The second installment of Saturday Night Lacrosse features the Carolina Chaos – playing in their second game of Homecoming Weekend – against the California Redwoods.
Both teams underwent coaching changes during the offseason with Roy Colsey taking the helm of the Chaos and Anthony Kelly becoming the Redwoods new head coach. Each club also brought in a separate general manager (Joe Spallina for the Woods and Spencer Ford for the Chaos) to add roster management chops to the new staff.
California and Carolina looked improved in Albany. The Redwoods beat the Denver Outlaws, 15-12, while the Chaos competed with the New York Atlas for four quarters, eventually falling, 10-8.
The season is still young, but postseason implications are already real. With the top three teams from each conference making the playoffs this year, conference games mean that much more.
Here are five things to watch for in this Western conference showdown on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Can the Woods attack continue its hot start? – Phil Shore
The Redwoods started two new faces at attack – Dylan Molloy and Chris Kavanagh – alongside Ryder Garnsey in the season opener, and the early returns were extremely positive. The trio combined for 11 points (7G, 4A), outdueling the hyped “Tewaaraton Trio” of the Denver Outlaws (Pat Kavanagh, Logan Wisnauskas and Brennan O’Neill), which tallied 10 points (7G, 3A).
Kavanagh, a rookie, was named the Champion Player of the Week after scoring five points in his professional debut; his four goals were the most by a rookie in his debut since 2018.
Kelly also was extremely complimentary of Molloy (3G, 1A).
“I feel like we’re seeing a little bit of the Dylan Molloy of old,” Kelly said of the 2016 Tewaaraton Award winner.
California will hope to keep the good times rolling – particularly at attack – and send the Carolina fans home unhappy, but it won’t be easy to do against arguably the best defensive unit in the league.
Jack Rowlett, Jarrod Neumann, Troy Reh and Jack Posey held the potent New York Atlas attack unit of 2024 MVP Jeff Teat, Connor Shellenberger and Xander Dickson to just two goals in the Chaos’ season-opening 10-8 loss. This is almost the same group that limited the Boston Cannons to only four goals in the PLL quarterfinals last season and held the attack unit of Pat Kavanagh, Asher Nolting and Marcus Holman to just two goals.
The Woods enter this matchup tied for second in the league with eight assists (behind only New York, which played an extra game, with 12). Will California’s passing and off-ball movement be enough to help get players free and keep their sticks hot? Or will Carolina’s defense stifle California’s attack unit like it has against so many others?
How will the Chaos approach California’s refurbished offense? – Hayden Lewis
Hall of Famer Kyle Sweeney, the first-year defensive coordinator of the Chaos, showed the first quirk in his defense by playing Reh at close defense and Neumann at long-stick midfield. Carolina wanted Reh on elite off-ball finisher Dickson so he could seal him off and eliminate his presence on the stat sheet. Reh did that and some.
Chaos will not likely take the same approach defensively, and Reh will have more on-ball cover looks. Neumann frequently handles the Garnsey matchup on the lefty side, leaving Rowlett and Posey with the duties of Kavanagh and Molloy.
As Phil alluded to, Rowlett eliminated Jeff Teat in Albany, holding him to a one-point (1G) performance (matches a career low). He’ll likely draw the Kavanagh matchup, leaving Posey in a physical matchup with the righty Molloy. Levi Verch might factor in down low as well, he’s currently listed at close defense on the roster after playing LSM in Albany.
“That defense executes gameplans better than any team in the league,” seven-time All-Star Scott Ratliff said on the Over-the-Head Podcast. “You just don’t see teams execute that gameplan the way that the Chaos do.”
Can California improve on the power play? – Shore
In 2024, the Redwoods finished last in the league in the power play, scoring on only 28% of their opportunities. Against the Outlaws in the season opener, California went 0-for-3 on the power play.
The power-play unit consisted of Garnsey, Molloy, Kavanagh, Charlie Bertrand, Romar Dennis and Andrew McAdorey. While most of those players put up big numbers in six-on-six offense, the group mustered just three total power-play shots while turning the ball over twice.
Kelly said it was obvious the team needed to improve there, but he was also encouraged that the Redwoods were able to score 15 goals – tied for the most they scored in a game last season – while getting shut out on the power play.
“We get some of those goals off the power play, and I think we will be in a really good position,” he said. “Part of that is just finding our groove and coming together as a unit. Kavanagh was at the Tewaaraton ceremony, so we didn’t get a ton of touches with the man-up, so we’ll work on some stuff, tweak some things, and I think we’ll be ready to go for the Chaos next weekend.”
In 2024, the Chaos defense killed 16 of 25 power plays and, against the Atlas, they killed both penalties they surrendered.
Can Carolina’s off-ball movement continue to create offense? – Lewis
Jackson Eicher notched a five-point performance (3G, 2A) against the Atlas in his rookie debut, but he didn’t do it single-handedly; it was a great display of off-ball movement and passing. Josh Zawada and JJ Sillstrop constantly moved their feet while at attack to create lanes and flow in the offense.
Under Colsey, who is also the team’s offensive coordinator, the offense is free-flowing and unstructured. It is designed to allow players to make decisions freely and play the game in their favor.
Against the Atlas, the offense was playing close to how Colsey wanted it, and it created chances. But Liam Entenmann made 16 saves, with multiple right at the doorstep to thwart good offensive looks for the Chaos. If Carolina’s offense creates similar chances from off-ball movement and passing, it will come down to Chayse Ierlan’s ability to backstop his team as Entenmann did for New York.
Will Romar Dennis have a big game? – Shore
Dennis took six shots in the season opener and missed them all. The last time he went scoreless in a game coincidentally came against the Outlaws last August. He bounced back the following game with three points including a one-point goal and a two-point score.
The last time he played the Chaos last June, Dennis hit two two-pointers. California is hoping Dennis has a similar outing, especially if that defense is able to contain California’s attack unit.
Despite the team’s offensive woes last year, California still finished third in the league in two-pointers; Dennis’s seven two-point goals were best in the league. Against Denver, though, the Redwoods went 0-for-8 on two-point shots, and Dennis was 0-for-4. If California can get Dennis’s deep threat going, that would add to the versatility of the new-look Redwoods offense and open more lanes for Kavanagh to cut through.
