A pair of games over the weekend determined the final standings in the National Lacrosse League and set the pairings for the playoffs this weekend, including Rochester's visit to the Baltimore Arena on Saturday night to play the Thunder.

By virtue of a 10-9 victory over the New York Saints on Friday, Toronto, which caught and passed the Thunder as the 12-game season wound down, captured the regular-season title with a 9-3 mark and will play host to the Philadelphia Wings (5-7) on Friday.

The Thunder (8-4), which defeated Rochester (8-4) twice during the season, 20-13 in Baltimore and 14-11 in upstate New York, gained the runner-up spot.

It's a one-game elimination tournament and, if the favored, home teams prevail, the championship game will be played April 23 in Toronto. If Baltimore plays host to Philadelphia in the finale, it will be April 24.

The Toronto Rock got a goal from Dan Stroup midway through the fourth quarter at home and made it stand up the rest of the way to defeat New York and thus avoid a tie for the top spot with the Thunder.

A New York victory over Toronto would have given the Thunder first place via a tie-breaker and the Saints came close, leading the Rock, 9-8, after three periods.

The Rock slipped past the Thunder, 16-15, in Toronto a couple of weeks ago, wresting the league lead from Baltimore for the first time this season. In a previous meeting, the Thunder buried the Rock, 21-10.

Philadelphia went down in Rochester by a goal, but held onto fourth place in the standings by virtue of a tie-breaker over New York.

Pub Date: 4/12/99