Di Miller, PLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Photos Courtesy of California Redwoods & Carolina Chaos
The California Redwoods (2-4) started off their Homecoming Weekend at Torero Stadium in San Diego California by defeating the Carolina Chaos (3-4). Carolina would be without Ian MacKay who was serving a suspension for the blind-sided punch to the side of the head of Brendan Krebs during their game against the Maryland Whipsnakes last weekend in Fairfield, CT. This was a much-needed win for the Redwoods because a loss would put them out of the running for one of the six playoff spots. They knew what they had to do, they came, they scored, and they won. Final Score: Redwoods 10—Chaos 8.
Chaos would open the scoring 2:20 in to get on the board. Ross Scott (1g) took a shot that went off the outside of the cage, he’d get the next touch, came around the back of the cage, turned and saw Jack Kelly who moved just a bit off the pipe which allowed Scott to put it in near pipe and they were up 1-0. There was a lot of back-and-forth action with very little scoring for almost four minutes. Chaos had possession, Heningburg took a shot on Kelly, he made a great save to get his team possession, Rob Pannell (1g) came from the end line, beat his defender, got free in front of the net, Blaze Riorden went down to his knees and Panell put a twister shot high-to-low with 6:05 left in the first and we were tied 1-1. The final tally in the first would be for two-points. With 4:43 on the ticker, as the shot clock was winding down, Gray with the nice feed to Romar Dennis (2 two-pt g) who was outside the two point arc, stepped down, used a high release and fired a cannon inside and tight on the near pipe putting the Redwoods up 3-1. After a few possession changes, Kelly would make another great save with 10 seconds in the first to keep Chaos out of the net. Score at the end of one: Redwoods 3—Chaos 1.
California would start right where they left off in the first with another two-point bomb. Just 2:04 into the second, Pannell from X sent a cross-field pass to Dennis who was set up on the outside almost at the midfield line. Dennis put a nice dodge move on his defender to create some separation, ran along the outside of the arc line, fired across his body on the run and found an opening on the far side down low and just like that, the Redwoods found themselves with a four goal lead 5-1. Chaos would stop the run a little over two and half minutes later. Josh Byrne (3a) with the quick catch and release to Shane Knobloch (2g, 1 two-pt g) who was all along and set up just outside the two-point arc, made the catch, crow hopped and fired an overhand shot 4:43 into the second to close the gap to 5-3. Over four minutes would come off the clock before it all broke loose. With 4:04 left in the half, Jack Rowlett would get hit with a one-minute non-releasable slashing penalty putting the Redwoods on a 6 on 5. Then with 3:28 to go, Chaos would get hit with another penalty and after some discussion it was confirmed that they’d be down by two giving the Redwoods who were last in the league in PPA at 25%, a rare opportunity to go 6 on 4. They had great ball movement, which allowed Wes Berg (1g) who is second in the league in shooting percentage, and second in the league in goals, to get set up in the middle, he got the feed from Garnsey and sent a side arm shot five-hole and they had doubled up Carolina 6-3 with 3:07 in the half. Chaos would call for a time out with 1:18 left in the second and set up an extremely time-consuming difficult play. They’d waste all of the shot clock trying to get set up, Heningburg would fire on Kelly with 39 seconds left in the half, he made another great save allowing them to call their own time out with 30.9 seconds on the timer. They would set up their own play in an attempt to widen the gap but couldn’t find twine. Score at the end of two: Redwoods 6—Chaos 3.
First Half Stats:
California Redwoods—Shots 4-20; Saves 8; FO 4-8; Touches 166
Carolina Chaos—Shots 2-26; Saves 10; FO 4-8; Touches 120
The third was a scoring barrage with the teams combining for seven goals and fortunately for the Redwoods they would outscore Chaos 4-3 which made the difference in the final outcome. California would win the opening draw but could not capitalize. On their next possession, Ryan Tierney had possession, lost his footing, dropped the ball but was able to keep his composure, scooped the GB, sent a skip pass to a wide open Cole Kirst (1g, 1a) on the left side and he bounced it in on the far side 7-3 Redwoods 2:34 in. The next tally was a transition goal by Chaos. The Redwoods would turn it over, Zach Geddes (1g) turned on the jets, made his way down the field and put a nasty shot over the right shoulder of Kelly 5:11 into the third and it was 7-4 still in favor of the Redwoods. California would be next to score in transition. Brayden Mayea was at the offensive side of the field, dodged his defender, tried to make a cross field pass but Jared Conners (1g) read the play, snagged the ball in midair, headed down the field with a full head of steam and would tally a pole-goal from out in front with 5:22 left in the third and they had doubled up Chaos for the second time 8-4. This would also start the three-goal fun for California as well as closing out their scoring on the night. Kirst kept his eyes on the defender, saw Ryder Garnsey (1g, 1a) set up in tight, made the pass and as Garnsey was falling down, he buried it up top on the far corner with 3:59 left in the third and it was 9-4. On the ensuing face-off both teams were scrambling for the 50/50 ball, Chris Merle (1g) was able to drag the ball out from the scrum, scooped the loosie, headed down the field and let it loose on the doorstep bouncing it in only 15 seconds later. This would give the Redwoods their largest lead of any game this season but would also be their last tally of the contest 10-4. With 2:06 remaining in the third, Knobloch used a couple of spin moves, dodged his defender, rolled back, planted his foot spun and bounced one in and it was 10-5. The final goal in the third had Byrne with the extra pass, he saw Jules Heningburg (1g) set up at X, he came around the back of the net faked high and went low five-hole with 1:10 on the clock and it was 10-6. At the end of the play, Arden Cohen would put a late unnecessary hit on Heningburg as he was falling down and after he review, he went to the sin bin for 60 seconds. Unfortunately for Chaos they could not capitalize as Kelly would make yet another spectacular save with 5.7 seconds left in the frame. Score at the end of three: Redwoods 10—Chaos 6.
Only Chaos found the back of the net in the fourth. Knobloch would get his hat trick. He would dodge the short stick defender and, on the run, made an almost impossible angle shot 2:35 in and it was 10-7. Riorden was amazing in the fourth allowing no goals on the Redwoods shots. It took almost six minutes before the final tally would go up on the board. Redwoods with some sloppy ball movement would turn it over with about four minutes left in the contest. With 3:50 to go, Chaos Head Coach Andy Towers would call a time out to set up the play. Byrne would draw the slide, got the flip toss and saw Kyle Jackson (1g) set up out in front. Even with defenders all around him, he would use a side arm shot and put it in the back of the net with 3:25 to go. Neither team could find twine for the last three and change giving the Redwoods only their second win of the 2024 season. Final Score: Redwoods 10—Chaos 8.
STATS:
California Redwoods—Shots 33 (24.2%); SOG 24; TO 20; CTO 10; FO 14-19 (73.7%); Saves 13 (65%)
Carolina Chaos—Shots 43 (16.3%); SOG 22; TO 14; CTO 5; FO 5-19 (26.3%); Saves 14 (63.6%)
NEXT UP:
The California Redwoods (2-4) will play host to the Denver Outlaws (3-3) at Homewood Field, in Baltimore, MD on Saturday August 3, 2024, game time 3:30 p.m. EST. The game can only be seen on ESPN+.
The Carolina Chaos (3-4) will face the Utah Archers (4-2) also at Homewood Field on Sunday August 4, 2024, game time 5:30 p.m. EST. This game will also only be televised on ESPN+.
Di Miller, PLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©