Chrome-Waterdogs Preview
By Lauren Merola | Jul 11, 2021
Where to Watch
- Sunday, July 11th
- 4:45PM ET
- Peacock
It’s crunch time.
In the third-to-last weekend of regular season play, Chrome (2-3) sits in sixth and the Waterdogs (3-3) fifth, jumping up in the standings after their dominant win Friday against the Cannons.
So far this season, the Waterdogs scored 78 and gave up 77. Chrome’s scored 54 and gave up 57.
The Waterdogs also score 13 goals per game on 29% shooting; they’ve grabbed 208 groundballs this season. Chrome puts up 10.8 goals per game on 29% shooting and grabbed 160 groundballs so far.
The Waterdogs statlines skyrocketed after their first game of Week 5. The win snapped the Waterdogs two-game losing streak
Before that, two teams have put up similar stat lines, so it’ll be a battle. But as we know in the PLL, anybody can beat – or blowout – anybody.
Who Ya Got?
DraftKings Sportsbook lists Chrome as a -1.5 goal favorite over the Waterdogs.
PLL Pick ‘Em heavily favors Chrome, with 65% of fans choosing Chrome to win.
Stripe Similarities
On five games played, Connor Farrell won 50% of his 121 faceoffs and scooped up 33 groundballs. Jake Withers won 48% of 126 faceoffs and grabbed 26 groundballs.
Withers is 5’11” and 202 pounds. Farrell is 6’2” and 240 pounds.
It’s a pretty even stat line. With pretty even odds. Both teams need to win from the whistle to control the pace of the game and inch closer to securing a postseason run.
Who to Watch
Jackson Morrill proved himself steal of the draft with 15 points (10G, 5A) in five games. Morrill’s made an immediate impact on Chrome, leading the charge in the Week 3 16-6 takedown of the Whipsnakes. Morrill had four goals and two assists.
Ryan Terefenko is quickly proving himself to be top-shelf SSDM talent. He’s a threat anywhere on the field with seven points (1T, 2G, 3A), four caused turnovers and nine groundballs on the season – earning Crowdstrike Defender of the Week honors in Week 4.
.@Teerrryyy made plays ALL over the field: 1 assist, 3 caused turnovers, 6 groundballs this weekend.
— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) July 6, 2021
Plays like this were normal for this SSDM 😳@CrowdStrike pic.twitter.com/iFHrewO8vO
Connor Kelly’s posted 16 points (2T, 6G, 6A) and Zach Currier’s put up 14 (7G, 7A).
Kelly – like Terefenko – is a threat from anywhere. Even if it’s thirty yards from goal with less than two seconds to spare:
Connor Kelly over here petitioning for a 3-point arc@PLLWaterdogs | @connor21kelly pic.twitter.com/yP2JkGNCv2
— Lacrosse Playground (@LaxPlayground) July 3, 2021
Currier does the dirty work in the midfield, grabbing 28 ground balls on the season, an average of 5.6 a game.
Ramifications
For each team, a win gives more control over postseason play. If Chrome wins and breaks even at .500, it’s still in playoff contention and has a few weeks left to strengthen its standings. A Waterdogs win lifts them to 4-3.
A loss leaves playoff runs in the hands of other teams’ wins and losses.
