Five more games down in the Premier Lacrosse League’s 2021 season and we only have one regular season week remaining until the playoffs begin in Salt Lake City. This coming weekend is a bye weekend for the league, as they resume their season the weekend of August 13th in Albany, NY.
The playoff picture solidified itself a bit more this past weekend, as five teams were able to put away a playoff berth. The Atlas and Waterdogs put up huge performances, as the Atlas won both games on the weekend moving them to 6-2 and the frontrunner for the #1 seed. The Waterdogs won their third straight game and sit as the #2 seed looking to dethrone the Atlas in Albany. With their 15-12 win over the Redwoods, the Archers put themselves in a spot to win two games on the final weekend to potentially use their +25 scoring differential as an advantage to them. According to the PLL, the Chaos have clinched a playoff spot with their win.
(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)
POWER RANKINGS (Week 6)
- Atlas (1)*
- Archers (3)*
- Waterdogs (5)*
- Whipsnakes (2)*
- Redwoods (4)*
- Chaos (6)*
- Cannons (7)
- Chrome (8)
* – clinched a playoff spot
The Cannons and Chrome will essentially play their week 8 game for a playoff spot. The two will faceoff August 14th at 7pm as the only game of the weekend that will determine a playoff spot. The rest will be for seeding purposes as after record, the tiebreaker is scoring differential, which can be seen below in the current standings.
The Atlas can lock up the #1 seed and a bye to the semifinals with a win on Saturday afternoon against the Waterdogs. If they were to lose this game, the Waterdogs could catapult into the #1 spot unless the Archers were to win both games of the weekend against Chaos and Whipsnakes. Right now, there are no spots locked up, and three (maybe four) teams vying for the first overall seed.
COLORADO SPRINGS RECAP
Atlas 19, Chrome 10
The Atlas got off to a fast start in their 19-10 win over the Chrome on Friday night. A rematch of the July 4th game in Long Island that Trevor Baptiste dominated the end of, Baptiste continued that domination of Connor Farrell in Colorado Springs, winning 25-30 faceoffs. Nine different players scored a point for the Atlas and each point scorer scored multiple points. Four different rookies (Carraway, Teat, Bucaro, Aitken) are in the scoring mix for the Atlas and another second year player in Costabile. JD Colarusso has stepped up in the absence of Jack Concannon and saved 57% of the shots on Friday. The Atlas can clinch the #1 seed and a bye with a win in Albany, while the Chrome need to beat the Cannons in Albany for a playoff spot.
Archers 15, Redwoods 12
The Archers were able to pull away late in a very close game throughout. An 11-9 Archers lead through three quarters put this game right in the hands of the Redwoods, who can use TD Ierlan as leverage as he won 71% of the faceoffs on Saturday night. Ierlan gives the Redwoods a chance to have the ball down the stretch and let their offense go to work either climbing out of a hole or holding a lead. Saturday night was a different story as the Redwoods couldn’t find their offense as they only shot 20% throughout the game. They were able to tie it in the fourth quarter at 12 but couldn’t find the net the rest of the game. Marcus Holman delivered one of the prettiest goals I’ve ever seen late in the game to ice it. The Archers will need two wins this weekend to earn the #1 seed. The Redwoods still have a shot for the #1 seed but will need two wins by a couple wide margins to catch up in 20+ goals on the scoring differential.
Waterdogs 11, Whipsnakes 6
The Waterdogs have not lost since July 3rd and are out to prove that they are for real this year. They have a legit shot to take home the #1 overall seed for the playoffs and they proved that this weekend in their dominant win over the Whipsnakes. The first half saw six total goals as the Whipsnakes had a 4-2 lead at the break. The game was at 9:15 local time making the slow start not surprising. The halftime break was much needed as the Waterdogs went on a 10 goal run throughout the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters and outscored the Whipsnakes 7-0 in the third quarter. Jake Withers (74% FO) and Dillon Ward (19 saves, 76% SV) were dominant and the Whipsnakes looked lost offensively without Matt Rambo.
Chaos 14, Chrome 12
These two played into a close game that allowed the Chaos to clinch a postseason berth and the Chrome to play for their playoff lives in Albany. Many of the offensive numbers were tilted in favor of the Chrome, but two statistics stick out to me as a main reason why the Chaos won this game. A 7-2 first quarter in favor of the Chaos was the big start that they needed, and Blaze Riorden’s 20 saves led them down the stretch to an eventual win. Either those two stats, or Chaos coach Andy Towers’ pregame speech fueled this win.
The Chaos are playoff bound while the Chrome (who just traded away star attackman Justin Guterding to the Whipsnakes) need to win in Albany to make the playoffs.
Atlas 13, Cannons 12
The Cannons are in the same boat as the Chrome. A win this weekend would have been really nice to have going into the final weekend. Unfortunately for them, they lost…and they play the Chrome in a win or go home situation. The youngest team in the league came away with a win at the expense of the oldest, most experienced team in the league. Despite having somewhat of an off day offensively (22% shooting on 50 shots), the Atlas used a major faceoff advantage in this game and came away with a much needed win. Four of the youngsters mentioned earlier (Costabile, Aitken, Bucaro and Teat) led the way offensively with a combined 15 points. The entire rest of the Atlas roster totaled 4 points on the afternoon. The Cannons cannot simply figure out how to put a whole game together. Their two wins have come from a 59% shooting performance in week 1 and a brick wall performance by Marrocco in week 5. They have lost four games by one goal. Despite the fact, their season is still alive. They have a win or go home in Albany against the Chrome and could find a way to save their season in two weeks.
There is still a lot up for grabs in the last weekend of the regular season, so be sure to check in later next week for a preview of the Albany weekend, playoff clinching scenarios and all of the storylines to watch out for in the six (yes, 6) games on the weekend of August 13-15. We are entering into the final regular season weekend of the third season in the PLL. The race for the playoffs is as tight as ever, and we have six games to decide the final standings. Plenty of updates to come, see you next week.
Lacrosse Analyst
Sam Kuhn currently is the graduate assistant for the men’s lacrosse program at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio and is working to complete his Masters of Business Administration in 2020. Sam graduated from the College of Wooster in 2018, where he received his Bachelors Degree in English and played lacrosse as well. In his four years, Sam was a two time All-NCAC selection, a first team All-Region selection in 2018, and surpassed 100 goals for his career, one of seven members in program history to do so. Sam has interned with Inside Lacrosse, and wrote for the sports section of The Wooster Voice.