Di Miller, PLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: John Zumbado
On the final day of Week Two, Waterdogs LC (2-1) would take on Chrome LC (0-2) in Atlanta, GA. Chrome has been plagued with injuries of late and the most recent, Jordan Wolf who was injured in Week One would sit out today’s game as well. Waterdogs had just played Friday night and came away with a nice victory over Chaos LC and many were wondering if they had the energy for a double-header in the Georgia humidity, but it didn’t seem to hurt them in the end. In cage, John Galloway was sitting with 13GA, 10 Saves and a .435 SV%, while Dillon Ward had 11GA, 13 Saves and a .371SV%. At the face-off dot, Connor Farrell was on the low end of the spectrum only winning 12 of 27 with a .444 FO%, while Jake Withers was 28 of 47 with a .596 FO%. The game would depend upon who would control the ball best on offense and Waterdogs would come out on top. Final Score: Waterdogs LC 14—Chrome LC 9.
The Waterdogs would win the first face-off and Ryland Rees (one 2ptG) would come out firing from the right wing for the two-point goal 18 seconds in 2-0 Archers. Exactly one minute later at the 1:00 mark, Colin Heacock (1g) would get Chrome on the board when he leaned into his defender, got his hands free to generate enough force for the shot far side 2-1. It took only 32 seconds for Waterdogs to strike back. Ryan Brown (5g) got the feed from Zach Currier, and with the underhand delivery found the back of the cage at 1:32 putting them back up by two 3-1 Waterdogs. Chrome got the reset off the pipe and no one on Waterdogs picked up Justin Guterding (1g, 1a) heading to the cage, and with Ward out of his net, Guterding fired it from the right wing past Ward at 3:07 to close the gap again 3-2. But Waterdogs would go on a three-goal run after that. Connor Kelley with the feed to Kieran McArdle (1g, 2a) stepped down, fired it up and over the shoulder of Galloway 4-2 at 4:45 to start the run. Kelly got in on the action again finding Brown and with three seconds left on the shot clock, he fired it over the top for an impossible bounce shot far side at 5:41 for the three goal lead 5-2. With 1:51 left in the first, Mikie Schlosser (3g) would come across the field and send it home with a bounce shot on the run 6-2 Waterdogs. Chrome would halt the run on a turnover on the other end of the field. Justin Anderson headed across the midfield line, flip tossed to Mike Manley (one 2ptG, 1a) and with 4.5 seconds left in the quarter, he fired the shot past Ward to close the gap to two. Score at the end of one: Waterdogs LC 6—Chrome LC 4.
The teams would combine for a total of three goals in the second. On the turnover by Chrome, Michael Kraus would feed the cross field pass to Brown and he fired it from the left wing and blew it by Galloway on the bounce shot at 5:09 and a three goal lead 7-4. For the next five minutes the defenses were tough and no one was able to score. Finally, John Ranagan (1g, 1a) would fight his way past his defender on the run and fired it low sneaking it past the legs of Ward with 2:34 left in the half 7-5 Waterdogs. The ‘Dogs would put the final point on the board in the first half. Ben Reeves (2g, 1a) would roll back, made a nice spin dodge, and took the shot with one second on the shot clock and 21.5 seconds on the game clock to put Waterdogs back up by three heading into the half. Stats at the half: Chrome—4 of 18 on shots; 9 SOG; 13 TO; 9 FOW Waterdogs—7 of 20 on shots; 14 SOG; 8 TO; 4 FOW. Score at the end of two: Waterdogs LC 8—Chrome LC 5.
Chrome would outscore Waterdogs 3-1 in the third. They’d start it off on the skip pass from Ned Crotty to BJ Grille, he’d flip toss it to Jackson Morrill (3g) on the left wing and he fired it across his body at 3:49 closing the gap 8-6. Schlosser would notch his second for Waterdogs off the feed from behind the cage from Reeves and scored at 4:36 putting them up by three 9-6, but that would be all for the ‘Dogs in the third. Guterding with a couple of dodges behind the cage flipped it to Morrill on the doorstep and he’d score with a bounce shot between the legs of Ward with 4:35 left in the third 9-7 Waterdogs. The final goal in the third came off Chrome Rookie Kevin Rogers (1g, 1a) who was making his PLL debut. He fought his way past his defender with a strong underneath move, got inside and gained leverage, headed to the cage, dove across the crease and fired it past Ward with 1:44 left in the third. Score at the end of three: Waterdogs LC 9—Chrome LC 8.
Heading into the fourth, Chrome had the momentum but could they keep it going. Connor Farrell was doing great at the face-off dot but they needed to score off those possessions in the final 12. Only 33 seconds in, Schlosser would notch his hat-trick for the ‘Dogs making his way around the cage, he fired a bounce shot straight up the middle over the top to fool Galloway with the high bouncer 10-8 Waterdogs. Michael Kraus (1g, 1a) would fight his way through the stick work and somehow found a way to get the shot off at 5:29 for his first goal on the season 11-8 Waterdogs. Brown would continue the run scoring off the screen by Reeves with a nice low side arm shot catching Galloway off guard at 5:49 and a four goal lead 12-8. Once again, it would go three minutes without a goal and finally the Waterdogs would keep the run alive. Reeves would take the long way around, pull a couple of nifty dodge moves in front of the cage, turned, planted and rolled back firing on the cage across his body left side low with 4:52 left 13-8. Brown would cap off the ‘Dogs scoring run with 1:36 left. McArdle would pump fake, flip to Brown for an over the top shot top corner far side 14-8 sealing it for the ‘Dogs. Chrome had less than two minutes to put up six and it just wasn’t going to happen. But they still put one more up. Ryan Terefenko on the rollback spin dodge, tossed it to Morrill (hat-trick) on the doorstep, he crept in and found an opening under the stick of Ward far side with 1:15 left. This was the only Chrome goal in the fourth and they couldn’t put up another before the buzzer. Final Score: Waterdogs LC 14—Chrome LC 9.
TEAM STATS:
Chrome LC—15 SOG; 34 GB; 24 TO; 15-25 FOW; 60% FO%; 14 Saves; 50% Sv%
Waterdogs LC—26 SOG; 25 GB; 15 TO; 10-25 FOW; 40% FO%; 7 Saves; 47% Sv%
POINTS LEADERS:
Ryan Brown-Waterdogs: 5g
Mikie Schlosser-Waterdogs: 3g
Jackson Morrill-Chrome: 3g
Michael Manley-Chrome: 3g
Ben Reeves-Waterdogs: 2g, 1a
NEXT UP:
The PLL has a bye-week next weekend but will return on June 25, in Baltimore, MD at Homewood Field.
On Friday June 25, Whipsnakes LC (2-0) will take on Atlas LC (1-1) game time 8:00 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on NBCSN and Peacock.
On Saturday June 26, Redwoods LC (2-1) will take on Chaos LC (0-3) game time 3:15 ET. The game can be seen on Peacock.
The second game on Saturday June 26, Waterdogs LC (2-1) will take on Archers LC (2-0) game time 8:00 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on NBCSN and Peacock.
On Sunday June 27, Cannons LC (1-2) will take on Atlas LC (1-1) game time 12:00 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on Peacock.
The final game of the weekend on Sunday June 26, Chrome LC (0-2) will take on Whipsnakes LC (2-0) game time 2:45 p.m. The game can be seen on Peacock.
Di Miller, PLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©