‘Family style’ play fuels Atlas past Chrome, 16-10
By Lauren Merola | Jul 4, 2021
Bryan Costabile (4G, 1T, 1A) and Romar Dennis (3G, 1T, 1A) led a young Atlas squad to a 16-10 victory over Chrome on Sunday on Long Island.
Danny Logan picked up the ground ball and ran it into Chrome territory where he found Costabile at the top of the arc for the two bomb to put Atlas on top 5-3 in the second quarter. Chrome held the lead at 3-2 and never regained it.
Come for the SCRAP 💥
— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) July 4, 2021
Stay for the GOAL 🙌@bryan_costabile cashes in a 2-Pointer — @PLLAtlas leads @PLLChrome 5-3 pic.twitter.com/yK9kfrWYtX
In its all-time matchups with Chrome, Atlas is 4-0.
Trevor Baptiste went 63% from the stripe, winning 15 of 24 faceoffs and grabbing nine ground balls. Connor Farrell won 11 of 27 and came up with four ground balls.
Baptiste credits his success at the stripe to his wings. Logan finished with three caused turnovers, three ground balls and three points. Costabile had two caused turnovers and two ground balls. Craig Chick scooped up four.
“A lot of times you don’t see that level of grit out of somebody: somebody who’s willing to hop back on defense, make those tough ground ball plays, play defense then go back and play offense and not sub off and take the easy way out,” Trevor Baptiste said. “When I think of Bryan Costabile, I think of all those things.”
In the second quarter, Atlas outscored Chrome 6-1 and held Chrome to a 13-minute scoring drought to finish the half up 8-4. Chrome allowed more points in the first half than in the whole game in its win over the Archers on Friday.
“In the second quarter, we had four, five or six really good shot opportunities we didn’t score on,” Chrome head coach Tom Soudan said. “That changed the momentum of the game.”
The young Bulls’ offense continued to control the pace of the game and played a complete 48 minutes of unselfish lacrosse. On the night, seven different Atlas players scored.
“We’ve all come together and put a lot of emphasis on working hard for each other,” Baptiste said. “Something we like to say is ‘family style.’ We play family style. That’s our identity.”
Tic ❌ Tac⭕️ Toe❌@bryan_costabile➡️@ELaw_15 ➡️ @jteat15 ➡️🥅#LaxFlash⚡️I @PLLAtlas pic.twitter.com/FsWsWfSTQB
— Lacrosse Flash (@LacrosseFlash) July 4, 2021
Atlas head coach Ben Rubeor credits the team’s success to its failures. Rubeor said he’s proud of what his team’s learned and how his guys responded after a blowout loss to the Archers and an overtime loss to the Whipsnakes.
With the win, Atlas (3-2) moves into fourth place and Chrome (2-3) drops to fifth.
To open up the second half, Logan ripped it from the top of the arc to add another two on the board to make it 10-4. Chrome responded with four unanswered goals to close the gap 10-7, but another Atlas run put the game to bed.
Dennis met net from behind the arc to give Atlas the 12-7 boost. The Bulls hit three two-pointers on the night.
For Atlas, Jeff Teat scored two goals and had one assist. John Ranagan and Jordan MacIntosh each added two goals for Chrome. Jackson Morrill — who has 15 points in five games — had one goal.
Atlas finished the night shooting 37% after posting 50% in the first half. Chrome shot 28%. Atlas outscored Chrome in all quarters but the first.
Between the pipes, Sean Sconone started for the first time this season for Chrome. He came up with eight saves on 38%. Jack Concannon saved nine before leaving the game with an injury at the start of the fourth quarter. Ben Rubeor did not have an update on Concannon after the game.
Joel White said the team knows Chrome was not at its best on Sunday, but on the weekend, took steps forward, adding its second win of the season Friday. “We’re together when we win and we’re together when we lose,” he said.
In Week 5, Atlas heads to Minneapolis to take on Chaos. Chrome looks to bounce back with a win against the Waterdogs.
