6. Redwoods re-picking

The Redwoods rolled out some new offensive looks on Saturday against the Whipsnakes. The 2019 Woods dodged from up top more often than anyone. We’re seeing more two-man games on the wings. (Woohoo!)

Let’s see those two-man games strung out a little longer. If the initial pick doesn’t work, run it back. Play the hangup two-man game. The Whipsnakes push the picker around (a lot); we’ll see a different scheme from Chaos. They dropped the picker’s defender back for some lazy, reactionary switches. That space gave the ball handler a runway for takeoff.

7. MJ vs. Salcido

Myles Jones and Sergio Salcido were traded for each other in the offseason. Jones thinks Redwoods won the trade (naturally); Salcido believes Chaos won (again, naturally). They tossed some stats and emojis out on Instagram comments, but nobody won. Yet.

This one might get even spicier than the last time Chaos faced a player whom they traded away.

8. Eddy Glazener directing traffic

US Lacrosse Magazine’s Nelson Rice wrote a feature on Eddy Glazener’s unique role within the Redwoods defense. His former defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, Gerry Byrne, called him an “air traffic controller.”

Like a middle linebacker prior to the snap, Glazener directs the defense through its slide packages. The major difference is that Glazener does it during the flow of play. There is no “pre-snap” period in lacrosse. So Glazener guards an off-ball attackman – typically on the crease – which allows him to see the field better.

Here’s the problem: Chaos doesn’t have an off-ball attackman. Connor Fields, Curtis Dickson, and Josh Byrne are all dodging threats. Very dangerous dodging threats. They play a ton of “six out” sets with the crease wide open. Who does Glazener cover? And how will he and head coach Nat St. Laurent adjust the Woods’ slide packages to work against an open offense?

9. Grant Ament’s pro debut

The Penn State product takes the field for the first time tonight against the Atlas at 9:30PM ET on NBCSN. Get ready for behind-the-back passes, sidearm through passes, no-look passes, and some passes that you’ve never seen before. Ament is the Archers’ quarterback behind the cage. Read fellow PSU alum Jerome Taylor’s feature on Ament, whose middle school dreams of playing pro lacrosse are about to come true.

10. Archers powerplay vs. Atlas penalty kill

Atlas had four minutes of penalties against the Waterdogs on Sunday. Not great! Remember: They’re playing with five poles on the roster, hoping that captain Tucker Durkin can join them eventually (if he can test negative for COVID-19). Taking penalties is an easy way to tire that group out in a hurry.

Archers had the league’s best powerplay unit (44.4%) in 2019. They mostly ran a simple 3-3 set. When you plug Tom Schreiber top-center with Manny and Holman on the pipes, you don’t need to overcomplicate things. Add Ament into the mix, and, well, you’d probably rather have six defenders on the field than five if you’re trying to stop these guys. Just my opinion.

Thanks for reading!

Spread the word, submit any questions you want to see answered in this space to me on Twitter (@joekeegs), and I’ll talk to you tomorrow!