If you’re going to watch a weekend of the Premier Lacrosse League, you better prepare for at least one overtime game. At this point, it almost feels like the league is scripted for peak intrigue.

Week 3, set just south of Chicago, featured two more OT thrillers on the first day of the weekend, kicking off with a Josh Byrne game-winner for the 2-1 Chaos.

The Redwoods defense lost Byrne in the worst possible spot — right at the net — allowing him to get off a pump fake before firing the ball past Tim Troutner for a 12-11 victory.

Jake Froccaro draws the slide...

Josh Byrne buries it on the doorstep

Chaos wins 12-11 in OT! #PLLChicago pic.twitter.com/jywrGxBoDW

— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) June 15, 2019

The Redwoods didn’t get a second slide once Eddy Glazener went to help on Jake Froccaro, allowing him to pass to a wide-open Byrne.

“Jake Froccaro has been matched up against short sticks all night, so I knew they’d be kind of hungry to slide,” Byrne said. “I kind of took a look around me and was like, ‘I have nobody going to be a two slide.’ I knew all I had to do was catch it.”

A game later, Ryan Drenner was the hero for the Whipsnakes for the second week in a row.

Drenner buried a shot on an open net after a phrenetic overtime to give the Whips an 11-10 victory and keep the team undefeated. All three of the Maryland-heavy squad’s wins have come in OT, with this one lasting the longest thanks to a nearly eight-minute extra frame.

The game-winning possession kicked off with a stellar interception from Drew Snider, who jumped a clearing pass and managed to just barely stay in bounds while doing so. He slung the ball back the other way off one foot to Jules Heningburg to start a strong 2-on-1 transition opportunity.

Archers goalie Adam Ghitelman opted to charge the open Drenner, but that just made it easier for him to shoot on the cage and end it.

THE GAME WINNER!@dsnides23 on the ride and @ChefBoy_RD_ for the win! pic.twitter.com/8vmRIGpMRQ

— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) June 15, 2019

“It started with Drew Snider making an incredible hustle play,” Drenner said on NBCSN. “I was just the lucky one to be the closest one to the net.”

Getting Chippy

Physical scrums have become as much of a fixture in the PLL as overtime.

The league garnered social media buzz on Saturday after a scuffle led to a punch from Redwoods’ Nick Ossello to the helmet of Chaos goalie Blaze Riorden.

The incident kicked off when Chaos’ Mark Glicini took Sergio Perkovic to the ground with a check and grab. Troy Reh took a swing with his stick at Perkovic while he was down, causing Ossello to barge in and start a shoving match.

Ossello wasn’t ejected, instead given seven minutes of penalties. It’s a precedent-setting move for the league and brings up the question of how far the PLL is willing to allow the fisticuffs to go. The crowd clearly loved it and it helped get more eyes on the league on social media but isn’t a part of the traditional field lacrosse culture.

Atlas Get First Win

The third game of the weekend nearly went to overtime as well after Chrome’s Jordan McIntosh buried a shot off a post-up move to tie Atlas at 12 with 1:43 to go.

Unfortunately for the Chrome, they are still looking for their first win of the season after Atlas’ Connor Buczek answered. He let off a shot while falling that literally spun John Galloway around as Atlas walked away with a 13-12 triumph in a matchup of previously winless teams.

“It’s been a long time coming for us for sure,” Buczek said in his postgame interview with the PLL brass. “Since the time these teams were made, we’ve been looking forward to this day and getting in that win column. It’s been a tough first two weeks for us, but we think today we’ve finally put in a pretty complete effort.”

Noteworthy

Whipsnakes’ Matt Rambo was surpassed on the scoring leaderboard by Archers’ Tom Schreiber, who pushed his point total to 17 with seven on Saturday. He was the leading point producer at SeatGeek Stadium, with Chrome’s Justin Guterding finishing second with five. … The Whipsnakes were able to hold the high-powered Archers offense to zero goals in the first quarter, getting out to a 4-0 lead. … Charlie Cipriano became the first backup goalie to get playing time in the history of the PLL when he had to fill in for the penalized Riorden. He made three saves on five shots on goal. … Chicago Bulls point guard and former Villanova stalwart Ryan Arcidiacono was in attendance to watch his friend and fellow former Wildcat Jake Froccaro.

Biggest @PLLChaos fan in Chicago. #NovaNation https://t.co/DZZFg6RUjw

— Ryan Arcidiacono (@RyArch45) June 16, 2019

Play of the Week

Check out this beauty of a behind-the-back goal from Redwoods’ Matt Kavanagh right off a pass from goal-line extended.

What other sport do you see this in?

Matt Kavanagh scores a behind the back goal and then gets interviewed IN GAME about the play

The Future. @NBCSports pic.twitter.com/MTGxJnm55l

— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) June 15, 2019

Up Next

The PLL heads to Baltimore and historic Homewood Field in what should be the most packed and intimate stop of the inaugural season. Redwoods and Chrome open the weekend at 1 p.m. ET Saturday (NBCSN), with Atlas and Whipsnakes following up in the first night game in the PLL at 7:30 p.m. (NBC Sports Gold). Chaos and Archers meet at 3:30 p.m. Sunday (NBC Sports Gold).