PLL Week 8 Recap: Archers, Cannons and Whipsnakes Continue Their Win Streaks

The eighth week in the Premier Lacrosse League featured a continuation of the last weekend for many teams.

• The Archers held their opponent to single digits for the second consecutive week and sixth time this season.

• The Cannons claimed their third straight victory, which is the longest win streak of any team in the league so far this season.

• The Whipsnakes blew out their opponent for the second straight week and secured the best record in the league.

Here's more on everything that went down at Rafferty Stadium in Fairfield, Conn.

King RP3: Pannell Sets Record

Score: Maryland Whipsnakes 20, California Redwoods 7

Stat of the Game: Rob Pannell’s six points against his former team propelled him past Paul Rabil for the most points in pro field lacrosse history at 660.

Recap: “I definitely got a little emotional on the field because of how much this has worn on me…I don’t know how much lacrosse I have left in me and just want to have fun with my teammates and focus on winning games,” Pannell said after his record-setting day.

Pannell tied a season-high in points in the Whipsnakes’ 20-7 win over the Redwoods. His five goals were also the most that he’s scored in a single game since joining the PLL. Despite the historic night, the 14-year pro discussed feeling “relieved” after finally breaking the points record and being excited to solely focus on his ultimate goal of winning a PLL championship.

“We have a little bit of momentum here, so hopefully we can build on it,” Pannell explained. “I came to [the Whipsnakes] to win a championship, and I think we have the team to do it.”

The Whipsnakes have now won back-to-back games by an average of 10 goals. Maryland currently sits alone at the top of the Eastern Conference standings with a 5-3 record and a plus-26 score differential.

“We’ve talked about playing a certain way for the last few weeks after a couple of losses in a row. Our team responded last week and the challenge was to respond again this week,” Pannell said. “It was one of the better wins that I’ve been a part of in my career.”

It’s been a night-and-day difference for the Whipsnakes’ offense when comparing their two recent wins to the two losses that preceded them. After the Outlaws held TJ Malone to 0 points, the third-year pro responded by recording six points in each of Maryland’s last two games. Joey Spallina also had six points and Maryland had nine different players record a goal on Friday.

“The last two weeks have been the most fun I’ve had coaching a team. I’m getting after them and they’re responding. It’s fun lacrosse to watch,” Maryland coach Jim Stagnitta said.

After starting the season 3-1, the California Redwoods now find themselves at 4-4, having lost three of their last four and allowing an average of 15.75 goals per game during that span. They’ll have a week off before playing a doubleheader in Columbus, Ohio.

“We can’t point fingers. Obviously, two back-to-back losses going into a bye week is not good,” Chris Kavanagh said. “But we were in a pretty difficult situation last year too. We just have to turn the page and keep going.”

Outlaws Outlast Chaos

Score: Denver Outlaws 10, Carolina Chaos 8

Stat of the Game: Of Logan McNaney’s 14 saves against Carolina, 13 were saved cleanly. He leads all starters in clean save percentage at 60.7 percent and is the only starter above 50 percent this season.

Recap: The Outlaws’ 10-8 win over the Chaos was their fourth victory of the season and first over Carolina since August 10, 2024. It also marked the fourth time that McNaney and the defense have held their opponents to single digits.

“I was really impressed with the battle between the lines, with ground balls and tough plays. We pride ourselves on plays like that,” McNaney said. “We got more of those today than we have during the past couple of weeks.”

McNaney was a save shy of tying his season high and his 92.9 percent clean save percentage was his highest of the year. While the stat belongs to McNaney, it’s a testament to the Denver defense’s ability to force shots that are easy for McNaney to save.

“The defense did a much better job of giving me shots I could see. They put their lives on the line every day to give me those shots.” McNaney explained. “It’s obviously great to make clean saves, but you also don’t give up rebounds to the other team. That’s a huge thing.”

On the offensive end, Logan Wisnauskas had three goals on six shots. His 58.1 percent shooting percentage is currently the best among players with at least 60 touches. Pat Kavanagh led the team in points with two assists and two goals, including one that iced the game at the end. With less than a minute remaining, Kavanagh evaded a double team from Carolina and bounced off a third defender to score around the crease and give Denver the win.

“We battled back and then we had to battle back again. Those are the kind of victories that go a long way,” Denver coach Tim Soudan said. “That’s a character win for us.”

The loss was Carolina’s third in a row, and the Chaos also suffered injuries to Christian Scarpello and Jack Rowlett. Rowlett’s injury occurred early in the game and was a scary one. Attempting to stop a shot, Rowlett and Wisnauskas collided and Rowlett remained on the ground with little movement following the collision. ESPN sideline reporter confirmed that Rowlett had movement in his lower body as he was being stretchered off and Carolina coach Steven Brooks provided an update after the game.

“We got word that Jack was moving around pretty well… He’s awake, he’s present and he can move all his extremities,” Brooks said. “Losing someone like Jack that early and then [Scarpello] later in the game, we felt like we had a little adversity. I give so much credit to these guys because they didn’t quit. They didn’t make excuses… Our defense did a phenomenal job doing everything they could to keep us in the game.”

