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Rhys Duch led the NLL with 5 game winning goals in 2011. Was it enough to lead this year's Money Ballers? (Ross Prohaska)

Going into this past weekend Ryan Benesch had the chance to catch Rhys Duch for this year’s Money Baller crown in what has easily been the closest clutch chase we’ve ever had in four years of of breaking down the National Lacrosse League’s top money point producers.

Benesch had a pair of go-ahead points and helped knot the game up in the first period in the Minnesota Swarm’s 12-8 second seed clinching win over the Colorado Mammoth, getting him some valuable clutch digits…

… but it wasn’t enough, Benesch finishing a single point away from Duch on the Money Ballers leaderboard, the Stealth clutch sniper joining Athan Iannucci (2008), Mark Steenhuis (2009) and Stealth teammate Lewis Ratcliff(2010) as Money Baller champs.

Duch’s clutch touch was obviously no secret throughout most of the year, leading the NLL in both game winning goals (5) and game winning points (6), and then in OT tied with Benesch and Stephan Leblanc with OT GWers (2) and also leading the NLL with OT points (3). The only other players with multiple OT points this year were Cam Sedgwick (1G, 1A) Shawn Williams (2A).

And while Duch and Benesch hogged the headlines for most of the year, who else impressed in clutch scoring during the NLL’s 2011 regular season?

- He may have led the NLL in shots this year (271), but John Grant was more than just a bulk shooter in 2011, finishing third on the Money Ballers thanks in large part to his 4GWing points, including that OT winner against the Boston Blazers that has since seen the Mammoth flip their season around. Grant, who finished fifth overall on the NLL’s regular scoring charts (83Pts), is the highest ranked Colorado point producer since Gavin Prout finished tied for second overall in 2008, coincidentally with now teammate Grant. And although his digits don’t land him on this year’s Money Baller leaderboard, the Mammoth, who could’t pull out a home W for 13 straight before Prout’s return to Denver, are now 3-0 at the Pepsi Centre since re-adding him at the trade deadline.

- While the Swarm didn’t crash the league’s Top 10 like they did last year thanks to Benesch, Callum Crawford and Aaron Wilson finishing inside that upper echelon bracket in 2010, the boys from Minny did take up a number of spots on the Money Baller leaderboard, past Benesch finishing as this year’s runner-up. Wilson, Crawford and off-season addition Mat Giles all find themselves on our end-of-season leaderboard below, Benesch and the just mentioned threesome scoring seven of a possible eight game winners in Minnesota this year. The only other GWer in Minnesota came from Richard Morgan.

- While Cody Jamieson brushed past Curtis Dickson in the rookie point race this past weekend, Dickson remained our highest rookie Money Baller in 2011, ranked 11th overall below. After Dickson our next best rooks were Jamieson (18.o), Aaron Pascas (16.0), Jarrett Davis (10.5), Andrew Suitor (8.0) and Tyler Hass (6.5).

- Our lowest ranked regular season point producer that was able to be clutch enough to land on our year-end leader board? It was Mat Giles, who finished 2011 on the NLL’s scoring charts tied for 42nd overall, but came in tied for 16th on the Money Ballers this year.

- Even though Edmonton had a disappointing season in 2011, finishing with just five wins and out of the playoff picture, Rush vet forward Ryan Ward was able to sneak his way onto the leaderboard again, one of the most clutch consistent players in the NLL over the past four years, a regular on the Money Ballers since its inception.

- Our highest ranked defensive players this year? Brodie Merrill, who had an important fourth period game winning helper for the Rush, finished outside of the leaderboard tied for 28th, while Geoff Snider, who had an impressive 3GWing goals for the Calgary Roughnecks, and 2011 short-handed goals leader Andrew Watt finished just behind Merrill.

And check out our completed regular season leaderboard below.

Regular season point scoring rankings in brackets.

Weekly Leader
Week 1 – Rhys Duch, Washington Stealth
Week 2 – Rhys Duch, Washington Stealth
Week 3 – Rhys Duch, Washington Stealth
Week 4 – Casey Powell, Boston Blazers
Week 5 – Rhys Duch, Washington Stealth
Week 6 – Rhys Duch, Washington Stealth
Week 7 – Casey Powell, Boston Blazers
Week 8 – Casey Powell, Boston Blazers
Week 9 – Ryan Benesch, Minnesota Swarm
Week 10 – Ryan Benesch & Casey Powell
Week 11 – Ryan Benesch & Casey Powell
Week 12 – Ryan Benesch, Minnestoa Swarm
Week 13 – Ryan Benesch, Minnesota Swarm
Week 14 – Rhys Duch, Washington Stealth
Week 15 – Rhys Duch, Washington Stealth
Week 16 – Rhys Duch, Washington Stealth

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