The start to the Roy Colsey era for the Carolina Chaos looked bleak after the New York Atlas’ high-octane offense scored four-straight goals in the first quarter of Friday night’s season-opening matchup in Albany, N.Y.
The Chaos rallied, scoring four-straight goals despite losing 85 percent of the faceoffs in the first half. Carolina’s defense, led by defensive coordinator Stephen Brooks, held New York to a scoring drought spanning 19 minutes after a goal from Brett Maker with 7:24 left in the first quarter.
The reigning Jim Brown MVP, attackman Jeff Teat, scored just one goal, but it was a big one that sparked a 4-1 run that led the Atlas to a 10-8 win. Attackman Xander Dickson was held scoreless for the first time since his rookie season.
Chaos long-stick midfielder Troy Reh was tasked with guarding the crafty off-ball finisher who finished fourth in the Premier Lacrosse League with 24 goals last season.
“Covering Xander Dickson is a nightmare,” Colsey said. “It may not be the same as matching up against a guy physically, but he is a tireless cutter … and one of the best off-ball guys I’ve ever seen in the game, and Troy did an incredible job staying with him.”
The Atlas led 6-5 at halftime, as both teams were tied with 14 shots on goal. Rookie attackman Jackson Eicher, who went undrafted out of Army despite being a Tewaaraton Award finalist this season, notched his first career hat trick after scoring the second half’s first two goals. He finished with five points.
After Eicher’s second goal at the 9:46 mark of the third quarter, Atlas head coach Mike Pressler challenged a shot from Bryan Costabile that bounced off the crossbar on the goal line. As play continued with the challenge flag sitting on the field, defensive midfielder Payton Rezanka scored during a fast break. But since the flag was thrown before the goal and Costabile’s shot did not cross the line, the play was disavowed and the score remained tied at 6.
Teat, who struggled to separate against All-Star defenseman Jack Rowlett, scored his goal off an assist from Connor Shellenberger with 5:24 remaining in the third quarter. Shellenberger fed a wide-open Teat from X, who got his hands free from a Costabile off-ball pick.
After rookie midfielder Matt Traynor scored his second career goal with 9:46 left in the game, Carolina’s best chance to tie it came after a timeout with 1:53 left. Eicher wasn’t able to get his hands free against defenseman Michael Rexrode as the shot clock expired, and Costabile buried his third goal to clinch the Atlas’ win.
Atlas goalie Liam Entenmann was his typical outstanding self, stopping over 70 percent of shots faced for the second time in his professional career. His 16 saves outpaced future Hall of Famer Blaze Riorden’s 12.
After the game, Colsey said he “doesn’t like moral victories,” but his roster, which was almost completely redone, went toe-to-toe with arguably the PLL’s best team on paper. The Chaos’ three young attackmen, which was their most unproven unit, showed an abundance of flash on Friday. The trio of Josh Zawada, JJ Sillstrop and Eicher combined for 10 points with an average age of 24 years old.
Carolina’s midfield line was also decimated with 2024 first-round pick Shane Knobloch on the PUP list and Chris Aslanian leaving the game with an upper-body injury.