Philadelphia Waterdogs vs. California Redwoods
Mike Bolger: Waterdogs specialists put on a clinic to snap losing streak
The Waterdogs delivered a second-half clinic to rally past the Redwoods, snapping a two-game skid heading into the All-Star weekend.
Philly exploded for a 7-2 run in the second half, neutralizing a sloppy opening on defense.
The first half was plagued with defensive mistakes, as the Waterdogs gave up three two-point goals, bringing their league-worst total to nine on the season.
Faceoff specialist Alec Stathakis was a key difference-maker throughout, dominating TD Ierlan at the stripe. He had a 71.4% career-high win rate and helped Philly control possession by a margin of two-plus minutes.
“We’re talking about one of the all-time greats that he went 71% against,” head coach Bill Tierney said. “I think the talk of the big two, three, four, five, whatever term people use, they better start having Alec Stathakis’ name included.”
That extra time proved critical as the Waterdogs’ offense found its rhythm behind Michael Sowers and Kieran McArdle. Sowers orchestrated the attack with four points (1G, 3A), while McArdle notched a season-high in touches and passes. Jack Hannah added a hat-trick, with two of his three goals coming in the second half.
The Redwoods’ offense was held scoreless for the final 14 minutes of the game — a drought generated by Dillon Ward. The Waterdogs goalie flipped the switch after halftime, saving 9-of-12 two-point attempts and finishing with 12 total saves and a 66.7% save percentage.
“I ran up to him after and told him great job leading,” Sowers said. “Dillon Ward is a veteran and one of the best to ever do it. When he’s playing his game, I think it just calms us all down.”
Philadelphia halted its losing streak and built momentum halfway through the season with the arrival of CJ Kirst nearing.
Up next for Philadelphia: Friday, July 11 vs. Utah Archers (9:30 p.m. ET)
Phil Shore: Redwoods fall short in fourth quarter again
In the Redwoods’ first game of the Homecoming Weekend against the Denver Outlaws, they went into the fourth quarter down 11-10 only to get outscored 7-2 and lose 18-12.
On Saturday evening, they went into the fourth quarter tied at nine and had a 54.11% winning probability; two minutes later, the Waterdogs were up by two with an 87.48% winning probability. The Redwoods lost the faceoff battle 3-1, committed five turnovers, failed to score a goal and lost 12-9.
“The entire second half, I don’t think we had the ball a ton,” Redwoods head coach Anthony Kelly said. “It’s hard to score without the ball. We’ve got to do a better job between the lines. We have to make better decisions when we do get our opportunities, and we’ve got to try to manage a little better and get our defense a rest. We played a lot of defense in the second half, and it’s tough, especially on a double header weekend.”
The Redwoods offense started the game sharper than the previous night and took advantage of the two-point shot. When Romar Dennis scored his second two at the 9:57 mark, California had seven points on only four goals.
Dennis, who hadn’t played in the previous two games, said he got a boost of confidence from a conversation with Kelly earlier in the week.
“He said I’m going to be fresh and have some juice going into the backend of the double header, so I just went with that in my head,” he said. “I knew I had the wind behind me and tried to make something happen. The team cleared out and let me come out of the box and opened up lanes for me to get those shots off.”
The team went cold after that. It would be 11 minutes and 52 seconds until they scored their next goal, and they were shutout for the final 13 minutes and 52 seconds of the game. It wasn’t that they didn’t have opportunities; the Redwoods shot 0-for-10 in the fourth quarter.
Waterdogs Tierney said the two-point goals early in the game were devastating, but the team made “real-life adjustments.”
“The guys started understanding who their dangerous two-point guys were,” Tierney said. “[Goalie] Dillon [Ward] was willing to make sure if they got any, it was going to be a one. Guys just buckled down that second half.”
For the second night in a row, California – even with perennial Faceoff Athlete of the Year finalist Ierlan – lost the faceoff battle. Philadelphia won 68.2 percent of the faceoffs, and Stathakis won a career-high 71.4 percent of his draws.
