Where to Watch

• Saturday, June 5
• 5:00 p.m. ET
• Live on NBCSN or Peacock

Whipsnakes Defense: Best of All-Time?

Some defenses have designated positions: On-ball defenders, organizers, sliders. Matt Dunn, Tim Muller, and Bryce Young can each take on any of those roles for the Whipsnakes.

Dunn (Maryland ’16), Muller (’17), and Young (’18) matured in the same Maryland system, earning playing time as an off-ball defender then eventually erasing elite Tewaaraton candidates as upperclassmen. That interchangeability leads to nimble gameplanning.

“I have the ability with my guys to go game to game, gameplan to gameplan,” Whipsnakes defensive coordinator Mike Murphy told me last fall. “We don’t have to be one thing to everybody. We can be one thing to a specific person or team.”

Opponents shot 22.5% against the Whipsnakes last summer – the lowest mark against by any defense in pro lacrosse history.

Chaos' trips offense

Chaos does not play with attackmen and midfielders; it plays with lefties and righties.

The ball bounces from side-to-side, skipping across the hash marks in this Chaos offense. Their favorite set – "trips" – involves a three-man game on the lefty side of the field (where Josh Byrne, Audi Staats, and Chris Cloutier live) and another three-man game on the righty side of the field (where Dhane Smith, Wes Berg, and Jake Froccaro play).

During their 2020 postseason run, Chaos created 8.0 shots per game off two-man games, more than double their pool play mark (3.8). They picked. They re-picked. They set double picks with one picker slipping high and the other slipping low.