Carolina Chaos 15, Utah Archers 14

Hayden Lewis: Carolina’s best offensive performance guides Chaos past Utah in nailbiter

The Chaos offense has struggled the entire season. On Sunday, the narrative changed with a nine-goal explosion in the first half.

The noticeable change on the field was Josh Byrne and Ross Scott taking over the offense. Byrne (39) and Scott (40) combined for 79 of the team's 246 touches (32%). The result of a heavy Byrne-Scott load was a combined eight points. 

But another major factor was the majority of the midfield room coming alive to create offense. 

“We just hit out shots at the right moments and I think everything’s been leading up to this game,” Kyle Jackson said. “The more that we can stack those building blocks on the tail end of a season, like we’ve done for as long as I’ve been a part of the Chaos, that’s what you’re striving for.”

Brian Minicus and Shane Knobloch were major factors out of the box and attacked defenders to force Utah’s defense into uncomfortable situations. Minicus had been in a sophomore slump for a large portion of the season but got back on track with a four-point performance. Carolina’s offensive engine runs better when Minicus creates off the dodge, and it will need more of that from him in the final two games of the season. 

Blaze Riorden even contributed to the Chaos' offensive resurgence, going coast-to-coast to score the second goalie goal in PLL history.

The team’s performance earned high praise from head coach and general manager Andy Towers, who wants his team to stay focused as the playoffs approach. 

“That was the best game that we played all season long at both ends,” Towers said. “We have a shot at winning the [conference]. But the goal for us throughout the season is continue to improve, continue to get better.”

The Chaos will look to do that when they take on the Denver Outlaws in an important Western Conference game with playoff implications. 

Up next for Carolina: vs. Denver Outlaws (Saturday, Aug. 10, 7 p.m. ET)

Zach Carey: Tough loss complicates postseason path for the Archers

Entering Sunday’s action, the Archers were a win away from clinching a spot in the 2024 Cash App Playoffs. Arguably more importantly, a win versus the Chaos would’ve maintained their one-game lead over the Outlaws and extended their edge over Carolina to 2 1/2 games in the fight to win the West and earn a bye to the semifinals. 

Following a tough defeat in a back-and-forth thriller, Utah is now tied with Denver at 4-3 and only leads Carolina by half a game. Fortunately for the Archers, their +8 scoring differential gives them the edge in the tiebreaker over the Outlaws (-1) and the Chaos (-3). 

“The most disappointing thing about today was just that,” head coach Chris Bates said postgame. “That’s a conference game that [by winning] we could’ve separated ourselves.” 

Utah still played a nearly perfect game in Baltimore. Carolina was simply better. 

Tom Schreiber (3G, 2A) and Connor Fields (3G, 2A) put on an exhibition, practically scoring at will at times. Mac O’Keefe (3G) and Tre Leclaire (3G) each chipped in hat tricks of their own, and the offense flowed well for the vast majority of the game. It just couldn’t quite hit the back of the net one more time in the final minutes. Fields’ shot with 1:55 left careened off the low pipe and essentially sealed the deal.  

“Until the last whistle blew, I thought we were going to win that game,” Bates added. “And then Fieldsy hits the pipe. [If] that goes the other direction, that's a tie game and, again, I’ll take us in overtime.”

Matt Moore going down in the second quarter was a sizable loss for Utah. Shortly thereafter, he was ruled out with a right shoulder injury while wearing a sling on the sideline. Without Moore, the Archers lost an initiator and, with him, some of their edge in the matchups against the league’s best defense. Leclaire played well at attack and posed a threat as a stretch shooter. But without Moore’s physical dodging presence, Utah had fewer options to look to late. 

Defensively, the Chaos’ speed was a challenge. Carolina jumped on Brett Dobson early – highlighted by Riorden’s absurd goalie goal – and continued to utilize the speed and shiftiness of threats like Scott, Minicus, Knobloch and Jackson to create separation, force early slides and take advantage on the back end. 

“Those guys were the difference in the game,” Bates said. “They’ve got young legs and they shot the ball very well. … We’ll tip our cap and come back out next time with a little bit of a different scheme, potentially, and make it a little bit more difficult.” 

After the Archers got the best of the Chaos by two in Philadelphia, Carolina stuck it to them by one in Baltimore. This rivalry is one of the best in the game, and Utah was just one goal short on Sunday afternoon. 

Up next for Utah: vs. New York Atlas (Saturday, Aug. 10, 2:30 p.m. ET)

Maryland Whipsnakes 16, Boston Cannons 14

Adam Lamberti: Whipsnakes cap Homecoming weekend with win, punch ticket to playoffs

With a Homecoming weekend sweep, the Whipsnakes have officially secured their spot in the 2024 Cash App Playoffs.

Like Saturday, the Whipsnakes roared out to a huge advantage at the half against the Cannons, leading 14-6.

But unlike in their blowout win over the Philadelphia Waterdogs, the Whips didn’t cruise to victory in the second half. Boston made a furious comeback in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to two before getting off a last-gasp two-point effort that just missed wide.

While fatigue after playing back-to-back days in hot, humid weather definitely set in for the Whipsnakes in the second half, they still got the job done in the end.

Joe Nardella had another fantastic day at the faceoff stripe, going 72% and winning the ball forward with ease to start transition.

TJ Malone had another four-assist day while Zed Williams had five goals and rookie Adam Poitras registered a hat trick.

The win came at a cost, however, as star midfielder Tucker Dordevic was injured after a hit to the head following a shot attempt. 

Dordevic was sweeping to his left hand before he was pushed in the back and collided head-on with a sliding Cannons defender. He suffered a jaw injury and was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

While their ticket to the playoffs is punched, the Whipsnakes will still need to win games to earn the highest seed possible going into the postseason.

Up next for Maryland: vs. Denver Outlaws (Friday, Aug. 9, 8 p.m. ET)

Sarah Griffin: Cannons’ gritty second-half comeback not enough

There’s no such thing as a moral victory in the PLL, but even with their loss to the Whipsnakes, one has to appreciate the fight in these Cannons.

Late in the second quarter, Boston faced its biggest deficit of the season down 10 to Maryland. When asked at halftime by Quint Kessenich what went wrong, head coach Brian Holman couldn’t help but laugh. 

“I don’t even know,” he smirked.

No one knows this team better than Holman. There was no question they wouldn’t go down quietly. 

Boston came out storming in the second half. We’ve seen a couple of dramatic comebacks from them this season, but nothing like this -- especially with only one two-pointer for them (a record-setting two at that!) in the whole game. 

“Rarely in the PLL do you go up by a large margin in the first half of the game and maintain it,” said Whipsnakes defender Matt Dunn.

Aside from a Poitras goal early in the third quarter, the Whipsnakes went almost a full 20 minutes in the second half without scoring a goal. The Cannons went on a 7-1 run in the second half led by Connor Kirst on the offensive end and Colin Kirst on the defensive end.

Connor recorded a hat trick against his former team, while Colin locked it down between the pipes with 14 saves on the day and held Maryland to two goals in the second half. 

Boston had a couple of chances in the final minutes to tie things up with a two-pointer, but ultimately, it was too little, too late.

“We just didn’t start on time,” Connor Kirst said after the game.

While the defeat kept the Cannons behind the New York Atlas in the race for the No. 1 seed, they’ll have a lot to talk about and learn from the tight loss to the Whipsnakes. 

“This will be a great learning experience if we happen to see those guys down the road,” Holman remarked. 

The Cannons now enter their bye week before closing out the regular season against the Chaos in Salt Lake City. 

Up next for Boston: Bye week