FireWolves taking "business as usual" approach to NLL Finals

ALBANY, NY (NEWS10) -- The anticipation has been building for nearly two weeks, all leading up to Friday night. The Albany FireWolves are set to begin the NLL Finals, a best-of-three series with the Buffalo Bandits.

The FireWolves are looking to become the second team in league history to go from last place one year, to an NLL title the next. They finished 3-15 last year, but this young group has completely turned things around led by head coach and general manager Glenn Clark.

On the other side: the defending champion Buffalo Bandits. Albany took both regular season matchups between these two teams. While the FireWolves have never been here before, the Bandits have made the NLL finals three years in a row.

One day before face-off, the FireWolves are cool calm and collected. "It's sort of been business as usual," said Clark. "We haven't really amped it up artificially or done anything different. I think you're successful when you stay in your comfort zone, and by that I mean our routine and our process and how we plan, so that's that's what we're doing. I think it's just business for these guys."

"Driving in today from the airport, it just seems like every other weekend," said rookie forward Alex Simmons. "Obviously there's more at stake and obviously a once in a lifetime opportunity. But you just want to go as usual. There's nothing different about us and them other than we're better than the past few months. So it's exciting. We're not letting the moment be too big."

Face-off for game one is set for Friday at 7:00 PM at MVP Arena. Game two will be in Buffalo on Saturday.