Archers heat up in second half to top Cannons, 17-12
By Adam Lamberti | Jul 25, 2022
The Archers scored 13 goals in the final 24 minutes to beat the Cannons 17-12 in Fairfield on Sunday afternoon.
Nine different players registered a goal for Coach Bates’ squad in the season debut of 2021 Eamon McEneaney Attackman of the Year Grant Ament, while rookie Justin Inacio had a career day at the faceoff stripe, going 73%.
You don’t go 20-28 at the stripe without some tricks up your sleeve 🤫 https://t.co/rO0eQe9lvB
— Archers Lacrosse Club (@PLLArchers) July 24, 2022
After a slow start and down 6-4 at the half due to some spectacular play from Cannons goalie Nick Marrocco (14 saves), the Archers went on a 6-0 run in the 3rd quarter to regain control of the game, propelled by Inacio’s dominance at the X.
“Our greatest asset offensively in the second half was just number of possessions, and that starts with Inacio at the X,” said Archers midfielder Tom Schreiber.
After starting the game hot behind star attackman Lyle Thompson’s 1st half hat-trick, the Cannons trailed for most of the 3rd quarter before Holden Garlent bounced home a 2-point goal to tie the game at 10.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. BOUNCERS👏WILL👏GO👏.
— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) July 24, 2022
Holden Garlent ties it up with a ✌️💣 pic.twitter.com/jadtcGdaDW
However, the Archers offensive star power proved too much for the Cannons defense, scoring six goals in the final stanza to pull away for the win.
“I thought these guys, particularly in the first half, just communicated really well and timed up our slides,” said Coach Sean Quirk. “And then in the second half, we wore down a little bit, gave them some good inside looks that made goals easy and tough for Marrocco to stop.”
Although the Archers attack combined for just two goals, midfielders Tom Schreiber, Connor Fields, and Tre Leclaire each recorded hat tricks. Ament wasn’t satisfied with his personal performance in his return, but he was happy to get back out there and pull out the win.
“As I said on the broadcast, probably one of my worst professional games, and we put up 17 [goals],” said Ament. “I’m really encouraged by everyone else’s ability to step up and make plays.”
For the Cannons, Lyle Thompson finished with 7 points while Ryan Drenner scored a hat trick and rookie Jonathan Donville registered his first career goal.
Easy as that. 😌@lyle4thompson 👉 @jdonville13 https://t.co/PCNpiRiT1I pic.twitter.com/bG97NglrBq
— Cannons Lacrosse Club (@PLLCannons) July 24, 2022
Dropping to 1-5 on the year and in last place in the league standings, the Cannons are in must-win territory next weekend against the Waterdogs in Dallas.
“Losing this game sort of hurts but we can’t feel bad for ourselves, we have to move forward,” said Thompson. “We can't bank on other teams to save our season, it’s do or die from here on out, and we have to treat the rest of the season like playoffs.”
As for the Archers, they improve to 4-2 on the year and in second in the league standings. They will face the Atlas next Saturday after losing a one-goal game to them back in Week 4.
