Utah's Playoff Hopes Take Hit, Entenmann Stymies Maryland

In every game this season, the Utah Archers have had at least an 11-minute long scoring drought. On Friday against the California Redwoods, the Archers’ longest scoring drought lasted over 17 minutes — and the back-to-back defending Premier Lacrosse League champions fell to 3-5 after a 9-8 loss.

According to the PLL, the loss brings the Archers’ playoff chances to the lowest in the Western Conference at 59.6 percent. With a win, they would have risen to 97.5 percent and bumped California’s odds to a grim 21.8 percent.

“At the end of the day, we lost a very good opportunity for us to take charge of a playoff picture,” head coach Chris Bates said. “And now we’re in a different spot, but we have to turn this thing around very quickly, regroup and find ourselves how we need to find ourselves.”

Despite Friday’s results marking the fifth time Utah has failed to score more than 10 goals in a game this season, Bates expressed more confidence in his group to turn it around.

“The core of this team is exceptional,” he said. “I say that week in and week out. We just got to play better lacrosse. So in terms of the character and the leadership on both ends of the field, this team’s not going to quit.”

The Archers will have a quick turnaround against the Denver Outlaws, who are on a five-game winning streak, on Saturday — and they might be without their captain. After clearing the ball near the end of the third quarter, midfielder Tom Schreiber fell and hobbled off the field while favoring his left leg.

Still, Schrieber checked back into the game in the fourth quarter but re-aggravated his knee when he planted on his first shot attempt. Bates didn’t have an update on Schreiber’s status after the game but said that he’s “crossing his fingers.”

Utah goalie Brett Dobson had another remarkable performance, stopping 17 shots on a 68.2-percent save efficiency. Mac O’Keefe led the Archers with three points, marking just his second game this season with three points.

Nobody for Utah touched the ball more than 25 times on Friday, while California’s three starting attackmen all registered at least 37 touches. The Redwoods outgained Utah in possession time, and TD Ierlan won 13 of his 19 faceoffs.

Dylan Molly and Chris Kavanagh led California with three points each, and Kavanagh scored the eventual winning goal with 3:40 remaining.

“When you get yourself behind on the record standpoint, you got to fight,” Kavanagh said. “Obviously, a game will come where your season is on the line, and we showed up and played today. We fought to the last whistle.”

When asked if Friday’s matchup felt like a playoff game, Redwoods head coach Anthony Kelly said “100 percent.”

“We approached it that we had to win this thing, and we’re going to approach it the same way next week,” Kelly said. “The guys understood that, and I think they answered the bell.”

California goalie Chayse Ierlan’s performance was crucial. He registered 14 saves and finished with a career-high 66.7-percent save efficiency.

ENTENMANN STONEWALLS WHIPS

After the Maryland Whipsnakes scored the first two goals within 31 seconds, it became nearly impossible for them to crack the complicated Da Vinci Code of Liam Entenmann.

New York’s goalie was lights out, stopping 20 shots en route to setting a new season-high 71.4-percent save efficiency. His performance allowed for New York’s offense to catch fire on a lengthy run during the middle of the game.

The Atlas outscored the Whipsnakes 6-2 in the second and third quarters. That run paid dividends by the end, as New York won 11-8. Friday’s win improved the Atlas’ record to 6-2 and earned them the first clinched playoff spot in the PLL this season.

Maryland head coach Jim Stagnitta said the Whipsnakes offense played too fast during that run, which forced them to commit too many self-inflicted errors.

“I think we missed a couple shots,” he said. “We took a couple bad ones. We threw the ball and put it right in his stick, so they got back at us. By playing so fast on the offensive end, we put a lot of pressure on our defense.”

Other than that portion of the game, Maryland’s offense executed fluidly. The Whipsnakes outscored New York 3-1 in the fourth quarter and had several two-point shots that nearly brought the score within one.

Particularly with 2:01 left, when midfielder Brad Smith swept over the two-point line and rang his shot off the crossbar and over the midline. That play caused an interference on New York midfielder Chet Comizio, allowing for Smith to get another two-point opportunity on the powerplay — but his shot flew just over the crossbar.

The Atlas’ daunting attack trio of Connor Shellenberger, Xander Dickson and Jeff Teat all registered more than three points, as Teat led the way with five. Entering Saturday’s slate of games, Shellenberger leads the PLL in points with 35.

On the defensive end, the stat sheet doesn’t give Gavin Adler’s justice. His only registered statistic was a ground ball, but he was draped all over attackman TJ Malone. If you can shut down Malone, you can shut down the Whipsnakes offense, and that’s exactly what Adler did — holding him to just one point.

The loss bumps Maryland down to 3-5 with games remaining against the Redwoods and the Boston Cannons.