Blaze Riorden set a PLL record for the most saves (25) in a game on Friday evening, leading the Carolina Chaos to their first win of the 2025 season. Riorden’s efforts in front of a Chaos home crowd in Charlotte earned him the Champion Player of the Week honors.
“It means absolutely nothing to break the record,” Riorden said postgame. “It means absolutely everything to do it in front of my family and people that care about you, that’s what this is about.”
His 25-save, 75.8% save percentage performance limited the Denver Outlaws offense to nine goals in Carolina’s 12-9 victory. Riorden was a brick wall all night long, but was particularly effective in the second half when he allowed only two Denver goals and held the Outlaws scoreless for a 16:25 stretch between the third and fourth quarters.
Friday night’s success also marked head coach Roy Colsey’s first win as a professional coach.
“When I took the job, I said, ‘We’ve got the best goalie in the world and we’ll build from there.’ Our team is built from the goalie out, and certainly you couldn’t ask for more evidence tonight that we earned a win on Blaze’s back,” Colsey said after the win. “He allowed us to stay in that game, and finally we won that last quarter.”
Riorden currently stands first in the league in total saves with 52 and is third in save percentage at 62.7% this season. The five-time Goalie of the Year and 2021 MVP passed teammate Austin Kaut for the seventh most saves in professional lacrosse history in Carolina’s season opener. With 1,093 career saves, he could jump Brian Phipps (1185) for sixth all-time this season if he stays as hot as he was last weekend.
