EVERETT — The National Lacrosse League has announced the playoff format for the 2012 season will remain at eight qualifiers in a single elimination system. New for this year’s playoffs is the “Crossover” which will allow the fifth-place team in the West Division to take the place of the fourth-place team in the East Division if the fifth-place team has a better record.
The rest of the playoff format remains unchanged. Playoff games will be hosted by the higher-seeded team. The East and West Division winners will be seeded No. 1 within their respective divisions. In the first round (Divisional Semifinals), the Division winners will play the fourth seed within their division while the second and third seeds will play each other.
The winners advance to the East and West Division Finals, and the winners of those games advance to the 2012 Championship Game. The Championship Game will be hosted by the higher overall seeded team. At the conclusion of the regular season, the eight playoff teams are given an Overall Seeding number (one through eight) which is used solely to determine home field for the Championship Game.
The 2012 Playoffs begin after the conclusion of the regular season on Saturday, April 28.
The Washington Stealth is the reigning two-time Western Division Champions and winner of the 2010 NLL Championship. The Stealth has reached the playoffs in each of the last five seasons.
The 2012 Washington Stealth season begins on January 14, when the team plays host to the Calgary Roughnecks in a rematch of the 2011 Western Division Final.
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