4 Takeaways from PLL Week 7 in Chicago

The Premier Lacrosse League’s first neutral venue of the season featured three heavily lopsided games, but that didn’t stop new narratives from forming. 

The Carolina Chaos leapfrogged the California Redwoods and Utah Archers in the Western Conference standings, the Denver Outlaws continued to prove their dominance and a new MVP candidate emerged.

Here are four takeaways from the PLL action in Chicago:

It’s Denver’s title to lose

Even when the Outlaws are dominated at the faceoff, they’re too balanced for it to matter. On Saturday, Joe Nardella won 16 of his 22 draws, but the Outlaws still soared to a 13-6 victory. Similarly to the Archers’ model for success the past two seasons, Denver’s starpower on offense combined with consistent on-ball defenders and a piping-hot goaltender makes it the most dangerous team in the league.

Jared Bernhardt looks more and more like his old self every week, Pat Kavanagh is in place to be an MVP finalist and Brennan O’Neill has had his two best shooting performances of the year in consecutive weeks. Even if a team figures out a way to slow that trio, Logan McNaney’s form in the cage makes the Outlaws an incredibly tough team to beat. His 64.5-percent save efficiency is nearly six percentiles higher than any other starting goalie in the PLL.

Utah and Denver both have doubleheaders remaining on the schedule, which leaves a lot of room left for potential change in the Western Conference, but it’s hard to imagine any team other than the Outlaws winning the conference. 

Something to monitor as we head into August is Denver’s late bye week, which is during the last week of the season: If the Outlaws secure the No. 1 seed out of the West, they’ll receive a first-round bye, which keeps them out of a competitive game from Aug. 2 to Sept. 1.

Time will tell if that extended break will either pay dividends or come back to bite the Outlaws.

How the mighty have fallen

Every time the Archers have hit the field this season, it feels like their game is the sloppiest of that weekend. That’s partly because the Archers defense still ensues chaos on opposing offenses, but mostly because their offense is out of sorts. Rookie Sam King has been a great find — leading the team with 15 points — but in the past few weeks, he’s been Utah’s top dodger and most willing player to score off the ball. On an offense with as much talent as the Archers, that has to make you scratch your head.

Tre Leclaire’s anticipated return provided a spark after Utah fell 11-2 in the second quarter, but Utah’s trio of Tom Schreiber, Grant Ament and Connor Fields all failed to score a goal. On the positive side, Utah’s four remaining games are all against Western Conference opponents — giving them enough time to recover from their current last-place standing.

Unfortunately, Matt Moore and faceoff specialist Mike Sisselberger are on injured reserve, leaving Utah with more questions about their team than any side in the West. Sisselberger’s replacement, Jake Naso, only won 6 of 22 faceoffs on Friday.

The Archers are the only team in the PLL that have yet to notch 60 goals this season.  

Whips are running out of time

It’s put up or shut up time for the Maryland Whipsnakes after the Outlaws more than doubled their score on Saturday. Maryland is a game behind the Boston Cannons in the Eastern Conference and is at risk of missing the playoffs after reaching the championship game last season.

The Whipsnakes’ next two games against the Philadelphia Waterdogs and New York Atlas are critical, but they’ll need to improve their offense if they want to keep up with the two highest-scoring offenses in the East.

Nardella has been arguably the most dominant faceoff ace in the league, and rookie goalie Emmet Carroll has been impressive in his first two career starts, registering 33 saves on a 65.5-percent save efficiency. Even though Maryland has figured out two of the most important positions on the field, it hasn’t had anyone step up for TJ Malone — who’s gone cold the past two weeks after carrying the offense in the beginning of the year.

Second-year midfielder Matt Brandau has come along recently, registering 10 points over the Whipsnakes’ last three games, but they need a more balanced offense to compete in the East. Now would be a good time for veteran attackman Rob Pannell, who only scored in two games this season, to step up.

Shellenberger makes case for MVP

Even at the halfway point, betting on Michael Sowers to win MVP seemed like a safe choice, but that changed after a seven-point performance from New York’s Connor Shellenberger. He’s just three points away from Sowers’ league-leading 28 points after dominating the Cannons on Friday during a 17-11 victory.

Shellenberger is second in the PLL in goals behind Pat Kavanagh and third in shooting efficiency (46.7 percent). He’s never been the type of attackman to force himself into a game, which makes his gaudy scoring numbers even more impressive.

Secondly, it’s a lot more difficult for Shellenberger to stick out as an elite scorer in the Atlas’ loaded offense, compared to Sowers in Philadelphia. Shellenberger’s running mate, Jeff Teat, is just two points away from catching up to him.