PLL Week 4 Recap: Bounce-Back Wins in Charlotte Shake Up the Standings

Utah’s upset over Carolina started the chaos and Redwoods continued it on Friday night as both secured their second wins of the season. The Chaos came back to oust the Outlaws on Saturday, shaking up the standings in a truly wild, wild West.

Carolina sits at the top with a 3-2 record, but its score differential of minus-five is actually the worst among Western Conference teams as 2-1 California, 2-2 Utah and 2-2 Denver all finished the weekend with a plus-four score differential.

Despite being on a bye, Maryland held on to its top spot in the East, while Philly moved back to .500 and Boston and New York fell to 1-3. The defending champion Atlas now sit in last place with the worst score differential in the league at minus-10.

Archers Down Chaos; O'Keefe Joins Elite Company

Score: Utah Archers 15, Carolina Chaos 7

Stat of the Game: Mac O’Keefe tied the PLL single-game record for goals with seven. 19.4 percent of his touches ended with a goal.

Recap: The Archers entered the weekend scoring just 20 combined goals through three games, but came close to reaching that in just one game on Friday.

O’Keefe joined Will Manny, Jeff Teat, Wes Berg and Brennan O'Neill as the only players ever to score seven goals in a PLL game. It was a vintage performance from the sharpshooter, who scored from all over the field against Carolina.

“To get one early as a shooter, you get into that flow state.” O’Keefe said. “Guys were doing a great job of creating space for me and I was able to end up in good spots.”

Seven different Archers scored a goal, and veterans Tre Leclaire and Ryan Ambler led the team in assists with four and three, respectively.

“It’s a high-IQ group… We got everyone involved. It was high-energy,” Utah coach Chris Bates said. “We were more organized. We had a greater sense of purpose and it showed.”

As impressive as the Archers’ offense was, it was another elite outing for the defense. Utah still hasn’t allowed an opponent to reach double digits once this season, allowing an average of just 7.75 goals through four games.

“It starts with Coach [Tony] Resch. He’s one of the best coaches in the game. I like to refer to him as ‘Lacrosse’s Phil Jackson’ with all the rings he’s won,” Utah goaltender Brett Dobson said. “Our D corps is awesome. With our d-mids, adding [Aidan] Maguire; he’s unbelievable. With Warren [Jeffrey] being back, [Mason] Woodward] down low and Mitch [Dunham] has done a great job playing up top… they didn’t make me work too hard for a lot of saves.”

Carolina’s seven goals scored were its fewest in a game so far. Coach Steven Brooks took responsibility for the poor performance.

“It falls on me. I have to do a better job of getting these guys prepared,” Brooks said. “I have to do a better job coaching, I have to do a better job scheming, and I have to do a way better job getting these guys motivated and ready to play.”

Redwoods Deal Defending Champ Atlas Third Straight Loss

Score: California Redwoods 12, New York Atlas 11

Stat of the Game: Dillon Ward finished with a save percentage above 60 percent for the third straight game. He also made 15 saves for the second straight game and now ranks second in the league in save percentage at 62.7 percent behind only Brett Dobson. “When he’s playing the way he’s playing, I think [Dillon Ward] is the best goalie in the world.” California coach Anthony Kelly said. “He was the difference today.”

Recap: California secured its second win of the season, defeating New York 12-11 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicates.

The Redwoods jumped out to a 6-2 lead early in the first quarter, but the Atlas continued to hang around, pulling within three entering halftime. New York’s Connor Shellenberger had a hand in two goals to start the second half and pull the Atlas within one, but Chris Kavanagh responded with two goals of his own to re-extend California’s lead to three goals entering the fourth quarter.

Hugh Kelleher's 2-pointer with 14 seconds left pulled New York within one and gave the Atlas a chance at an improbable comeback, but it ended up being too little, too late as California held on to the win in the final seconds.

“It became a tougher game than it needed to be, but obviously a win is a win,” Dylan Molloy said. “We’re super happy to be able to squeak that one out.”

It was a team effort for the Redwoods. California had 11 different players record a point and nine of them scored a goal. Michael Boehm led the way with four points and Molloy, Andrew McAdorey and Chris Kavanagh each had three.

“We were firing,” Molloy said. “The new guys in the lineup were meshing really well.”

It was the third straight loss for Mike Pressler’s squad, which has continued to struggle on both sides of the ball. The losses of Gavin Adler in free agency and Michael Grace due to injury have been apparent on defense and the offense has been a shell of its 2025 self.

While newly acquired Matt Rambo registered three points in his Atlas debut, New York still hasn’t been able to replicate 2025 PLL championship MVP Jeff Teat’s production on the left side. 

The offense’s struggles can also be attributed to significant turnover at the offensive coordinator position. Steven Brooks left in the offseason to become Carolina’s head coach and his replacement, Kevin Cassese, departed shortly after becoming the new University of Virginia head coach. Scott Urick’s promotion to OC gave New York its third offensive coordinator in nearly as many months.

