Hiltz has the hot hand right now for Carolina, and if the team can continue to keep him involved in the offense, revenge can be served in Chicago during Throwback Weekend.
Redwoods: Need improved play at the faceoff stripe
While there are a few areas of play Redwoods players and coaches will say need to be improved from their disappointing 0-2 Homecoming Weekend, the faceoff should be an area of importance against the Carolina Chaos.
TD Ierlan has been a perennial Paul Cantabene Face-Off Specialist of the Year finalist, and in the first matchup between these two teams, he looked the part. Ierlan won a season-best 70.8% of his faceoffs in California’s 16-10 victory.
Since then, the Redwoods are on a three-game losing streak. Ierlan won less than 50% of his faceoffs in each of the last two games: 44.8% against Denver and 35% against Philadelphia, his lowest total since July 20, 2024. His three ground balls in the loss to the Waterdogs were his lowest total since the first week of the 2023 season.
Ierlan also sat out the All-Star Game due to injury.
Head coach Anthony Kelly said the issue wasn’t solely on Ierlan’s shoulders but fell on the wings as well.
“It’s a unit,” he said after the game against the Waterdogs. “That’s something we have to work on and adjust as an entire group. I think there were a lot of balls that were loose. It’s not just on [Ierlan]. They were getting tie-ups. We just need to be better collectively. Ultimately, it’s a tough game to win when you don’t have the ball.”
A game against a team where California won the faceoff battle once already might seem like the perfect remedy, but the Chaos are a different team at that position since they last met.
Justin Inacio has taken over the position the past two games and performed admirably, winning 56.6% of his faceoffs and picking up 21 ground balls; he even added an assist in the win over the Boston Cannons. Inacio was Ierlan’s injury replacement for the All-Star Game.
Getting the faceoff position back on track will be crucial for California in order to earn more possessions as well as stop scoring runs by the opposition, an issue they faced in the fourth quarter of both the Denver and Philadelphia games.
Outlaws: Can Brennan O’Neill translate All-Star showcase into a breakout performance?
Brennan O’Neill has been good all season, but he’s been held quiet for spurts this year. But O’Neill had a superstar performance in the 2025 Lexus PLL All-Star game, posting seven points (3G, 1T, 3A) to earn MVP honors.
With the confidence gained from last weekend in Kansas City, O’Neill will look to have a superstar game against one of his toughest matchups in the league: Matt Dunn and the Maryland Whipsnakes.
Dunn kept O’Neill in check a season ago, holding the lefty attackman to three points in two games. O’Neill shot just 2-for-11 in the Outlaws playoff loss to the Whipsnakes, with Dunn handling the physical matchup on the lefty wing all game.
O’Neill is getting plenty of touches and plenty of shots — he leads the league with 44 shots — the efficiency is not there, shooting just 18.2% for the year.
Dunn, the reigning Dave Pietramala Defensive Player of the Year, is a headline matchup for O’Neill. His physical dodging style will create havoc on the lefty wing, creating a war of attrition as O’Neill tries to find an angle against one of the best cover defensemen in the league.
O’Neill has struggled against top cover guys in the past, including against Dunn and Graeme Hossack (Utah), but Saturday is another opportunity to dip into his MVP-level potential.
Denver’s rode the hot hand throughout the season, with Pat Kavanagh dominating in recent weeks and Jared Bernhardt taking his turn as the alpha on offense. O’Neill has yet to be the number one option in a game, and Maryland presents another opportunity to take the lead.
Whipsnakes: Can TJ Malone’s supporting cast continue producing?
After a two-week break for the Whipsnakes, Maryland is back in action under the lights on Saturday night against the Denver Outlaws. The last time Maryland took the field, it set a record for the largest margin of victory in league history (14) against the Carolina Chaos, and the biggest surprise was the lack of production from TJ Malone.
Matched up against Chaos defenseman Jack Rowlett, Malone was held to just one goal, on three shots, despite tallying 35 touches. But luckily for the Whipsnakes, the rest of the team stepped up in a big way, taking a lot of the pressure off of Malone, and vice versa.
“I’m not sure that everybody does as well as they do today if there isn’t so much attention on TJ,” Maryland head coach Jim Stagnitta said after the Whipsnakes’ 20-6 victory over the Chaos.
Aidan Carroll erupted for a career-high seven points (5G, 2A), Levi Anderson followed closely in the rookie’s footsteps, notching six points (5G, 1A) and Matt Brandau scored his second career hat trick (3G, 1A). Rob Pannell (2G, 3A), Roman Puglise (1G), Colin Heacock (1G), Brad Smith (1G), and even Matt Dunn (1G) all found the back of the net to help surge the Whipsnakes to its second win of the season.
Maryland was able to torch Carolina’s short-stick defensive midfielders, but Denver’s SSDMs have proven to be a tougher matchup through the first half of the season. Outlaws’ Zach Geddes has racked up four caused turnovers, and Ryan Terefenko leads Denver’s SSDMs in groundballs (10).
While Malone has had his moments on the biggest stages so far, with back-to-back five point showings against the Waterdogs (2G, 3A) and the Atlas (3G, 2A), and a massive seven point (4G, 1T, 2A) performance against the Cannons, the Whipsnakes offense cannot afford to live and die off of Malone’s production.
Malone will likely matchup against Outlaws defenseman JT Giles-Harris, another tough matchup similar to the one against Rowlett in Baltimore, so just like against the Chaos, the Whipsnakes’ supporting cast will need to be at their best.