Philadelphia’s wings were especially helpful to the cause, crowding Ierlan when he attempted to pick up ground balls and picking up anything that scooted away from him; the Waterdogs won the ground ball battle, 37-30.
“It’s a unit,” Kelly said. “That’s something we have to work on and adjust as an entire group. I think there were a lot of balls that were loose. It’s not just on [Ierlan]. They were getting tie-ups. We just need to be better collectively. Ultimately, it’s a tough game to win when you don’t have the ball.”
Up next for California: Saturday, July 12 vs. Carolina Chaos (7 p.m. ET)
Boston Cannons vs. Carolina Chaos
Hayden Lewis: Blaze Riorden steals another game for Carolina and Justin Inacio is heating up
The Carolina Chaos have won twice this season, and in both games, five-time Oren Lyons Goaltender of the Year Award winner Blaze Riorden has made 20-plus saves. He’s the best in the world at the position, and he’s quite literally dragged his team across the finish line twice this season.
“I knew we were going to get a great effort out of him,” head coach Roy Colsey said about Riorden after the game..
The five-time first-team All-Pro netminder made nine saves in the fourth quarter after giving up the game-tying two-pointer to Matt Campbell with nine seconds remaining in the third quarter. And it seemed effortless. Countless times throughout his career, Riorden has entered the “flow state” and taken over games for the Carolina Chaos.
Despite the greatness, this isn’t something Carolina can rely on each week. It’s not a sustainable approach to expect a netminder to make 20-plus saves to win a game, which is why the Chaos have been blown out twice.
“Blaze is a guy that really understands team culture, and really understands chemistry, and really understands leadership,” Colsey said. “He’s got a great sense of his teammates and what they need and always seems to find a way to spark us.”
Riorden also recorded his 1,100th save in his career, making him the seventh goalie to do so in the professional game.
Riorden has been a staple of success among the specialists in the league, and the Chaos have a second specialist getting hot at the right time. Justin Inacio was 15-of-25 (60%) and has solidified his position as the starting faceoff specialist after the All-Star break.
“Every game starts with a faceoff, and our guy at the X dominated today,” Riorden said. “He got us rolling; he was the spark that we needed. I’m super happy for Justin, he waited his turn, he grinded it out, and you know, he willed our team to a victory today.”
Up next for Carolina: Saturday, July 12 vs. California Redwoods (7 p.m. ET)
Sarah Griffin: Chaos spoil Holman’s historic night in Boston’s 14-12 loss
On a night that saw Marcus Holman etch his name into the history books with his 500th career point, the Cannons couldn’t find the finishing touch, falling 14-12 to the Carolina Chaos in a frustrating loss.
Holman reached the milestone mark early in the game. With a classic crease finish with pinpoint accuracy off the midfield feed from Ben Ramsey, it was a vintage Holman goal and a reminder of his enduring brilliance at age 34.
Unfortunately, the celebration was short-lived.
Despite strong early ball movement from the Cannons offense in the first half, Boston’s O stalled in the second half. They were held off the scoresheet entirely in the fourth quarter, and suddenly found themselves playing to the tempo set by the Chaos – a situation they haven’t found themselves in many times this season.
Giving credit where credit is due, Riorden, not surprisingly, was a brick wall in cage for Carolina. He made 21 saves (65.6% SV%) and reminded us all why he’s considered the best goalie in the world. Still, one has to wonder: is this Chaos team just the Cannons’ kryptonite?
On paper, in all categories, this should’ve been a victory for Boston. Though yes, you can never count a team out in this league, and certainly not the team that ended your season just last year – this loss certainly raises some questions for Boston as they head into the All-Star break.
The Cannons, now 3-2, move to second in the East behind the Atlas, also 3-2 but with a +4 score differential compared to Boston’s +1. Is it panic mode? Most definitely not even close. But, one does have to wonder internally where exactly it went wrong for Boston in the second half, and how they plan to address it moving forward.
Up next for Boston: Friday, July 11 vs. New York Atlas (7 p.m. ET)
