Top takeaways from PLL’s Denver weekend

Maryland Whipsnakes 16, Denver Outlaws 9

Adam Lamberti: Whipsnakes stay hot, win regular-season finale

You’re looking at the hottest team in the PLL right now.

After a slow start to the game, the Whipsnakes pulled away in the second half to win their fourth straight.

TJ Malone continued his case for Rookie of the Year with six points (4G, 2A). Ryan Conrad had a hat trick in his debut after the Whipsnakes acquired him this week in a trade. Joe Nardella is continuing to play at his 2020 MVP level, winning 65% of his faceoffs and scoring two goals. Rookies Adam Poitras and Levi Anderson had two goals apiece and are playing fantastic lacrosse. Zed Williams has scored in every game this season and is so difficult to stop. I could go on.

I’ve been saying all year that this team can be dangerous if it hit its full potential, specifically offensively, and we’re seeing everything come together now.

The Whipsnakes have done their part to try to nab the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but the New York Atlas will likely lock that up, as they just need to win one of their next two games.

With a bye next weekend, the Whipsnakes will hope they can carry this positive momentum into the playoffs. If they can keep playing like this, they’ll be awfully hard to beat in September.

Up next for Maryland: Bye week

Topher Adams: Denver is not a championship team right now

For two quarters, this was a lively and competitive lacrosse game. Each team went on runs, and the action was fast and flying through the middle of the field. While Maryland held a one-goal lead, Denver looked poised to compete in its first Homecoming game.

In the third quarter, everything slipped away for the Outlaws. The defense was a step behind every dodge. The offense just missed passes or took a second too long to initiate a dodge. By the start of the fourth quarter, Denver trailed by five. and the Whipsnakes never looked back.

Brennan O’Neill and Graham Bundy Jr. are the heartbeat of the Outlaws offense, and neither did much of anything outside of one wicked O’Neill highlight. 

A pattern has emerged down the stretch of this season. When Denver faces a lesser opponent, it takes care of business and looks unstoppable. When the Outlaws face the best teams in the league, they look outclassed.

There’s no shame in being the best of the rest, but unless something changes in the last two games of the season, Denver doesn’t look like a serious contender yet.

California Redwoods 13, Philadelphia Waterdogs 12 (OT)

Jerome Taylor: So you’re saying there’s a chance

In order to make the Cash App Playoffs, the Redwoods came into Denver needing to win their remaining two games and overcome a 32-point scoring differential—a tall task. 

They’ll be leaving Denver with a 3-6 record, after Wes Berg (2G) put one past Matt DeLuca in overtime at his alma mater.

“It’s a reason Wes is on the wall here," Redwoods head coach Nat St. Laurent said. "He’s got a national championship, and he’s won at every level played at. It’s because he’s a winner, and we’re going to get him the ball every time we can in crunch time." 

Now with a -31 scoring differential, the Woods’ chances of making the playoffs are as thin as a twig.

It wasn’t the blowout they were looking, for but the Woods got experimental against the Waterdogs. It started with BJ Farrare, who was signed earlier this week, picking up his first career point, an assist in transition, showing off the prowess that made him a 2023 training camp favorite. 

It felt like Rob Pannell (1G, 3A) played more above cage in this game than the entire time he’s donned a Redwoods uniform. Nakeie Montgomery played exclusively offense, and he rewarded the Woods with two points (1G, 1A). Ryder Garnsey (2G, 1A) was bumped to the midfield during the game. And the midfield in general had a good day as Charlie Bertrand (3G) and Romar Dennis (2G, 1T) tallied three points apiece.

With the playoffs seemingly out of the question for either team, a hard-fought, sometimes sloppy game highlighted the professionalism and pride that players in the PLL have.

With the Utah Archers, who could be fighting for the No. 1 seed, on the docket next week, the path to 4-6 looks dim. That said, it’s another opportunity for this Redwoods roster to continue to experiment and find some things that could work next year. 

Up next for California: vs. Utah Archers (Friday, Aug. 16, 8 p.m. ET)

Wyatt Miller: Waterdogs fall to 0-5 in one-score games with overtime loss

The Waterdogs were 0-4 in one-score games entering this matchup. They’re now 0-5. They led 11-9 heading into the fourth quarter but lost 13-12 in overtime.

