Nick DiGianivittorio Jr., Correspondent Redwoods LC
Lacrosse is Awesome©
On Saturday September 14, in Round Two Game Four of the PLL Playoffs at Red Bull Arena in Newark, NJ, the No. 4 Seed Redwoods LC (7-5) went up against the No. 1 Seed Chaos LC (7-4) with the winner going to Philadelphia to battle it out for the crown and become the champions of the Premier Lacrosse League. The last time that these two teams faced off, it was a battle from start to finish that left fans getting more lacrosse action than expected. The only difference now is that the winner gets to play for the crown and the loser hits the showers early. Final Score: Redwoods LC 12—Chaos LC 7.
Coming into this game, Redwoods looked to Ryder Garnsey (#50) to set the tone and have another dominating performance from the offensive end. The front runner for Rookie of the Year will have to get through the nominee for Defensive Player of the Year, Jared Neumann (#88) who is known for having range with two point goals. In goal, the Redwoods will be backing Tim Troutner (#0) who is also a nominee for Rookie of the Year. The Chaos will be going with Blaze Riorden (#0) the product from Albany, who has the highest save percentage in the league. At the faceoff, Greg Gurenlian would be squaring off with Thomas Kelly from Chaos who needs to be near perfect to ensure Chaos will be able to have the ball in their sticks. The Redwoods remained dominate throughout the game and even though Chaos had a strong second quarter, it wasn’t enough to get past a 12-7 Redwoods win.
In pure Premier Lacrosse League fashion, Sergio Perkovic (2g) gained control of the ball from the midfield and took it down to the corner of goal diving into the crease thus scoring unassisted putting Redwoods up 1-0. The scoring went dry until the 4:16 mark on the ticker when Josh Byrne (1g) had a rip from within the arc and tied the game 1-1. Redwoods would not go quiet and 16 seconds later, Brent Adams (2g) let off a major shot on the run from just beyond the arc and placed the ball in the back of the net. With his foot being on the line, the goal only counted for one and thus the score was a 2-1 Redwoods lead. With 1:06 left on the clock, Adams would do it again bouncing off a defender from a spin move giving Redwoods a 3-1 lead. They’d continue their dominating performance when John Sexton (1 2ptG), LSM for Redwoods would launch a shot from well beyond the arc placing the ball in the net for a two-point shot, ending the first quarter with a 5-1 Redwoods lead.
The second quarter started off with Redwoods Garrett Epple receiving a two minute non-releasable from a “head to head contact” penalty on Connor Fields from Chaos. A small fight erupted between the two teams which sparked the Chaos offense. The quarter was a dominating Chaos performance. It started with Myles Jones (2g, 1a) getting the ball from the midfield and taking it down the middle for a goal. Jones wasn’t done yet as he received an assist from Josh Byrne, hitched and got a Redwoods defender to take the bait, and took an absolute rip from the middle of the field. These two goals would cut the lead to two 5-3. The next Chaos goal scorer was Dhane Smith (1g, 1a) after receiving an assist from Miles Thompson, placed the ball in the low corner on a bounce cutting the lead to one. Redwoods needed an answer to stop the Chaos run and they turned to Jules Heninburg (2g) who scored low side on the goal after receiving an assist from Joe Walters putting them back up 6-4. Chaos would score the next two goals, the first from Miles Thompson (2g, 1a) getting on the board from a low to low shot; and the second from Kevin Buchanan (1g, 1a) after receiving an assist from Smith, had an absolute rip to the top corner of the goal. At the half the score was tied: Chaos 6—Redwoods 6.
The beginning of the third quarter meant a new game would start and the winner would be going onto Philadelphia. One team had to come out dominate and fortunately for the Redwoods, they performed up to the task. It all started with Joe Walters (2g) coming up from the back side of the net off the pass from Matt Kavanagh at the 9:49 mark. A minute later, Walters was back on the scoring sheet at the 8:49 mark and sent an absolute bullseye to the top corner of the net with an assist from Kyle Harrison. Heningburg wanted to make his presence known in the third and after Chaos couldn’t reset on the restart, he stepped in, took a shot, and increased the lead 9-6 in favor of Redwoods. Within the final five seconds of the frame, Redwoods would make a final mark on the third when Epple came down the field, saw Ryder Garnsey (2g) cutting behind the defense thus leading to a true fashioned Garnsey goal with 3.8 seconds left on the clock. At the end of the third quarter, it was a dominating 10-6 Redwoods lead.
With 12 minutes to go; the fourth and final quarter started off with Perkovic getting back onto the scoring sheet at the 9:35 mark with a shot down the alley to beat Riorden in net. Garnsey was next coming up from the back side of the net, he pulled an inside roll and placed the ball in the bottom corner to give Redwoods a 12-6 lead. Chaos tried fighting back, and with a Thompson goal and only 5:58 remaining off of the rebound off the goalie, it just wasn’t enough for them to come back. Final score: Redwoods 12—Chaos 7.
NEXT UP:
The No. 4 Seed Redwoods LC will face the No. 2 Seed Whipsnakes on Saturday September 21 at Talen Energy Stadium in Philadelphia, PA to see who will wear the first ever Premier Lacrosse League crown. Game time is 2:30 p.m. EST and the game can be seen on NBCSN.
Nick DiGianivittorio Jr., Correspondent Redwoods LC
Lacrosse is Awesome©