“Coach Pressler worked tirelessly this week trying to put the right pieces together. Coach Urick and us players all tried to step up and do more this week,” Shellenberger said. “Obviously, it’s not good enough, but I thought it was a better product. We just can’t have lulls like that in the fourth quarter. We have to put it together for 48 minutes.”

The Atlas will face their toughest test after the bye week, playing Boston and Maryland on back-to-back days during their homecoming doubleheader on Long Island. While a 1-3 start isn’t optimal, New York’s hopes at winning another title aren’t dead yet. Last year, the Atlas started 1-2 before going on a 9-1 run that culminated in a PLL championship. The 2022 Waterdogs also started 1-3 before eventually winning the championship.

“We have to put the ball in the net more. It’s frustrating to continue to not do that every week.” Shellenberger added. “We have to change some things going into our doubleheader here.”

Chaos Rebound with Comeback Win over Outlaws

Score: Carolina Chaos 12, Denver Outlaws 11

Stat of the Game: Nine different Carolina players scored a goal in their one-goal win over Denver.

Recap: After scoring just seven goals Friday, the Chaos pulled off a gutsy comeback over their Western Conference foe thanks to contributions from many different players.

Brooks discussed Carolina’s ego-less approach on offense and how it was evident in the team’s win on Saturday.

“Watching these guys celebrate is awesome to see because they don’t care who puts the ball in the back of the net,” he said. “They care more about how we put the ball back in the net.”

On Friday, Brooks emphasized how important it was to leave Charlotte with a win. Carolina demonstrated that urgency, erasing an early 5-1 deficit in the first quarter to secure not just the victory but also first place in the West.

Rookie Chad Palumbo led the way with his first career hat trick and also picked up two ground balls. One of those came on the ride, where he helped force a turnover and secured the Chaos another possession late in the second quarter. Shane Knobloch scored on the ensuing possession to stake Carolina to a 7-5 halftime lead.

Later, with the game tied at 11 in the fourth quarter, Palumbo scored the eventual game-winning goal on a crease dive.

"You look at his eyes and he has a smile on his face, but his eyes tell you a different story. They tell you that he’s dialed and focused," Brooks said. "The ability to be a rookie and have the poise to make the right plays at the right time is the reason why we drafted him."

For the Outlaws, it was a frustrating defeat to a conference rival.

“We didn’t capitalize on some really good opportunities we had to take that game over,” Outlaws coach Tim Soudan said. “It’s hard coming off a loss and having to wait three weeks to play again, but we’ve got a few weeks here to fix things.”

Waterdogs Avenge Week 2 Loss in Rematch with Cannons

Score: Philadelphia Waterdogs 17, Boston Cannons 10

Stat of the Game: Goalie Matt DeLuca set the Waterdogs’ franchise record with 20 saves.

Just last week, Philadelphia coach Bill Tierney discussed facing hot goaltenders. The Waterdogs were blanked by Boston goalie Colin Kirst 16 times in Week 2 and Carolina netminder Blaze Riorden stopped 14 of their shots in Week 3.

"You run into a brick wall sometimes in the sport of lacrosse," Tierney said after Philly’s Week 3 loss.

However, it was Philadelphia that got hot goaltending in Week 4. DeLuca stopped 69 percent of the shots he faced and became the 11th goalie in PLL history to record 20 saves or more in a game.

"It was just an intense effort," Tierney said following the team’s first win since Week 1. "They played so hard, and we got saves out of Matt DeLuca. Overall, it's hopefully the sign of things to come."

A big area of weakness for the Waterdogs had been its midfield, which put the ball in the back of the net just twice for three points in the team’s two losses. That changed on Saturday night, as four different offensive midfielders scored and long pole Brendan Staub also added a goal.

Rookie Josh Yago led the way with three points and Jack Hannah and rookie Kyle Lewis also added two goals each. Lewis specifically was a real bright spot in his PLL debut, shooting 40 percent on just seven shots and 13 touches. His first career goal was a behind-the-back beauty.

While the midfield’s production was a catalyst in the win, no player was a bigger difference-maker than CJ Kirst. The second-year attackman had his first career sock trick, scoring six goals on just 11 shots.

Despite playing in only eight career PLL games, it was already his fifth game with five points or more. He currently leads the league in points per game (5.5) and goals per game (4.5).

Yet, Kirst's impact extends beyond just the stat sheet as Tierney spoke about his leadership and commended him for mentoring younger teammates.

“Stepping into this week, the coaches challenged us,” Kirst said. “We changed a couple of things up, had a couple tough conversations, and I’m super happy with the way we came into this game today. Top-down, every single guy played their role.”

Despite being down to just two true short-stick defensive midfielders and missing reigning PLL Defensive Player of the Year Gavin Adler, Philly held Boston to just three goals for nearly three quarters. While the Cannons eventually chipped away at what was a 15-3 lead, the game was never in doubt for the Waterdogs.

“We knew we would bounce back; it was just a little too late,” Cannons midfielder Matt Campbell said.

Boston will have two weeks to prepare for its game against New York, with both teams sitting at 1-3 and last place in the East. Meanwhile, Philadelphia will have three weeks off before facing the Redwoods in San Diego.