The Toronto Rock, fresh off winning the NLL Champion's Cup in Rochester, jumped past the Knighthawks to finish the season with the Lacrosse-Network.com Experts Poll title.

In the last poll, conducted just before the start of the playoffs, Rochester held a 143-128 lead over second-place Toronto. The Knighthawks and Rock went on to win their respective semifinal matches, but when they met for the title Saturday night at Blue Cross Arena, the visitors dominated their way to an 8-6 victory.

The victory allowed Toronto to leap into first place, finishing with nine first-place votes and 139 points. Rochester dropped to second, keeping three of its number-one votes and finishing with 132 points.

The Experts were not required to put the champion at number one, but all nine who updated their rankings did so. The three who defaulted to their 15 April rankings all had Rochester on top.

The remaining ten spots went unchanged from the rankings published right after the end of the regular season. In fact, for many teams, even the point totals barely changed.

Buffalo finished third, up one point to 122, while Colorado gained four points, finishing with 104. Calgary (91 points) and Vancouver (85) each dropped a few points to round out the top six clubs, all of which reached the postseason.

Among the teams finishing just barely out of a playoff spot, Philadelphia (73 points), Albany (65) and Columbus (53) gained one, two, and one points, respectively, from mid-April.

Among the cellar-dwellers, Ottawa finished with 31 points, ahead of New York (25) and New Jersey (16). The only change here came from several Experts swapping the Saints and Storm for eleventh and twelfth, widening what had been a 23-18 margin.

Our panel of twelve experts (one from each NLL city) includes a wide range of top lacrosse minds, including Outsider's Guide writers, players, and coaches. Scoring is on a 12-11-10-etc. basis, so that the maximum score a team can earn is 144 points and the minimum is twelve points.

The complete rankings from this week's Experts Poll, with comments (final win-loss record, including playoffs, is in parentheses):

FINAL RANKINGS                                     Pts  Prv
 1. Toronto Rock (13-5)                            139    2
    Was there any better time to break BCA Curse?
 2. Rochester Knighthawks (13-5)                   132    1
    Looked to be outcoached in final (again)
 3. Buffalo Bandits (13-5)                         122    3
    Regretting that late-season loss in Calgary
 4. Colorado Mammoth (10-8)                        104    4
    Only team to beat Rock twice this season
 5. Calgary Roughnecks (9-8)                        91    5
    Vast improvement, but still a lot of unrest
 6. Vancouver Ravens (9-8)                          85    6
    Stronger start might have meant home q'final
 7. Philadelphia Wings (8-8)                        73    7
    Not a bad outcome for a "rebuilding year"
 8. Albany Attack (8-8)                             65    8
    Inconsistent all season 
 9. Columbus Landsharks (8-8)                       53    9
    Started great, finished awful
10. Ottawa Rebel (4-12)                             31   10
    Sanderson still can't post winning season
11. New York Saints (3-13)                          25   11
    Hosting sixth annual postseason golf tourney
12. New Jersey Storm (3-13)                         16   12
    After opening w/ win at ROC, all went downhill