Rowlett himself also provided an update on social media on Sunday morning.

“Thank you to everybody who has reached out,” Rowlett posted on X. “Long road ahead, but got great support from [the Premier Lacrosse League and Carolina Chaos.]”

LECLAIRE LEADS ARCHERS

Score: Utah Archers 18, Philadelphia Waterdogs 8

Stat of the Game: Utah midfielder Tre Leclaire did a little of everything on Saturday, recording nine points on three single goals, two two-point goals and two assists.

Recap: “I thought we set the tone, physically on defense and on the ground,” Utah coach Chris Bates said. “We got loose a beat offensively and [Leclaire’s] two-pointer right before the rain delay was a big turning point and gave us some breathing room.”

A pair of Leclaire goals bookended a weather delay that lasted over an hour. While Leclaire stole the headlines, it was another team effort from the Archers in their 18-8 win over Philadelphia. Nine different Archers recorded a point, and the defense held its opponent to nine goals or fewer for the sixth time this season.

“We handled the delay well… To come out and play with a sense of purpose, these guys did a hell of a job. That’s a very good win for us,” Bates added.

Waterdogs attackman CJ Kirst entered the game shooting 57 percent and averaging five goals per game, including scoring five against Utah just a few weeks prior. The MVP favorite scored Philly’s opening goal after making an improbable catch and diving shot, but was held scoreless for the remainder of the game. Utah defender Brendan Lavelle drew the Kirst matchup once again and deserves the majority of the credit for Kirst’s quiet outing.

“[Kirst] is a hell of a player. Brendan did a nice job… He played stifling defense,” Bates said. “Brendan’s the real deal… Anytime you hold Kirst to one goal, you’re giving yourself a chance.”

The loss dropped Philadelphia to 4-3 and gave them the third-worst score differential in the league at minus-14.

“We played like [expletive]. There’s no way to sugarcoat it,” Michael Sowers, who led the team with four points, said after the loss. “We came out flat. We didn’t execute. We were just bad across the board.”

“They just wanted it more. They had a great game plan and shot the living lights out of the goal,” Waterdogs coach Bill Tierney said. “Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong, so I hope all the wrong is out of our system.”

Cannons Come Back

Score: Boston Cannons 15, New York Atlas 13

Stat of the Game: Jack Regnery is scoring goals on 10.96% of his 73 touches, which ranks behind only Josh Balcarcel (46 touches) and CJ Kirst (182 touches). Following his first career goal in Boston’s first game against New York, Regnery has shot 43.75%. Only five other players with a minimum of 65 touches have shot better than that mark this season.

Recap: Boston’s young guns showed up in the team’s 15-13 victory over New York on Sunday. Regnery and Mikey Weisshaar each had hat tricks and Coulter Mackesy, Brian Kelly, Graydon Hogg and Ben Ramsey each had goals as well.

“I credit [the rookies] for believing in what we stand for and believing that the process works, but the process takes a lot of work and you have to put it in,” Boston coach Brian Holman said. “I also want to credit the leaders on the team: the Marcuses of the world, Coach [Will] Manny for just bringing them along.”

“When we lost to this team a couple of weeks ago in New York, [Coach Holman] told us that we’re not rookies anymore,” Regnery added. “All the veterans and all the coaches have been really helpful with us developing. We’re really blessed to have this staff and this team.”

Despite production from so many young stars, the aforementioned Marcus Holman led the team with four points, including a two-point goal at the end of the first half.

Ramsey’s goal with five seconds left in the second quarter stopped a five-goal New York run, but the Atlas appeared to be entering halftime with an 11-6 lead. However, Andrew McMeekin won the faceoff, and Trevor Baptiste was called for a hold. With less than two seconds remaining in the half, Marcus Holman picked up the ball on a quick restart and fired off a shot from behind the arc. New York watched their six-goal lead quickly become a three-goal lead in a matter of just seconds.

“Scoring the couple [of goals] going into halftime gave them a lot of momentum and took a lot of our momentum away,” New York’s Trevor Baptiste explained. “Credit to them for capitalizing on that.”

“Those last 20 seconds before the half made a huge difference,” Marcus Holman added. “We’re playing with desperation and a sense of urgency. It wasn’t the prettiest game… Hats off to New York; they made us work hard. They made us earn it.”

The defending champions scored just two goals in the second half and finished the game with their fifth loss of the season. New York’s minus-20 score differential is currently the worst in the league and will make a playoff push even tougher with just four games remaining in the season.

“We beat ourselves a bit today… Everybody’s hearts and heads are in the right place, but when you lose a game like that, it’s tough,” Baptiste said.

"If you don’t put all four quarters together, it can come back to bite you,” Xander Dickson added. “We got a couple of penalties called against us, didn’t have the ball for a lot of the third quarter, and momentum shifts quickly in this game and in this league.”