California Redwoods 18, Boston Cannons 17
Phil Shore: Group effort on offense ends with Garnsey playing hero to send Redwoods to the playoffs
For all the good things the Redwoods had done in the first three quarters, a scoreless spell of 8:49 in the fourth quarter – during which the Cannons went on a 5-0 run to tie the game at 17 – felt like shades of fourth-quarter issues that plagued the team during its five-game losing streak.
After those games, head coach Anthony Kelly often chalked it up to mental mistakes that happen with a young and inexperienced team.
In the final minutes of the final game of the regular season, however, Ryder Garnsey – one of the more experienced players on the team – made sure the same narrative wouldn’t be written. His one-handed goal with 2:37 remaining gave the team back the lead and, eventually, the victory.
“That play was like a ‘No, no, no, yeah,’ type of moment,” Chris Kavanagh said. “He loves to back in his defender, and once he puts one hand on the stick, you know something crazy is coming.”
Cannons head coach Brian Holman and defender Jack Kielty said all they could do was tip their caps to Garnsey for a job well done.
“One of the rules in professional sports is good players will make good plays,” Kielty said. “There’s only so much you can defend. We can take away the first thing they want, the second thing they want, then he gets a one-handed shot, and it goes. Sometimes, you have to live with some goals. … Ryder made a great play, and you have to give him credit.”
Garnsey (3G, 1A) was one of seven Redwoods players to score a goal and one of nine players to tally a point on an offense that exploded in the first three quarters.
Aidan Danenza continued his strong form of late, scoring four goals – including an around-the-world highlight-reel goal off an Andrew McAdorey assist – all in the first half to help the Redwoods go punch-for-punch with the Cannons with the score tied at nine going into halftime. It extended Danenza’s streak to four consecutive games with a goal.
Leading scorers Dylan Molloy (4G) and Kavanagh (4G, 2A) combined to score five of the team’s seven goals to lift the Redwoods to a 16-12 lead and a ton of energy going into the final quarter.
“I love learning from [Molloy] having grown up watching him,” Kavanagh said. “He lets us do his thing, and we let him do his thing. It’s been a joy to play with him.”
Even after Garnsey’s late-game heroics, the Cannons still had a great chance to tie the game. Off a timeout, Matt Campbell swept from the lefty wing, up the two-point arc and down into the middle of the field about five yards away from the goal. He got his hands free for a shot with 5.8 seconds remaining, but Chayse Ierlan made the save.
It was Ierlan’s only save of the quarter, but it was one that sealed the win and berth in the playoffs.
“Chayse has been great. We’ve had confidence in Chayse the entire year,” said Brian Tevlin, who had a goal, five caused turnovers and three ground balls in the win. “He has quiet confidence. You know he’s going to make those plays in the big moments because of the way he carries himself. He’s a pro.”
California was aggressive on offense, scoring the first goal in every quarter. It also showed improvement on the power play. Coming into the game, the Redwoods were last in the league, scoring on only 16.7% of power plays; on Friday, they went 2-for-3.
The Redwoods are getting hot at the right time, winning three consecutive games going into the playoffs.
While Garnsey’s goal and Ierlan’s save in the final minutes were individual efforts in big moments, Kavanagh said the victory was a complete team victory.
“That was an unbelievable game,” Kavanagh said. “Back and forth, off the faceoffs, transition, six-on-six, it had everything. It was a lot of fun playing. It was a great W.”
Sarah Griffin: Cannons comeback falls short in Homecoming heartbreaker
The Cannons nearly pulled off a storybook comeback in front of a packed homecoming crowd at Harvard Stadium, but a late goal by the Redwoods spoiled the celebration.
With a playoff berth on the line for both teams, the stakes were clear – and the intensity matched. The Redwoods jumped out to a 3-0 lead early, but the Cannons responded with a flurry of goals to close the first quarter tied. Boston pulled ahead, but California answered with five goals of its own to close out the first half.
By halftime, the game had already seen four ties. But the third quarter belonged to the Redwoods, who outscored Boston 7-3. The energy in the stadium deflated. Suddenly, a four-goal deficit felt like a mountain. But the Cannons weren’t done yet.