"I thought for three quarters we were the better team... but give the Redwoods credit for hanging in there,” said head coach and general manager Bill Tierney. “But when you're in a season like this, no matter what happens things tend to go wrong."

After two turnovers in overtime, the Redwoods won it on a spectacular goal from Denver alum Berg on the field of his alma mater and against his college coach, Tierney. With this loss, the Waterdogs fell to 1-8 and secured the No. 1 pick in next year’s college draft. 

This was a new-look Waterdogs team, though. After being eliminated from playoff contention last week, the Waterdogs mixed things up Friday night. Instead of the usual offense, Tierney gave the nod to some non-regulars, and they made an impact. 

Veteran Mikie Schlosser along with rookies Michael Boehm and Matt Brandau all played and got on the scoreboard. Boehm, who had two assists, started at attack in place of a struggling Ethan Walker, and his proclivity for playing behind the cage opened up some different looks for the offense. Michael Sowers found passing lane after passing lane from above goal line expected and brought the Waterdogs offense back from the dead after they scored just six points a week ago. His four assists were a catalyst for the Dogs.

The Waterdogs have started looking toward the future, and they got some production from fresh faces in pursuit of that, but it ended in a familiar one-score loss.

Up next for Philadelphia: vs. New York Atlas (Saturday, Aug. 17, 6:30 p.m. ET)

New York Atlas 15, Utah Archers 11

Lauren Merola: Jeff Teat puts the exclamation mark on a 15-11 win

Seven points for Jeff Teat? Sounds like old news at this point in the season. 

But alas, the PLL regular-season record points holder had two goals and five assists in a must-win game against the Archers to move confidently into the last week of the season eyeing the highly touted first-round playoff bye. (And by must-win, I mean in hopes of solely securing the bye, as the Atlas already clinched a playoff spot.)

Connor Shellenberger, who had one goal and is one-third of the most efficient offense in the league, left the game with a left foot injury. Postgame, coach Mike Pressler said he had “absolutely no update” on his starting attackman, but with a playoff spot clinched, it’s not too much of a concern in the season right now. Shellenberger has until – at minimum – Sept. 2 (the quarterfinals) to rest (the Atlas’ last regular-season game is Aug. 17).

Even if New York (currently 7-2) loses and the Boston Cannons (currently 6-3) win next week in Salt Lake City, the Atlas could emerge with the first-round bye via the score differential. In the penultimate week of the season, the Atlas have a +28 SD to the Cannons’ +10. Regular-season records set the playoff standings, with SD as the first tiebreaker. 

So it’s not yet time to worry about Shellenberger, but the Cavalier connection didn’t sideline itself with him. 

Pressler moved midfielder Dox Aitken down low to attack with Teat and Xander Dickson once Shellenberger exited the game, and Aitken finished with three goals. 

“Seeing a guy like Connor going down definitely shakes you a little bit,” Dickson said. “You want to know what’s going on and if he’s OK and make adjustments quickly because the game is so close. ... We brought Dox Aitken down to attack, which is hilarious because he said he never played attack in his life.

“It was pretty funny, he came down low and we were like, ‘What’s going on down here?’ ... Definitely a funny moment seeing Dox Aitken come down to attack, but we said play the point and shoot it if you get it. He’s such a good player and you can put him anywhere, so it was pretty hilarious watching him drawn out to the attack box.”

Up next for New York: vs. Philadelphia Waterdogs (Saturday, Aug. 17, 6:30 p.m. ET)

Zach Carey: Everything comes down to Homecoming weekend for the Archers

In each of the past two weeks, the Archers were a win away from clinching their berth in the Cash App Playoffs and extending their lead atop the Western Conference. 

Both times, Utah went scoreless for the final seven minutes of play and saw those opportunities slip away. 

Now, the Archers head into Homecoming weekend and back-to-back games next Friday and Saturday with everything on the line. 

A whopping 27 turnovers doomed the club against the Atlas on Saturday afternoon. Without Matt Moore in the lineup, the Archers’ offense struggled to win matchups. New York pressed them off-ball, forcing Utah to win one-on-one and disrupting the offense from finding a consistent rhythm.

“I’ve never seen so many unforced errors from an Archers team,” head coach Chris Bates said postgame. “The ball was just flying everywhere. It was uncharacteristic for us.”

