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Waterdogs move into second place after 12-6 win over Chrome

By Lauren Merola | Jul 12, 2021

Mikie Schlosser led the Waterdogs with three goals to edge out Chrome 12-6 Sunday in Minneapolis.

With their second win on the weekend, the Waterdogs jump from fifth place to second. All four Waterdog wins have come from double-header weekends.

Chrome loses its second straight game and falls to sixth place. The score differential between Chrome (-9) and the seventh-place Chaos (-12) is three: A small margin between the sixth and final postseason spot.

At the end of the first, the game was tied at one. Then, around the nine minute mark in the second quarter, Will Haus went down with an injury and momentum shifted to the Waterdogs. Their offense picked up speed and took over the game. In the second half, the Waterdogs went on a 6-1 run to end the half up 7-4.

“We have a good blend of high IQ guys that know how to move the ball and find openings,” Schlosser said. “We also have really skilled dodgers that can dance around and find space offball.”

Schlosser ripped his eighth goal of the season and second of the first half when John Galloway lost his stick – after it got stuck in the net – to put the Waterdogs up 6-4. Kieran McArdle slung it from the left elbow to put the Waterdogs up 7-4. 

It was the Waterdogs’ sixth goal in two-and-a-half minutes. Chrome broke down defensively and never closed the gap.

After the game, Chrome head coach Tim Soudan said Haus strained his hamstring. Soudan added Haus will likely not play in the All-Star game.

No Chrome players were voted into the All-Star starting lineup and Haus was the only Chrome member voted into the game. Soudan said it is a good thing; he’d rather see his team get three weeks of rest and regroup for a championship run.

“I told the guys before the game: One of the only championships I won in professional lacrosse, we finished the season 5-5,” Soudan said. “There’s always hope. You have to be playing your best lacrosse at the end.”

Jordan MacIntosh was the only real threat for Chrome, scoring four of the team’s six goals. He said execution is the team’s main concern and looking back on Chrome’s play, it’s not a matter of getting the looks, but of cashing in.

Chrome shot 19% on 31 attempts. On the season so far, Chrome shot 28%.

Connor Kelly and McArdle each added two goals for the Waterdogs, who had eight goal scorers and 10 players post at least one point. 

Schlosser said the team mentality puts the Waterdogs in a great position to win.

“Nobody cares about scoring,” Schlosser said. “That attitude towards playing offense sets us up to take the best matchup and not have one person do too much.”

The Waterdogs kept Chrome scoreless in the third, outshooting Chrome 18-1. The Waterdogs met net five times in the third and six in the second to give them the 12-4 boost heading into the fourth.

MacIntosh ended Chrome’s 14-minute scoring drought with back-to-back goals in the fourth to bring Chrome within six. When Chrome had the ball, it lacked motion and aggression.

“When you go through the ebbs and flows of a season, having a little bit of a break, time to reset, figure out what’s going on with your own game and working your way out of it is good,” MacIntosh said. “Hopefully we do that in the next two weeks.”

Come Week 7, Chrome looks for a win against Atlas to start fighting its way back to .500. The Waterdogs take on the Whipsnakes in a game that can potentially push the Waterdogs into first place.

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