Rookie Coulter Mackesy led the charge in the fourth, scoring his fourth goal of the night as Boston clawed back to tie the game at 17 with six minutes to play. The crowd roared back to life, and the momentum was in the hometown team’s hands – that is, until a late strike from Garnsey gave California the final word.
“Sometimes, good players make great plays,” Holman said. “You shake his hand and move on.”
Despite the loss, the Cannons’ playoff hopes remain alive. A win Saturday against the Maryland Whipsnakes would clinch Boston a spot. The Cannons also could lose and get in if the Philadelphia Waterdogs falter against the New York Atlas earlier in the day, though that would come down to score differential.
Holman praised his team’s resilience and the energy of the home crowd.
“We’ve been here before. We don’t make it easy in Boston,” he remarked, “But we’re ready for the challenge.
“We just want to compete,” Kielty added. “That’s the mindset. One more game. One more chance.”
Utah Archers 11, Carolina Chaos 10
Zach Carey: Archers end season on positive note
The Archers were eliminated from the playoffs before opening faceoff on Friday night as the Woods’ win over the Cannons left Utah as the odd team out in the Western Conference playoff picture.
They bounced back and ended their 2025 season on a high note, though, taking down the Chaos in their finale.
“It was good to get a win,” Ryan Ambler said postgame. “It wasn’t the way that we wanted to end the season, but I was proud of the way we played tonight.”
Mac O’Keefe led the way with the best performance of his season. He notched five points (2G, 1T, 2A), including his first two-pointer of the season. He, Connor Fields (1G, 1A) and Ambler (2G) were the only multi-point scorers on the night for the Archers.
The Utah defense, as it has the whole season, carried the club. Only five Carolina players scored a point as the Archers successfully slowed down Owen Hiltz (1A) and Ross Scott (zero points).
Utah went without a faceoff specialist for the first time, dressing four short sticks, including recently claimed Patrick Resch. The Archers conceded the clamps on faceoffs in exchange for pressuring Chaos faceoff specialist Justin Inacio and limiting Carolina in its 32-second possessions.
Their strategy of winning in the middle of the field and in early offense paid off as three defenders (Connor Maher, Mason Woodward and Cam Wyers) registered a point to give the depleted offense a boost.
The Archers closed out the regular season at 4-6. The two-time reigning champs will cede their place atop the league this postseason and look to reload ahead of 2026.
There is still plenty of star power on this roster. Chris Bates and his staff will be responsible for supplementing the current talent on the roster with more firepower on offense in order to return to the playoffs and Utah’s championship standard next summer.
Hayden Lewis: Shane Knobloch shines, but Chaos conclude regular season with a loss
Friday night’s game between the Archers and Chaos meant nothing for Utah from a playoff standpoint, but it was a chance for Carolina to clinch the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
Entering the game, the Chaos were the worst team in the league offensively in the 32-second shot clock (17.4%), and those woes continued despite Inacio going 20-for-24 (83%) at the stripe.
The offense couldn’t get anything going in the 32-second clock.
“We won 83% of the possessions, that’s one of the stats I’m talking about that you don’t see very often, the team comes away with the loss when you’ve got a differential like that,” head coach Roy Colsey said. “They did a good job of game planning against our early offense.”
The bright spot on offense was Shane Knobloch, who registered a four-point night (3G, 1A). Knobloch returned last weekend against Denver after being on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, and he’s heating up at the perfect time for Carolina, which will need his high-octane offensive ability in the playoffs.
“We’ve had a pretty decent number of injuries with guys that were coming out of training camp, guys getting hurt in training camp, getting hurt in the first couple of games, so it’s nice to get back to almost full strength,” Colsey said. “Knowing that Knobby’s hamstring is going ot hold up and he’s going ot be able to play, it makes us a more dangerous team.”
The Chaos will play the Redwoods in the quarterfinals after the teams split the season series. California took the first matchup in Carolina’s home stadium, and the Chaos got their get-back in Chicago.
The winner will face the top-seeded Denver Outlaws in the semifinals for a chance to punch their ticket to the championship game.
