Top takeaways from PLL San Diego Weekend
Published
Boston Cannons 12, Denver Outlaws 10
Sarah Griffin: Cannons’ comeback win secures their spot in the playoffs
As the old saying goes, it’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish.
It was a roller coaster of emotions for the Cannons in their West Coast battle with the Outlaws, but the Boom Squad took care of business and became the first team in the league to clinch a playoff spot in the 12-10 victory.
Entering halftime, the Cannons trailed the Outlaws 9-5. Every weakness Boston possesses was on full display in the first two quarters. It wasn’t shooting the ball well, the defense was giving Denver too many opportunities in the middle and Mike Manley essentially shut out the quarterback of the Cannons’ offense in Asher Nolting, holding him to just one point (1A) in the first half.
But as we’ve seen so many times from this Cannons team this season, they’re never out of a game.
Head coach Brian Holman said truthfully, they didn’t make that many major adjustments at the half. It was more so just about getting back to the basics of Cannons ball.
Boston came out ready to roll in the second half, going on a 5-0 run in the third. With Jesse Bernhardt out for the remainder of the game after suffering a shoulder injury late in the second quarter, Denver’s defense never quite recovered from his absence. Nolting broke away from Manley, cashing in three points (2G, 1A) in the third quarter alone.
Marcus Holman (3G, 1A) and Matt Campbell (2G, 1T, 1A) each matched Nolting’s four points to elevate Boston’s offense to its third straight win. And though there weren't as many twos in the game as we’re used to seeing from the Cannons, Campbell’s two-pointer in the first quarter officially tied the record previously held by the Maryland Whipsnakes for the most by a PLL team in a season (15).
Overcoming a four-goal deficit at the half, this was the second comeback win of the season for the Cannons. They don’t trail often, but when they do, they’ve proven time and time again they know how to respond.
Ethan Rall emphasized the importance of games like Saturday’s after the win.
”It’s good to have these different kinds of games,” he explained.
Rall said the team recently discussed why not always leading in a game can sometimes be a good thing — they’re more battle-tested because of it.
With a playoff spot on lock, the work isn’t anywhere near done for Boston. Now it’ll be all about finishing strong in its two remaining games of the regular season and watching how the Eastern Conference shakes out over the next few weeks.
Up next for Boston: vs. Maryland Whipsnakes (Sunday, Aug. 4, 3 p.m. ET)
Topher Adams: Jesse Bernhardt’s injury too much to overcome
Denver played a near-perfect first half. The offense was humming behind five Brennan O’Neill points. The defense was pressing out and aggressively challenging Boston’s offense. The Outlaws led by four heading into the half, and all the momentum was on their side.
Then Bernhardt was pushed out of bounds and fell awkwardly to the ground. With its captain and defensive organizer on the sideline with a shoulder injury, Denver couldn’t recover.
The shorthanded Outlaws lost their defensive punch, and the Cannons roared in the third quarter. Boston outscored Denver 7-1 in the second half and cruised to the victory. Bernhardt’s injury took the wind out of the team’s sails, but the offense really struggled down the stretch.
After taking over early, O’Neill was shut out in the second half. Flamethrower Graham Bundy Jr. was scoreless all game. As the clock approached zero, the Outlaws kept trying to find answers, but they never passed the test. Dalton Young scored the only goal of the second half for Denver.
So much of what the Outlaws did well last week fell apart in the second half. The offense went dry. Owen McElroy had his worst start between the pipes before getting pulled for Sean Sconone in the fourth quarter. Luke Wierman went just 9-for-23 at the faceoff stripe.
Through two quarters, this looked like a continuation of everything Denver does well. By the end, it’s a reminder of the Outlaws' many remaining flaws.
Up next for Denver: vs. California Redwoods (Saturday, Aug. 3, 3:30 p.m. ET)
California Redwoods 10, Carolina Chaos 8
Jerome Taylor: Redwoods outshine Chaos in chippy Homecoming clash
This game was circled on the calendar the moment the schedule came out in the spring, and after Saturday, we can add another chippy Chaos-Woods matchup to the rivalry’s lore.
There was pushing, shoving, chirping and big hits from both sides. But in the end, California love was in the air, and the Redwoods picked up their second win of the season, giving the hometown fans their best performance of the year.
"I think this was the best home crowd we've seen yet," Rob Pannell said about the turnout at Torero Stadium. "Tons of green in the stands. … It felt like it was a California crowd tonight. I think on the East Coast, there's fans of other teams. Here in California, if you're here you're a fan of the California Redwoods, and it felt that way, and it translated over to the field.”
The star of the game was Jack Kelly, making 13 saves (65%), including two from behind the arc in Carolina’s last possession. Oh, and he moved up the career saves leaderboard.