Scores in settled offense were particularly hard to come by against the Atlas. A pair of two-pointers lessened the final scoring differential. But the offensive issues compounded each other despite the occasional heroic individual plays. 

Defensively, containing Teat was a no-go. The Archers decided to give Warren Jeffrey that matchup while putting their No. 1 cover defender, Graeme Hossack, on Shellenberger. While Shellenberger totaled one goal on four shots before leaving the game with a left foot injury, Teat lit up the Archers defense and punished them off-ball. 

Brett Dobson explained postgame how that matchup decision was driven by trying to shut Shellenberger down while trusting Jeffrey – who’s played against Teat since they were 4 years old – to manage his fellow Canadian. 

“I think if we were to play these guys again in the playoffs, we’d stick to the same matchups,” Dobson said. “I thought they did a good job on them.”

Next Friday, the Archers will face off against the California Redwoods with another chance to clinch their spot in the Cash App Playoffs. Then they’ll take on the Denver Outlaws the next day looking to win the Western Conference. 

The Archers still control their own destiny to finish first in the West and earn the bye to the semifinals. That said, this loss to New York clouds the picture.

The Outlaws lead the West at 5-4. But the Archers can still come out on top by either winning both games in Salt Lake City or just beating the Outlaws and maintaining their advantage over Denver and Carolina in the scoring differential tiebreaker.

Up next for Utah: vs. California Redwoods (Friday, Aug. 16, 8 p.m. ET)

Denver Outlaws 10, Carolina Chaos 4

Topher Adams: Jekyll defeats Hyde in front of electric home crowd

The Outlaws are who we thought they were. Unfortunately, what they are is maddeningly inconsistent. 

Less than 24 hours after a miserable 16-9 loss to the Maryland Whipsnakes, Denver stuffed Carolina into a locker to become the fourth team to clinch a playoff spot. The Outlaws defense held the shorthanded Chaos to four goals, tied for the fewest allowed in a game this season league-wide. Goalie Owen McElroy had a career night, saving 12 shots at 75%.

The offense, while at times hampered by Carolina’s stingy defense, found a groove behind Eric Law’s four-goal night. Even as Blaze Riorden and company kept the scoring low early, the offense found good sets and created scoring opportunities.

The problem moving forward is that we’ve seen this movie before.

Denver cruised past the California Redwoods and took care of business against the Philadelphia Waterdogs. The combined record of the teams the Outlaws have beaten is 12-23. The combined record of teams they've lost to is 23-14.

On its day, Denver looks like an elite team. But can the Outlaws get it done week-to-week, especially against the best in the league?

Up next for Denver: vs. Utah Archers (Saturday, Aug. 17, 9 p.m. ET)

Hayden Lewis: Byrne-less Chaos offense fails in pivotal matchup vs. Denver

Josh Byrne is Carolina's best attackman. On Saturday, he wasn’t in the lineup against the Outlaws, and the Chaos offense suffered.

Carolina went scoreless in the first and fourth quarters and only managed to put home two goals in both middle quarters for a total of four all game. It wasn’t due to a lack of opportunities; it was the 4-of-43 shooting performance (9.3%) that caused the trouble.

“I loved that we ran the offense. We were sharp [and] we generated high-quality opportunities,” Chaos head coach and general manager Andy Towers said. “I’d like to see us test the goalies a little bit more.”

McElroy’s 75% save percentage in net made the offense’s job much harder.

“You have to give credit to Owen McElroy. He played an outstanding game,” Towers said.

The Chaos’s matchup against the Boston Cannons next week isn’t a must-win situation to clinch the playoffs. If the Chaos lose and the Redwoods lose, then Carolina will make the playoffs regardless. If Carolina loses and California wins, the tiebreaker will be goal differential for the final spot in the playoffs, assuming Utah can snag a win during its Homecoming weekend. 

“The good news is that we didn’t play sloppy in the playoffs,” Towers remarked. “We got one more game that we got to prepare for next week, and we’re going to do that. I’m extremely confident that we’re going to come out and we’re going to play our best game, and hopefully, you know, we’ll be in the playoffs.”

Up next for Carolina: vs. Boston Cannons (Friday, Aug. 16, 10:30 p.m. ET)