# 1998 Ontario Raiders season

The Ontario Raiders were a lacrosse team based in Hamilton, Ontario playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 1998 season was the 1st in franchise history.
The Raiders finished in a three-way tie for third in the NLL standings. However, due to their head to head record against the Rochester Knighthawks and Buffalo Bandits, they were seeded in 5th place, just missing the playoffs.

## Regular season
### Conference standings

Reference:
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | Philadelphia Wings – xyz | 12 | 9 | 3 | .750 | 0.0 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 166 | 148 | +18 | 13.83 | 12.33 |
| 2 | Baltimore Thunder – x | 12 | 8 | 4 | .667 | 1.0 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 184 | 160 | +24 | 15.33 | 13.33 |
| 3 | Rochester Knighthawks – x | 12 | 6 | 6 | .500 | 3.0 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 168 | 159 | +9 | 14.00 | 13.25 |
| 4 | Buffalo Bandits – x | 12 | 6 | 6 | .500 | 3.0 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 166 | 171 | −5 | 13.83 | 14.25 |
| 5 | Ontario Raiders | 12 | 6 | 6 | .500 | 3.0 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 165 | 157 | +8 | 13.75 | 13.08 |
| 6 | New York Saints | 12 | 5 | 7 | .417 | 4.0 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 167 | 165 | +2 | 13.92 | 13.75 |
| 7 | Syracuse Smash | 12 | 2 | 10 | .167 | 7.0 | 2–4 | 0–6 | 163 | 219 | −56 | 13.58 | 18.25 |
x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games Played W: Wins; L: Losses; GB: Games back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowed Differential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game

### Game log

Reference:
| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | OT | Attendance | Record |
| 1 | January 3, 1998 | Rochester Knighthawks | Copps Coliseum | L 14–15 | OT | 7,536 | 0–1 |
| 2 | January 17, 1998 | @ Baltimore Thunder | Baltimore Arena | L 10–11 | OT | 3,815 | 0–2 |
| 3 | January 24, 1998 | New York Saints | Copps Coliseum | W 13–11 | | 4,078 | 1–2 |
| 4 | February 7, 1998 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Rochester Community War Memorial | L 9–14 | | 6,265 | 1–3 |
| 5 | February 13, 1998 | @ New York Saints | Nassau Coliseum | L 10–11 | | 5,082 | 1–4 |
| 6 | February 21, 1998 | Buffalo Bandits | Copps Coliseum | W 17–15 | | 5,841 | 2–4 |
| 7 | February 28, 1998 | Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | Copps Coliseum | L 11–12 | OT | 3,446 | 2–5 |
| 8 | March 7, 1998 | Syracuse Smash | Copps Coliseum | W 15–11 | | 3,416 | 3–5 |
| 9 | March 13, 1998 | Baltimore Thunder | Copps Coliseum | W 17–14 | | 4,545 | 4–5 |
| 10 | March 14, 1998 | @ Buffalo Bandits | Marine Midland Arena | L 12–14 | | 11,913 | 4–6 |
| 11 | March 27, 1998 | @ Syracuse Smash | Onondaga County War Memorial | W 22–21 | OT | 4,211 | 5–6 |
| 12 | April 11, 1998 | @ Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | CoreStates Center | W 15–8 | | 13,495 | 6–6 |

## Player stats
### Runners (Top 10)

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; LB = Loose Balls; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Colin Doyle | 12 | 34 | 27 | 61 |
| Russ Heard | 9 | 21 | 34 | 55 |
| Totals | | | | |

### Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals against; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | GP | MIN | W | L | GA | Sv% | GAA |
| Bob Watson | | 574 | 5 | 5 | 115 | .763 | 12.02 |
| Totals | | | | | | | |

## Awards

| Player | Award |
| Colin Doyle | Rookie of the Year Award |
| Colin Doyle | Rookie of the Month, March |
| Jim Veltman | Second All-Pro Team |
| Colin Doyle | Second All-Pro Team |
| Bob Watson | Second All-Pro Team |

## Roster

| No. | Position | Player |
| 11 | Def | Clark, Glenn |
| 2 | Def | Coyle, Pat |
| 7 | Fwd | Doyle, Colin |
| 25 | Fwd | Gill, Chris |
| No. | Position | Player |
| 8 | Fwd | Stroup, Dan |
| 32 | Fwd | Veltman, Jim |
| 29 | Goalie | Watson, Bob |