Defensively, the C's (Chris Conlin, Chris Fake, Arden Cohen and Jared Conners) contained and disrupted the Chaos offense all game, causing five turnovers collectively, punctuated by a Conners (1G, 1CT, 3GB) “pick-six.”
"He's special. I really think he's the best in the game at that position," Redwoods head coach Nat St. Laurent said. "You just never get the sense that you're out of a play when there's a ground ball. … We always feel like if there's a 50-50 ground ball, we always feel like we have a chance of getting that ball if Jared's out there, and he showed why today."
On the other end of the field, Cali resident Romar Dennis made the most out of Homecoming weekend, netting two two-pointers in the first half to provide the Woods with early momentum.
In the second half, juice goals were abundant, as Conners, Ryder Garnsey (1G, 1A), Chris Merle (1G) and Cole Kirst (1G) pumped goals, each adding some form of excitement to the game.
TD Ierlan dominated his matchup, going 14-for-18 at the stripe (78%) and bouncing back from last week’s poor outing.
Even in wins, however, there are still lessons to be learned. The Woods still seemed unorganized on offense at times, especially in the second half, as Kirst and Garsney were the only two offensive players to score in the game’s final two frames.
But now sitting at 2-4, the Woods playoff prospects look a lot better than they did last week. It’ll still be an uphill battle, but a win against the Maryland Whipsnakes could see them leave Homecoming weekend tied with Denver and Carolina in the win column and with the same number of losses as Chaos.
Hayden Lewis: Shane Knobloch’s breakout performance isn’t enough to power Carolina past California
After scoring an overtime-winning goal against the Maryland Whipsnakes in Fairfield, it looked like Shane Knobloch was coming into his own.
Knobloch solidified himself as a potent member of the offense in Carolina’s 10-8 loss to the Redwoods on Saturday, recording four points (3G, 1T). Knobloch did it in bully-like fashion, working to find his spots over the field and he attacked short-stick defensive midfielders to make the California defense pay a few times.
“We knew he was the guy that we wanted based on what we lost over the course of the season and based on the direction that we wanted to go,” Chaos head coach and general manager Andy Towers said about Knobloch. “He delivered in a huge way last week and he delivered again in a huge way this week.”
The defense allowed the Chaos offense to go out and win the game, but they failed to capitalize on chances. The offense shot 7-for-43 on the day (16.3%). The season has been marked by long scoring droughts on offense, and everything stayed the same Saturday against the Redwoods.
“We should be able to win a game where you let up 10 goals,” said Towers. “I’m biased, I think we’re the best defense in the league and we’re an inexperienced offense that’s gaining a little bit more experience each week.”
The Chaos are building up for a playoff push that got harder with their loss to the Redwoods. Next week's matchup with the Utah Archers will display the new experience the offense has in store.
Up next for Carolina: vs. Utah Archers (Sunday, Aug. 4, 5:30 p.m. ET)
New York Atlas 12, Philadelphia Waterdogs 11
Lauren Merola: Atlas defense secures playoff berth for New York
There were 47.5 minutes of lacrosse played before the Waterdogs hit a two-point bomb – their only goal of the second half – to climb within one point of the Atlas. None of them mattered. Not when the game was decided with seconds to spare, and the Atlas defense made sure to control the team’s script.
There was an eerie feeling in the air, even if only momentarily, stemming from an Atlas-Waterdogs meeting last season in which New York blew a seven-point lead to lose 19-18 after Philadelphia hit a two-pointer to even the game before stealing the dub.
“We have to stop the two-pointers. That was our Achilles’ heel last week,” Atlas coach and general manager Mike Pressler said at halftime of Sunday's game. New York allowed three two-pointers against the Boston Cannons in Fairfield.
But then, as the clock started ticking down, the defense played physical, aggressive and was smart on its switches, especially when it came to taking a lane away from Zach Currier. A caused turnover sealed the win – and a playoff spot come September.
After being held scoreless in the second quarter, the Atlas’ midfield finally got involved and started putting up points. Bryan Costabile opened up scoring in the second half, and goals from Jake Stevens and Logan McGovern followed.
Jeff Teat posted a hat trick, fortifying his PLL single-season points record. He currently has 51 points on the season. Liam Entenmann also posted 17 saves.
Up next for New York: Bye week
Wyatt Miller: Waterdogs offense falls flat in second half, wasting Matt DeLuca’s career day
The Atlas haven’t scored fewer than 12 points all season, so it was no secret that the Waterdogs’ offense needed to bust out of its slump to win this game. And with nine points in the first half, it seemed that they had. They looked like the Waterdogs of old, capitalizing in transition and firing two-pointers into twine with triple-digit speed.
Then, everything changed.
