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Chaos Through To Semifinals Following Offensive Explosion

By Jerome Taylor | Aug 4, 2020

In the first matchup of tournament play, Chaos’ new-look offense exploded to score a tournament record 19 goals and beat Chrome 19-14.  Chaos will now face either Archers or Atlas on Thursday.

Chrome came into the Elimination Rounds, looking to feed off the momentum they gained from their hot group play period. Chrome went 3-1 last week and even picked up a victory over Chaos in the tournament's second game.

But Chaos came out as an entirely different team, literally. Chaos gave the nod to Miles Thompson over Connor Fields (who led the team in scoring last year) at attack. The result was a more free-flowing and versatile offense, which produced the tournament’s (and franchise’s) best offensive performance when Chaos needed it most.


Breakdown

Chaos was looking to avenge their early loss to Chrome, and their offense was scorching to start the game.

First, Dhane Smith got on the board with a goal and then found Josh Byrne shortly after to give Chaos an early 2-0 lead.

Chaos clearly came out looking to get some "get-back" against the team that beat them on the field and let them know about it, specifically Matt Gaudet. 

The emotions deriving from the first game almost got Chaos in trouble, though. Chaos’ Tyson Bell hit Gaudet late after his goal, and Chrome was able to capitalize and scored another goal on the power play, to keep them within one to end the first quarter.

Chaos' offense didn't let up in the second quarter though; the ball flew around, especially from the midfield where six of their seven first-half assists came from. 

Chaos’ coach Andy Towers wanted to keep his team focused during the quarter. He was heard telling his team to "stay cocky, stay in the moment" in a huddle during the second quarter.

His team responded by putting up seven goals in the second, and by halftime, they had scored more points than they had in any game and built up a 12-6 lead.

But Chaos knew a lead in the first half means nothing since they blew one against Chrome in the teams’ first matchup.

The red and black’s middies eliminated the potential for déjà vu.

They came out looking to build on their first-half performance and that goal was accomplished early when Jake Froccaro scored his second two-pointer.

From then on, Chaos just added sprinkles to the sundae.

At the end of the matchup, nine members of Chaos registered points. Smith and Froccaro each individually had six while Byrne added seven for good measure in the 19-14 victory.

Ramifications

For Chrome, the season is over.

After a promising group play session, the "Chromeback" ends unceremoniously.  In a game where Connor Farrell broke the faceoff record (24 wins), the team couldn’t overcome their turnover woes and now look to 2021 for their next opportunity to earn the championship.

Chaos’ offense put the league on notice in this matchup and proved that group play records our meaningless. If their offense can stay this hot, and if Dhane Smith continues to add this type of production to the midfield, Chaos is going to be a tough out.