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Carolina Chaos attackman Jackson Eicher

Film Study: Chaos’ off-ball movement led to Jackson Eicher’s breakout debut

By Hayden Lewis | Jun 4, 2025

Jackson Eicher stamped his footprint on the Premier Lacrosse League with a five-point (3G, 2A) barrage in his rookie debut for the Carolina Chaos. 

The undrafted attackman averaged 6.07 points per game at Army, leading the nation, and quickly translated his collegiate success to the pro game. It was the reason why Carolina head coach Roy Colsey earnestly called Eicher the “steal of the draft” after signing him to the training camp roster. 

In college, Eicher dominated as a downhill dodger, powering his way through defenses with ferocious vigor and determination. However, last Friday, he subjected nylon to torture with his stretch shooting and left the New York Atlas defense guessing with his off-ball movement. 

On the first of Eicher’s three goals, Ross Scott drew an early and unnecessary slide below goal line extended, which meant there was an open teammate in the above set. Off the screen, on the weak side of the field, there was a 3-on-2 opening up because of the slide, but Scott’s continuation down to X, where Josh Zawada was, nullified it. 

Scott saw Zawada clogging his running lane, and on the weak side, his passing lanes weren’t free because of the Atlas defenders who were tightly marking their men. The solid off-ball defense on the weak side of the field forced Scott to look back upfield to the strong side, where JJ Sillstrop was silently cutting to open free space for Eicher. Sillstrop realized he wasn’t open for a pass, so he worked his cut into the body and hands of Michael Rexrode, Eicher’s defender, acting as a pseudo-legal moving screen and freeing up space for a pass to the rookie and a thunderous step-down goal. 

The top corner stood no chance in the rookie’s milestone moment, a theme that continued later in the game. 

Zawada was the biggest piece of Eicher’s second goal. The North Carolina native started the rep below GLE before working up the far hash and fading away to pass to Garrett Degnon, who came out of the box with steam, ready to dodge downhill. After dishing the ball away, Zawada ran right into the body of Gavin Adler to force him closer to his cage, creating space for the ensuing Degnon dodge. It also forced Adler to become the “hot man” (first slide) in the defense. 

Zawada continued his route below the cage, leaving Adler in “no man’s land” three paces from the top of his crease up the far hash. The second-year attackman resumed his route while Degnon worked down the alley, drawing the attention of Brett Makar and leaving Sillstrop unattended at X. Makar was the two-slide looking to disrupt any inside feeds, which was why he worked above GLE to the crease, leaving Sillstrop alone below GLE. 

While all this happened below the cage and on the far side of the offensive set, Eicher (No. 19 in white) never stopped moving in and out of the two-point arc as he looked to become an option for a pass on the near side. When the ball finally worked down to Sillstrop behind the cage, Eicher initially wanted to cut far post to his dominant right hand but saw Zawada was already working that way. So he planted his foot, won the race to the near pipe and showcased the physicality and strength in his game with the finish.

Sillstrop’s off-ball work created the room for Eicher’s first goal, and the story remained true with a hint of luck for his third of the game. 

The Atlas defense was in a solid spot at the start of the clip, with sticks in passing lanes for skips outside the arc and the ability to crash the crease on an inside feed to Sillstrop. Scott tried to force a pass inside to Sillstrop, who cut from the top of the slot to the near post, but he couldn’t catch the pass. However, the look forced the two closest defenders to collapse on the crease, and a fortunate bounce off Sillstrop’s twig into Eicher’s crosse led to another howitzer from the rookie. 

Eicher didn’t just dominate as an off-ball scorer. He also picked the Atlas apart as a passer. 

This pass from Eicher to Degnon showcased some of the creativity that the West Point alum possesses. Eicher’s ability to recognize where the defenders’ sticks were and consequently drop his hands to his hips to release a sidearm skip pass on a powerplay in a tight game in the fourth quarter displayed that he has the offensive IQ of a veteran. 

The Chaos were 29.2% on the powerplay in 2024, but on Friday, they were 2-of-3 (66.7%), and it was because of the great ball movement the team had in its sets and the individual understanding of spacing across the six players on the field. 

Degnon could’ve stayed level with Eicher, positioning to create an easier lane across the top of the arc, but by fading to the near elbow, Degnon created enough space to catch and shoot without having to worry about a rotation from the penalty-killing unit. 

A great two-man game between Eicher and Sillstrop created ample space in the exchange for Eicher to become a major threat to wrap the far hash or pick the defense as a feeder. When Eicher received the ball from Sillstrop, watch his eyes and where they were pointed. 

They were upfield scanning at his cutting teammates, who looked to become options to score. While Eicher scanned, the Atlas defense realized it was out of position from the two-man game that drew a double. Two poles frantically slid to the far post to meet Eicher, looking to thwart him from scoring. 

The overpursuit from the Atlas defense was tracked perfectly by Zawada, who cut against the grain for a backdoor dunk. 

The little off-ball quirks in the Chaos offense led to multiple scores in their opening game, and Sillstrop, Zawada and Eicher were the three largest factors in that effort. 

Their offensive IQ and understanding of spacing helped make the unstructured Colsey offense flow, and if it weren’t for a 16-save performance from Liam Entenmann, Carolina might’ve picked up a win to open the season. 

The Chaos will have a chance to add their first couple of tallies to the win column this weekend in Charlotte, where they will square off with the Denver Outlaws on Friday and California Redwoods on Saturday in front of a home crowd at American Legion Memorial Stadium.

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