Carolina Chaos 12, Denver Outlaws 9
Hayden Lewis: Blaze Riorden’s 25-save masterpiece leads Chaos to victory
The Carolina Chaos defense has been structured around Blaze Riorden since 2019, and on Friday night he once again proved why he is the best goalie in the world with a PLL record 25-save performance against the Denver Outlaws.
“When I took the job, I said, ‘We’ve got the best goalie in the world and we’ll build from there.’ Our team is built from the goalie out, and certainly you couldn’t ask for more evidence tonight that we earned a win on Blaze’s back,” head coach Roy Colsey said after the game. “He allowed us to stay in that game, and finally we won that last quarter.”
The Chaos can’t rely on Blaze to set records every week if they want to win games. But, defensively, it was another great performance from the best defensive unit in the league. Carolina’s defense forced the Denver offense to win one-on-one matchups with very few slides coming structurally in the system. The Chaos defense limited the Outlaws to tight windows or poor shooting spots, resulting in easy saves throughout the evening for Riorden.
Great defensive performances are consistent from the Carolina defense, but the biggest shift outside Riorden’s goliath night was the fluid performance of the offense.
Against the Atlas in the season opener, the Chaos offense ran into a red-hot Liam Entenmann, who made 16 saves and arguably stole a win from Carolina. On Friday, Carolina shot 33.3% – their best mark in 363 days. It was a full-throttle effort from the “band of misfit toys” in the unstructured Chaos offense led by Ross Scott, who had a career high five points (3G, 2A).
“I think we have such an unselfish offense that whoever’s chance it becomes, then they’re going to bury,” Scott said. “I was doing my job for the guys tonight and [it] happened to be my night.”
It will be a quick turnaround for the Chaos, who face another Western Conference rival tomorrow night for Saturday Night Lacrosse.
Up next for Carolina: Saturday, June 14 vs. California Redwoods (7 p.m. ET)
Topher Adams: Bad habits die hard as Denver drops to 0-2
The excitement around the Denver Outlaws and their shiny new toy Jared Bernhardt was palpable heading into Friday night’s showdown. There were flashes of brilliance from Bernhardt and the Outlaws attack unit.
Brennan O’Neill scored the third hat-trick of his career, bullying his defenders and ripping shots from range with authority. Dalton Young continued to be a bright spot for Denver, toasting a pair of short-sticks for two more goals.
Bernhardt flashed as well, gliding past defenders at will even if his stick skills aren’t yet back to where he wants them to be.
But, in the second half, all of Denver’s worst habits from the last two years reared their ugly heads again. The offense got slow and stagnant, with too many players watching a long dodge instead of fluid ball movement creating chances. O’Neill went ice cold in the second half, shooting 0-for-5 after the break.
The defense allowed a handful of inopportune goals while Owen McElroy saved just seven shots at 36.8%.
The silver lining for Denver is that the opposing goalie isn’t going to save 25 shots every game. Getting goalied happens from time to time, and it definitely happened to the Outlaws in Charlotte.
Regardless of the quality of play in goal, Denver needs to start hitting more of its shots. Pat Kavanagh shot 1-for-7. Bernhardt, Justin Anderson and Jack VanOverbeke combined to shoot 0-for-13.
Getting Blazed is understandable, but the Outlaws through two weeks continue to struggle finishing off chances in front of goal.
Up next for Denver: Saturday, June 14 vs. Philadelphia Waterdogs (7 p.m. ET)
Philadelphia Waterdogs 16, Maryland Whipsnakes 12
Mike Bolger: Michael Sowers dissects Maryland defense
In Philadelphia’s season-opening win on Friday night, the Waterdogs’ offense flowed smoothly through their quarterback – Michael Sowers – who recorded a career-high seven assists on 50 touches and 41 passes.
“I can’t overstate it enough, I felt like I had seven assists within the flow of the offense,” Sowers said. “I wasn’t really even dodging and that’s a credit to our midfield, they’re drawing slides and kicking the ball forward and making our job easy.”
The Sowers and Kieran McArdle dynamic was on fire, combining for 14 points against the Whipsnakes. Early on, those two fueled a 5-4 first-quarter lead. McArdle put the defense to sleep with his slow approach and quick hands working at goal line extended off a Sowers feed.
Then, the third piece of the carousel, Jake Taylor, worked his way in for his first two career goals, coming from who else but Sowers.
The midfield group chipped in after halftime as Thomas McConvey scored back-to-back in the third quarter. He finished with a quiet three goals, the most in his pro career.
Jack Hannah took it the rest of the way and looked better than ever, gliding all over the field to score three goals. His offseason training to stay healthy was highlighted at the end of the game when he ran past everyone to drain the rest of the clock out and goal an empty netter.
“You see the ball popping and with the amount of pieces that we have, it could be anybody’s night on any given day,” Sowers said. “It’s a tribute to Coach [Dylan] Sheridan and the guys.”
Totaling up the bill, Sheridan’s unit tallied 16 goals (the most since head coach and general manager Bill Tierney took the reins) on 36 shots. Eight Waterdogs scored throughout the contest and three of them recorded hat-tricks.
“This offense this year is built upon unselfishness and these two guys [Sowers and McArdle} doing so well,” Tierney said.
On the other end of the field, the defense struggled in the second quarter but locked things down after halftime, holding Maryland to one goal in the final 24 minutes.
Up next for Philadelphia: Friday, June 13 vs. Boston Cannons (6 p.m. ET)
Miles Jordan: Different faces rotate through Whipsnakes’ attack
The Maryland Whipsnakes (0-2) came into the season with a versatile group of offensive weapons — Rob Pannell, TJ Malone, Aidan Carroll, Matt Rambo, and Matt Brandau — all listed at attack.
Head coach Jim Stagnitta has emphasized flexibility, with players capable of operating both at attack and in the midfield, and that approach was on display against the Waterdogs.
With veteran attackman Rambo posting his second point-less game of the season (eighth of his career), Stagnitta shuffled the attack unit in the second half.
Brandau rotated through attack on faceoff possessions, with Rambo subbing in from the box. In the fourth quarter, midfielder Levi Anderson (1P, 1G) took over Rambo’s spot at attack for the remainder of the game, reflecting Stanitta’s want for more production through dodging in Maryland’s offense.
Rookie midfielder Carroll (2G), who played attack at Georgetown, showcased his powerful right and left-hand overhand shots from above the cage but didn’t get a shot playing at his former attack position.
“We weren’t getting production, and at some point we had to try something different,” Stagnitta said. “We have not had a lot of production out of our attack except for TJ [Malone]. … We may do it more, we have to look at the film”.
Malone paced the Whips with five points (2G, 3A). But, outside of that, his counterparts couldn’t seem to find their rhythm.
“I would love to see [Malone] shoot the ball more,” Stagnitta said. “He was the bright spot for us on offense and has been for two games. We have to give him help. He can’t do it alone.”
The Whipsnakes have started their 2025 campaign 0-2 after reaching the Cash App title game in 2024, and many questions are beginning to be raised about Maryland’s star-studded offense.
“My expectation was we would be getting a little bit more out of our attack, and we have to get more out of the guys down there if we are going to be successful,” Stagnitta said.
Up next for Maryland: Saturday, June 14 vs. New York Atlas (1 p.m. ET)