The Waterdogs only scored one goal in the second half, a two-pointer with 31 seconds remaining, as the Atlas went on a 6-0 run prior to that in a must-win game for Philly. They turned the ball over 15 times in the final 24 minutes and shot 1-for-20 during that span. Twenty-one total turnovers, 10 of which were unforced, plagued the Dogs throughout the game, while the Atlas capitalized in transition as a result.
It was an ugly half of lacrosse and the Dogs, once again, didn’t show up when it mattered most. The lone bright spot was Matt DeLuca, who replaced Dillon Ward between the pipes after Ward went 0-for-5 on save opportunities in the first quarter. However, DeLuca’s career day (17 saves, 70.8%) was all for naught, as the Dogs lost their fourth one-score game of the season. They also had four powerplay opportunities and didn’t capitalize on any of them.
"We shut ourselves out in that third quarter,” head coach and general manager Bill Tierney said. “We had three man-ups in the second half and uncharacteristically didn't share the ball and didn't look at what the good look was, and we didn't get anything out of them."
In fitting fashion, the game ended on an unforced error. Philly had one final chance to tie it with 25 seconds remaining, and they didn’t get a shot off. At 1-6, the path to the playoffs looks extremely narrow – they will likely have to win out to make it happen.
Up next for Philadelphia: vs. Maryland Whipsnakes (Saturday, Aug. 3, 1 p.m. ET)
Maryland Whipsnakes 18, California Redwoods 13
Adam Lamberti: Welcome to the Tucker Dordevic show
Two weeks ago, I wrote that the Whipsnakes offense would reach new heights with Tucker Dordevic returning to the lineup.
That happened Sunday.
Propelled by Dordevic’s seven points (4G, 3T), the Whipsnakes scored their highest total this season with 18, using nine different goal-scorers, including rookie defenseman Ajax Zappitello’s first career goal in transition.
Dordevic, the league leader in two-pointers last season with five, had three in this game alone. He’s shooting close to 50% on two-pointers in his career, a ridiculous stat.
While Dordevic’s performance was certainly the headliner, Joe Nardella’s was equally as important.
Fully recovered from major knee surgery, Nardella had two goals and a hockey assist off the faceoff. He’s been the Whipsnakes MVP this season.
With a healthy Dordevic, Nardella playing at an elite level, contributions from Zed Williams (3G, 1A) and TJ Malone (1G, 3A) offensively and Brendan Krebs steady in net, this Whipsnakes team can make some noise late in the season.
Up next for Maryland: vs. Philadelphia Waterdogs (Saturday, Aug. 3, 1 p.m. ET)
Jerome Taylor: Redwoods' fourth-quarter run comes up short
After Dordevic's third two-pointer of the afternoon, the Redwoods went on a furious fourth-quarter 3-0 run, but it wasn’t enough, and the Woods fell to 2-5.
Throughout the game, the Woods had spurts offensively, but the lackluster moments led to California leaving Homecoming with a split.
There was a second-quarter donut, 21 turnovers and multiple missed opportunities.
One of those opportunities came after Roman Puglise picked up a two-minute, non-releasable penalty in the fourth quarter. However, the Woods went scoreless after a Chris Gray goal was wiped out following a replay review.
“We were patient on the [first possession], a half-second too patient, I guess,” Ryder Garnsey said about the powerplay opportunity. "That one drops, and the game changes. The other team gives you an opportunity to get back in the game with a two-minute unreleasable. You’ve got to can some shots, and we didn’t today.”
Because the Woods won on Saturday, there’s still hope they can make the playoffs. They’ll need other things around the league to start shaking their way, though.
That said, there were positives from Sunday’s loss.
Jack Kelly was once again impressive throughout most of the game, saving 53% of the shots that came his way. With the Whips peppering him with 53 shots (34 on goal), it was a valiant effort.
The defensive midfielders also had their moments; both Brian Tevlin and Chris Merle were menaces throughout the game, causing two turnovers apiece and sparking transitions. With the exception of Dordevic, there’s a case to be made that Tevlin was the best player on the field.
“[Tevlin] is going to be a premier player in this league. I think he already is," Redwoods head coach Nat St. Laurent said after the game. "... Everyone wants to be a dog, and Chris [Merle] really is. He’s tenacious in everything he does."
On the other end, Rob Pannell (1G, 3A) became just the third player in professional lacrosse history to get to 600 career points on a stellar day for him. Also, Cole Kirst (3G) provided a spark to the midfield unit that has been looking for one all year.
Heading into Maryland, the Woods have things to build on, but they will again have their backs against the walls in a rematch against the Denver Outlaws, who’ll also be desperate for a win.
Up next for California: vs. Denver Outlaws (Saturday, Aug. 3, 3:30 p.m. ET)