In the third period, it looked like Ryan Ambler had the moment, that play that doesn’t win a game but they’d show on the championship highlight tape nine times over. It was a simple jump, a leap really, to block a pass and extend a possession which had previously ended in a turnover. His stick clipped a Chaos outlet pass and Marcus Holman took the equivalent of a hockey wrist shot into the net for a goal. 

The Archers ripped off a few goals after that and brought the game within two. But eventually the inevitable happened, the Chaos offense retained possession and that ended as most did on Thursday night. Austin Staats stopped the bleeding first. The first-year PLL player baited his defender to reach for a hanging left-handed release. Staat’s indoor teammate, Eli Gobrecht bought the bait and swiped air. Staats had already brought his stick back in front of him as he charged to the crease for an easy goal. 

The goals around the crease kept coming from the Canadian’s on the Chaos offense. The final two goals of the period for the Chaos offense came from Curtis Dickson (3G). Dickson ran around the crease to his right hand and rolled underneath for a goal on the doorstep. His next score came the opposite way as he saw a hole to the left side of the cage, charged up from X, and launched the ball back behind him into the net. It was the last meaningful goal the Chaos scored. 

For the entire fourth quarter, The Archers launched shots while Chaos killed clock. The Archers tried to roll around the crease as their opponent had. With just more than five minutes left in the game and the Archers trailing by three, Holman rolled underneath his man toward the crease. But Riorden’s left-handed position matched Holman’s right-handed stick. The goal the Chaos had scored several times was denied and the Archers offensive woes continued. 

Even the Archers, an offense that looked so potent in group play, couldn’t break Riorden. They tried it all and none of it worked. After all, it was really just a formality. Throwing lacrosse balls at a brick wall isn’t usually going to work. Because when you throw a ball at a wall it’s more like the Chaos after an 0-4 start. The ball comes back, harder than it hit the wall, and ready for more. 

“We didn’t come here to finish second,” Towers said in the post-game huddle. “We have one more game to go.”