Last Friday, the Carolina Chaos held the Boston Cannons – the league's best two-point scoring team – to 11 goals and zero twos. But their offense once again struggled to help out during another strong defensive performance. 

It’s been the season’s theme for Carolina as it approaches the first round of the Cash App Playoffs. Luckily for the Chaos, a rematch with the Cannons is lurking in the quarterfinals, giving the offense another chance to perform and help the defense. 

What needs to change this time around?

Josh Byrne's low touch load is the first thing that comes to mind. The four-time All-Star had 28 touches in the 11-10 overtime loss to Boston. Ross Scott’s 30 touches led the team, and that’s a few under what he should be getting a game.

Byrne produced four points (2G, 2A) to lead all Chaos players. The former All-Pro did an excellent job of maximizing his touches, only turning the ball over once while guarded by Garrett Epple, the reigning Dave Pietramala Defensive Player of the Year.

Byrne is the best player on Carolina’s offense, and he needs to be getting the most touches every week. A range of 35-40 touches is ideal and would allow him to operate his two-man looks with Kyle Jackson, take his one-on-one dodges and be the team’s best feeder. 

From there, Shane Knobloch and Brian Minicus need to get more involved in the second matchup with Boston. On Friday, Knobloch had 14 touches, his second-lowest total of the season, and Minicus had 10 touches, which was his third-lowest total.

Neither player fully acclimated to the contest, and the Chaos offense suffered.

When Knobloch has been involved and found success early in games, his confidence is noticeable on the field. He can create offense for himself easily because of his explosive dodging game. But when he doesn’t get going early, he usually never appears at all. The rookie scored a first-quarter goal against the Cannons, but because he didn’t get the ball often, he never worked fully into his game.

Part of the reason for these low touch loads was turnovers. Carolina coughed the rock up 21 times, allowing Boston to total 349 touches compared to the Chaos’s 236.

Anytime you have 100 fewer touches than your opponent, it’s going to be hard to win a lacrosse game, especially when your offense has struggled all season. 

Jules Heningburg’s four turnovers led the team. Heningburg was injured and missed Carolina’s best game of the season -- a win over the Utah Archers in Baltimore to start the month. Since returning to the lineup, the four-time All-Star has been playing midfield after playing attack for the entire season.

The position change has led to one point off 41 touches, and Heningburg hasn’t looked like the same player. The Chaos need the veteran’s best game so the offense can perform at an average level down the stretch.

If Heningburg and the other midfielders can’t step up out of the box, the Chaos offense will continue to sputter.

Against Utah, Byrne and Scott were able to play their games freely and create offense because the midfield unit stepped up and had its best game. If the midfield isn’t producing, Byrne and Scott don’t perform their best, either. 

The powerplay unit has to rise to the occasion in the playoffs as well. The unit went 1-for-3 against Boston, creating just three shots. The Cannons allow the league's second-fewest scores against (11.5) on average. Maximizing powerplay opportunities is important against Boston. The Cannons' penalty kill unit is fourth-best in the league (66.7%), but the Chaos have the talent to break it down.

Carolina doesn’t need excellence from its offense in its rematch against Boston. It just needs an average performance. 

If the Chaos offense can perform at a passable level, the team’s world-class defense can get the job done on the other side of the field, and the Chaos can advance through the Cash App Playoffs.