PLL Week 6 Recap: Redwoods Save Best or Last with OT Winner

Parity in the Premier Lacrosse League continues to be on full display, as no more than two wins separate the league’s eight teams.

California leads the West at 4-2 with Denver and Carolina right behind with three wins each. At 3-2, Philadelphia boasts the best record in the East, while Maryland and New York sit 3-3 and Boston inched closer with its second win of the season.

DENVER ASSERTS DOMINANCE IN WIN OVER MARYLAND

Score: Denver Outlaws 13, Maryland Whipsnakes 7

Stat of the Game: Denver’s four former Tewaaraton winners — Brennan O’Neill, Jared Bernhardt, Logan Wisnauskas and Pat Kavanagh — combined for 10 of the Outlaws’ 13 goals, with Kavanagh scoring four and adding a helper.

Recap: The Outlaws secured their third win thanks to a dominant second-half led by the usual suspects. With Bernhardt and Kavanagh both playing with lower-body injuries, Denver coach Tim Soudan opted to start those two with Wisnauskas on attack and run O’Neill out of the box for the first time since his PLL debut. O’Neill assisted Kavanagh on a goal early and scored two goals in the second half, including a one-handed, top-shelf snipe that iced the game.

“It shows the type of teammate he is. He doesn’t care what his role is. He just wants to win,” Kavanagh said about O’Neill. “That’s a very underrated aspect of Brennan as a player and a person.”

The matchup was tight for the majority of the first half, with the game tied 6-6 early in the third quarter. It was O’Neill’s first goal that sparked a five-goal run for the Outlaws and gave them an 11-6 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Denver’s defense also deserves a ton of credit for holding Maryland to just one goal in the final 21 minutes. Soudan credited the unit’s physicality as the key to disrupting the Whipsnakes offense.

“I challenged them to be more physical, and they took me seriously,” Soudan said. “You have to play a physical brand of lacrosse. … I think it had [Maryland] thinking twice about being in certain situations.”

Joey Spallina’s four points were a lone bright spot for the Whipsnakes in a game Maryland once again looked sluggish on offense for most of the game. Maryland’s seven goals on 17.1 percent shooting were both season lows. The Whipsnakes also had six shot clock violations, bringing their total in their last two games to 13 (compared to 18 through their first four games).

“The offense put the defense in a tough position today.” Maryland coach Jim Stagnitta said. “Our best guys did not perform at the level of [Denver’s] best guys, and that was the difference.”

BOSTON BOUNCES BACK WITH VICTORY VS. CALIFORNIA

Score: Boston Cannons 15, California Redwoods 12

Stat of the Game: Boston’s attack line of Coulter Mackesy, Brian Kelly and Marcus Holman scored 10 of the Cannons’ 15 goals. All three shot above 50 percent and combined for just one turnover in an extremely efficient outing.

Recap: Despite California refusing to go away until the very end, Boston left San Diego with a 15-12 win and improved to 2-4. It was a gritty victory for a team that already felt like it was in must-win territory.

“We’ve had our backs against the wall for the past two weeks, so we played with that sense of urgency,” Holman said after the game. “I think we’ve been tested so far this season, and it’s going to set up well for the second half.”

It was a tale of two halves for the interconference matchup. Both teams combined for just six goals in the first two quarters, with the Cannons leading 4-2 at halftime. They combined for nearly double that in the third quarter and 21 total in the second half. Only once did a team score three straight goals or more, as both teams traded blows. Every time the Redwoods rallied, the Cannons answered with a goal or two of their own.

While Boston’s attack made the biggest impact on the stat sheet, the Cannons had contributions from many of their other young stars. Rookies Mikey Weisshaar and Jack Regnery each had two goals, and Regnery made his mark down the stretch. He opened the fourth quarter with his first goal to extend the lead to 11-7, assisted on Weisshaar’s second goal to make it 13-8 and eventually iced the game with an empty-net goal with 33 seconds left.

Rookie Andrew McMeekin also made an impact, holding his own against TD Ierlan at the faceoff X and generating offense off the draw.

“Having Meeks scrap at X to win the ball forward just gives so much momentum and confidence to the offense,” Mackesy said. “Having Meeks and knowing the defense is making stops made our jobs on offense a lot easier.”

