most in the NLL this season.
Four of those goals came during Saturday’s win over Philadelphia, when Teat also posted five assists for a remarkable nine-point game.
Teat was among the several Black Bears players who made the move to the nation’s capital after the New York Riptide relocated to Ottawa last year.
Ottawa also previously had an NLL franchise called the ‘Rebel’ from 2001 to 2003, after which the team moved to Edmonton.
More than a decade later, the Edmonton Rush moved to Saskatchewan, meaning the Black Bears’ playoff hopes may depend on how they fare against a franchise that previously called Ottawa home.
