Film study: Can Jackson Eicher’s precision shooting, off-ball IQ fuel Chaos playoff push?

The Carolina Chaos offense started to improve once Owen Hiltz joined the squad and got his feet wet in the Premier Lacrosse League, but it still wasn’t clicking at full mass.

Hiltz provides scoring at a high volume (league-best 4.4 points per game), and Ross Scott pulls his weight, averaging three points per game out of the box over the last four games. However, there was an absence of a third volume producer.

In the first four games of the season, Jackson Eicher was shooting 29.2% (7-for-24) and was a threat to score from anywhere on the Chaos offense. But in the next three games, he shot 8.7% (2-for-23) and was snakebitt. The shooting mechanics were in tune, and he was hitting the net 52% of the time, but the undrafted rookie from Army struggled to find twine.

The storyline shifted Saturday in Salt Lake City when Eicher exploded for six points (5G, 1A) against the Philadelphia Waterdogs, shooting 41.7% (5-for-12). A third option was rediscovered. And no shot was bigger than his overtime game-winner.

“I had a little bit of a slump coming into this one, and hopefully we’re going to put that in the past and look forward to the future here,” Eicher said with a chuckle after the win. “The coaching staff and the guys in the locker room never lost faith.”

A big reason for the belief in Eicher is his ability to step down and rake the ball with a heavy load of mustard. And we’re not talking normal yellow mustard; he lets it fly with spicy Dijon.

If you give Eicher an inch of space, he’s going to shoot the ball, and if you dare him to shoot off-stick high, he’ll do it with a smile on his face. The 2025 Tewaaraton Award finalist has a great understanding of offensive spacing and knows where to put himself on the field to get open shots (7.4 shots per game).

Eicher’s teammates and coaches want to see him shoot the ball because they know he has a great shot and is a constant scoring threat.

“They always tell me to keep letting it go and that they’re going to fall,” Eicher said. “Having that trust lets me go out there and keep shooting.”

But it’s not just step-down hammers from the rookie; he gets it done in various ways.

Eicher has great hands and a buttery touch, which he displayed on this goal. What stood out most was the poetry of the Chaos offense.

Adam Charalambides set a great beesting pick to force a rotation from the Waterdogs’ defense while they were communicating their switches. Eicher capitalized on the moment of uncertainty and slipped between two defenders, and Hiltz put the ball right in the head of his stick for a crease-side slam.

“I think with these guys, their maturity level, not as much from a vocal standpoint, but just their ability to connect with each other, they’re some of the most unselfish players,” five-time Oren Lyons Goaltender of the Year Blaze Riorden said about the young Chaos offense.

Eicher’s off-ball IQ was pivotal for Carolina’s offense the entire game. It led to multiple goals for him, and it also opened up chances for his teammates.

On this play, Eicher dragged his defender deep toward his cage, which opened up enough space for Josh Zawada to get his shot off after working the pick and fade to perfection with Sergio Perkovic. Simple off-ball awareness like this from Eicher is something that has elevated the Chaos offense.

As Eicher continues to mature and Carolina’s offensive players build chemistry, they won’t have to rely as heavily on Riorden and the defense to keep them in games.

Carolina averaged 9.5 scores through the first four games of the season. In the last four, they’ve averaged 13 scores a game and looked like an entirely new team on that side of the field.

With consistency and confidence brewing in the Chaos locker room, Eicher is proving to be the next piece in Carolina’s puzzle as it pushes toward the playoffs.

“I think our offense group is gaining confidence in themselves, and our veteran guys have been really great about supporting them and encouraging them,” Chaos head coach Roy Colsey said. “As a staff, we’ve continued to keep the same guys on the field.”

Eicher and Carolina have a pivotal Western Conference rivalry matchup with the Denver Outlaws on Friday. A win would clinch the Chaos’ spot in the playoffs. If they’re going to beat arguably the best team in the league, they’ll need another great performance from the rookie out of West Point.