CJ KIRST LEADS PHILADELPHIA PAST UTAH

Score: Philadelphia Waterdogs 11, Utah Archers 10

Stat of the Game: CJ Kirst’s five goals marked the third time in just nine career games that he’s scored five goals or more. It’s also the sixth time he’s had five points or more, including all three games this season. Kirst is also scoring on a league-best 12.5 percent of his touches and turning the ball over on just 1.79 percent of his touches, which is second-best among those with at least 100 touches in 2026.

Recap: Kirst’s MVP campaign continued Sunday as he led the Waterdogs to an 11-10 win over the Archers. Kirst was quiet in the first quarter, but he and Michael Sowers connected for Kirst’s first goal late in the second period. Kirst added four more in the second half, with Sowers assisting two of them — including the eventual winner with 2:24 remaining.

"We had our chances on the power play, and we weren't able to score as much as we wanted to," Kirst said. "Eventually, we were able to find our way offensively and find our groove.”

Kirst and Sowers weren’t the only contributors. Matt Collison recorded three points, and his first career goal was a two-pointer on the power play to open the scoring for Philly. Josh Yago also had a goal and an assist, and Kieran McArdle’s lone point was an assist that moved him into a tie for eighth place in career assists with Conor Gill.

"We talked about playing the whole game, and they did that today," Philadelphia coach Bill Tierney said. "I couldn't be more proud of the guys."

The Archers refused to go down without a fight. Utah scored two goals in the final two minutes to pull within one, but it ultimately fell short in its fourth loss.

“We just didn’t get enough guys involved,” Utah coach Chris Bates said. “I use the term ‘rhythm and flow.’ It just didn’t feel like we were able to share the ball particularly well.”

CALIFORNIA OUTLASTS CAROLINA IN OT THRILLER

Score: California Redwoods 14, Carolina Chaos 13

Stat of the Game: Kyle Hartzell held Owen Hiltz to just 1-for-6 shooting in the 40-year-old long-stick midfielder’s first professional game since 2023.

Recap: The Redwoods’ veterans showed up when they needed them the most. Hartzell was a disruptor, causing three turnovers in his first game in three years. Dillon Ward made 15 saves, including three critical ones in overtime. And Dylan Molloy had the winning goal that propelled the Redwoods into first place in the West.

“It was a big goal by a big-time player," California coach Anthony Kelly said.

Molloy might not have matched his nine-point output of last weekend, but his final two goals of the weekend came at pivotal moments. His first goal tied it at 4 and was the start of a five-goal run for California. After Carolina tied it, Molloy answered the bell again, dodging to the net off a pick set by Brian Tevlin and burning a low-to-high shot past Blaze Riorden to end the game.

“[Molloy] is a Tewaaraton Award winner and All-Star in this league,” Ryder Garnseys said. “When he has his hands free at 5-and-5, it's going to go a lot of the time.”

On the defensive end, Hartzell made the most of his opportunity to play professional lacrosse again. The signing, which was announced Friday evening, came as a surprise to many. California had re-signed Arden Cohen earlier in the week, but he landed on the PUP list and forced Kelly to find another option ahead of the team’s doubleheader.

“We had an emergency situation,” Kelly said. “There are some great players that came out of college, but we didn’t see any guys that would be a good fit for us in a pinch — guys that can handle being thrown in the fire.”

Hartzell downplayed the situation, comparing his return to “riding a bike” when ESPN sideline reporter Annabelle Hasselbeck asked him how it felt to suit up again.

“I got a phone call on Friday, and it was a crazy 48 hours, but any time I get an opportunity like this, I’m not going to turn it down,” Hartzell said.

Carolina fought to the end. The Chaos were down by four before Chad Palumbo scored in the final minute of the third quarter to make it 11-8. Rookie Ty English opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with a two-pointer that brought Carolina within one, and an Eric Spanos goal on a feed from Palumbo tied it at 11.

Chris Kavanagh extended the lead back to two with back-to-back goals, but Owen Hiltz answered with 40 seconds remaining and Palumbo forced overtime with nine seconds.

“I'm proud of these guys and the way they fought back,” Carolina coach Steven Brooks said. “They didn't let adversity hit them and knock them down.”

While Brooks was proud of his team, he took exception to the officiating on the final goal of the game. At full speed, it was hard to tell if Tevlin remained stationary when setting a pick for Molloy on the game-winning goal. Brooks believed that a moving screen should have been called.

“The pick was there, and [Tevlin] just did a little shuffle and got a little piece of [Jarrod] Neumann as he shuffled over,” Brooks said. “I don't think that one play determines the entire game; it’s just that entire game, we didn't get a single call. But the bottom line is we just have to not let the refs control the game."