Under the lights of Georgia State Stadium and across America on NBCSN, fans were treated to another one-goal thriller as Atlas closes out the first half of the regular season with a 13-12 win over Archers.
The Whipsnakes go on a late run to beat Atlas 15-10 in front of a sold out crowd at Homewood Field. Atlas looked to be in control most of the game, but the Whipsnakes switched to another gear in the fourth quarter. The late offensive onslaught keeps the Whipsnakes undefeated on the season.
The first quarter of Sunday’s matchup was all Chaos. The Archers sharpshooters didn’t seem to have woken up yet as the Chaos’ electric start saw them go up 6-3 at the start of the second quarter. Most of the Chaos’ incredible first quarter was down to the stifling defense they played on the Archers’ attack.
A thunderstorm in the greater D.C. area saw the start of Saturday night’s Whipsnakes and Atlas matchup get pushed back by almost an hour. However, once the weather cleared up both teams were raring to go.
The Archers and Whipsnakes, two undefeated teams, faced off in slippery conditions to finally set straight who’s the better sharp-shooter in the PLL.
A back and forth battle between Redwoods and Chaos started with a bang after a Sergio Salcido two bomb. The Redwoods took a quick 3-0 lead after Joe Walters finished a beautiful pass from Matt Kavanagh.
Neither Chrome LC or Atlas LC wanted to go 0-3 on a national stage. With both rosters filled with some of the greatest to ever play the game, it was going to be a fight to the finish to maintain a reputation.
The Archers LC may play the sport of the future, but their motto is stolen from America’s pastime: Hit singles. Head coach Chris Bates mentioned hitting singles pregame; attackman Will Manny (2G) emphasized it again during his mic’d up segment heading into the fourth quarter.
Ryan Brown got Sunday’s Atlas LC vs. Chaos LC matchup off to a hot start by scoring a goal for the Atlas within 8 seconds. The Chaos responded brilliantly by answering this with five straight goals, most notably a two-point bomb from Matt Rees, bringing their lead to a massive 8-1 scoreline early on. This first quarter start was just a sign of things to come for Rees, who was one of the stars of the weekend.
The defenses of both the Whipsnakes LC and Chrome LC started out strong in the first quarter. Great communication off the bat for the Whipsnakes’ offense led to three goals early on by Mike Chanenchuk, John Haus, and Michael Ehrhardt.