Takeaways for Each Team at Halfway Point of PLL Season

If you know anything about the Premier Lacrosse League, you probably know you shouldn’t feel too certain about any team halfway through a season. Every team is either 3-2 or 2-3, and the Maryland Whipsnakes, who are last in the Western Conference, lead the PLL in score differential.

A lot can change, but here are the main takeaways for every side at the midway point of the year and the All-Star festivities on tap for this weekend in Kansas City.

Boston Cannons: Lean on your gamebreakers

Boston’s strong suit has been its depth, but lately it’s come at the expense of its top options. Attackmen Marcus Holman and Asher Nolting haven’t been their usual ultra-productive selves, and that’s necessary for them to make a postseason run.

Cannons head coach Brian Holman prides himself in his team’s willingness to share and take care of the ball, and they’ve done that. They consistently produce a wealth of goal scorers each week and are first in the PLL in turnovers (77), but maybe it’s time to be a little more unselfish.

On the other end of the field, the Cannons lead the PLL in caused turnovers (49). If Boston’s defense keeps that up, that gives the Cannons enough wiggle room to encourage players like Nolting, Holman and Matt Campbell to take the game into their own hands.

Carolina Chaos: Keep building

Despite sitting last in the league, there’s a lot to be hopeful about for Chaos’ fans. Carolina had been patiently awaiting the arrival of first-round pick Owen Hiltz and his second career game did not disappoint, as he notched four goals on Saturday. Hiltz adds a much-needed dynamic off-ball presence to their offense, but he’s not the only important piece of personnel that returned.

Their midfield looks increasingly more effective with Shane Knobloch and Sergio Perkovic returning from injury, and Ross Scott is making strides as a distributor. He registered three assists during Saturday’s win.

At the faceoff dot, specialist Justin Inacio has transcended Carolina’s ability to establish possession. Since being added to the active roster last week, Inacio has won 30 of 53 faceoffs (56 percent) in two games. That accounts for six more wins than the Chaos had in their first three games combined.

The nucleus for what a strong Chaos team could look like is starting to take shape, and they’re only one game behind the Redwoods and the Archers in the west.

California Redwoods: Speed up or slow down  

The Redwoods had arguably two of the toughest matchups in the league in San Diego, and they dropped both against the Philadelphia Waterdogs and Denver Outlaws. Before those losses, California was the best team in the league at creating early offense.

Faceoff specialist TD Irelan was on fire, attackman Dylan Molloy was baiting defenders into early slides before scoring easy doorstep goals and rookie midfielders Andrew McAdorey and Josh Balcarcel’s speed was chaotic.

That all worked out until they met a team that could run-and-gun even better than them. If you’re going to religiously push the tempo, you need a faceoff specialist and a goalie that can withstand the added pressure — lately they haven’t. TD Ierlan won just 20 of 49 faceoffs in San Diego, and his brother, Chayse, was severely outplayed by Logan McNaney and Dillon Ward.

Chayse Ierlan is the only starting goalie in the PLL who isn’t averaging at least a 50-percent save efficiency. California has the talent to make a playoff run, but it might be time for the Redwoods to look inward and recognize that their style does not exactly fit their personnel. 

Denver Outlaws: Embrace madness

Winning the Jared Bernhardt sweepstakes was supposed to turn the Outlaws into a title contender, and while his addition has improved the offense, rookie goalie Logan McNaney has been the one that’s done that.

Since starting his first career game during week three, McNaney has been the best goalie in the PLL. He’s averaging a spectacular 62.5-percent save efficiency, and his defense is allowing just 9.7 goals per game.

McNaney’s performance allows the Outlaws to take more risks, generate faster offense and encourage aggressive sharpshooters like Brennan O’Neil and Graham Bundy Jr. to keep shooting. Defensive midfielders Ryan Terefenko and Jake Piseno are also at the forefront of what makes Denver’s chaos so unstoppable, as both lead their respective positions in points.

Since starting McNaney, Denver has been the best team in the league at pushing early offense, expect them to push themselves even harder during the second part of the season.  

Maryland Whipsnakes: Encourage the next generation

Since adding Rob Pannell in the offseason, it’s been a question whether the Whipsnakes roster construction was trying too hard to hold onto the past —  and through the first two weeks of the season, it looked like it.

However, after a roaring comeback against the New York Atlas in week three, everything has changed for the better. That comeback forged the blueprint for the Whipsnakes’ unruly 20-6 win over the Chaos in Baltimore.

Because of how neck-and-neck the league is, that result is much more important than adding just another number in the win column. Levi Anderson entered the lineup over Matt Rambo, and seemingly everything seems to be more free flowing. It’s not quite that simple, but an offense led by first- and second-year players such as TJ Malone, Anderson and the rookie points leader Aidan Carroll has more positive implications for the future.

New York Atlas: Complementary lacrosse

Maybe it’s too optimistic, but the Atlas beating the Archers in a 10-8 slugfest on Friday is more encouraging than them winning a shootout. After returning nearly an identical offense from last year, plus the major addition of rookie Matt Traynor, most of the concern about New York fell onto its defense.

The Atlas won consecutive games while limiting two talented offenses to fewer than 10 goals, and they all of sudden look like the most balanced team in the league. New York leads the PLL in ground balls, faceoff efficiency and assists — but they are last in turnovers.

Goalie Liam Entenmann will continue to bail them out of a few of those turnovers, but if the Atlas can limit sloppy play, winning the eastern conference will be much more of a breeze.

Philadelphia Waterdogs: Keep spinning the rock

Partly the story of the PLL’s season is how much Michael Sowers has developed as a passer. The MVP frontrunner leads the league in points and has six more assists than any other player in the league with 18.

The addition of rookie Jake Taylor, along with the resurgence of Thomas McConvey, gives the elite dodger in Sowers two elite off-ball options. But Waterdogs captain Kieran McCardle has said it multiple times himself — sometimes the ball just sticks in their pockets for too long.

The Atlas are surely tough competition, but the Waterdogs have arguably the best personnel in the league to run an intense level of ball movement. Despite that, Philadelphia is seventh in the PLL with 917 passes.

Utah Archers: Sound the alarm

If Archers head coach Chris Bates has something up his sleeve to help get his offense going, now would be a good time to do it. They brutally missed Matt Moore last week, and because of how dominant the Archers’ defense is, his presence alone may have been enough to earn them a win over the Atlas.

Still, with the way things are going for Utah right now, it looks night and day from the elite offense that’s won back-to-back championships. If it’s scheming more ways for Mac O’Keefe to get his hands free or just hoping that Tre Leclaire returns from the PUP list after the All-Star break, it needs to happen quickly — because Carolina is breathing down their neck.