With week 9 of the regular season complete, there is only one more game left for each team to prove their worth. With playoffs within reach, the Premier Lacrosse League has turned into a dogfight.
The games this week weren’t incredibly close, but there was one big upset that snapped a major win streak. This PLL Week 9 recap will go over the games, their top performers, and what’s next for their squads.
Whipsnakes Demolish Atlas, 16-8
In a surprise turn of events, the No. 1 team in the PLL absolutely smothers the No. 2. This game drowned the Atlas in the PLL rankings, setting them back 2 more spots. Their score differential was cut in half from 16 to 8, putting the competition ahead of them in a much better position.
Although Trevor Baptiste did dominate the stripe, Matt Rambo’s work on the offensive side of the ball tore the Atlas apart. His 7 points with 4 goals and 3 assists shredded the Atlas defense, while Zed Williams was close behind with 3 goals and 2 assists.
Whipsnakes’ Kyle Bernlohr may have had the best goalie game of the year, with 18 saves at 72%. He had the net closed off, and made an incredible Atlas offense look like a youth team.
Although the stats don’t fully show it, Jack Concannon had a great game. His 52% save rate with his 16 saves did help the Atlas, it’s hard to stop 33 shots on goal.
The Atlas have secured themselves a playoff spot, but they need to bounce back next week against the Cannons. If things go well, it will be a great confidence booster going into the playoffs.
Redwoods Upset Waterdogs, 14-12
In an incredible turn of events, the Woods came through and secured a playoff game after defeating the Waterdogs. Carried by one of the best offensive games by a player this year and a dominant performance by TD Ierlan, there was too much for the Dogs to handle.
Rob Pannell has proven to be elite once again with an 8-point performance on the day. He passed the ball at the most elite level, racking up 6 assists. 2 of Charlie Bertrand’s 3 goals were assisted by him, and was the main reason for the team’s success.
4 Woods players had 3 points or more, with Ryder Garnsey finding his way to 5 points. A defender assisted another defender that night, with John Sexton dumping it down to Kyle Hartzell for the score.
Both teams are now in comfortable playoff position, but have difficult games next week. The Dogs face off against the Archers, and the Woods battle the Chrome. The Dogs need to get their fire back next week, and the Woods need tokeep rolling.
Archers Defeat Chaos, 11-8
In a very close game up until the 4th quarter, the Chaos tried their best to hold of the Archers. However, their efforts proved useless as the Archers dismantled them with a 3 goal run in the 4th quarter to take a 4 goal lead.
Tom Schreiber had a day, going for 6 points with three 1-point goals and a two point goal as well. Surprisingly, including Schreiber, only 5 Archers players scored a point while only 4 players scored a goal.
In a crazy turn of events, Will Manny went 0/8 on shots and had 0 assists. This may leave room for Kieran McArdle of the Waterdogs to take him over in the MVP race.
The Chaos had a fairly good game with all things considered. Josh Byrne put up 4 points, and Challen Rogers put up his PLL career high of 4 as well.
This game gave the Archers an opportunity to move up to the 3 seed, while the Chaos are second to last. If the last seed Cannons beat the No. 1 seed Whipsnakes next week, the Chaos may have to win their game against the Atlas to secure a playoff birth.
Chrome Sneak Past Cannons, 11-9
The Cannons may have the worst luck in the PLL, with Sean Sconone having the game of his life to keep the Cannon’s playoff hopes dim. The Cannons had 7 more shots on goal than the Chrome, but Sconone did the dirty work and tallied 16 saves at a rate of 64%.
There wasn’t a highlight player for the Cannons this week, but most of the offense put a point on the board. Lyle Thompson and Asher Nolting had 3 points each, but both shot 25% or lower.
I expected Farrell to dominate the stripe this week against Stephen Kelly, but Kelly held is own. They went almost 50/50 on faceoffs, and if Farrell dominated, the game may have been much uglier.
Nichtern had an unusual statline, going 0/5 shooting but ended up with 4 assists. He had two great assists back to back in the first quarter, and the Chrome didn’t lose the lead from that point forward.
