It was the only lead they needed. With 2:24 left in the game, Atlas LC took an 11-10 lead over Waterdogs LC to give them their first win of the PLL season. Atlas’ defense stood tall and their offense was able to run out the clock on the final possession for the come-from-behind win.
Chris Cloutier backed down on Chris Sabia, got underneath and chased in on a diving goal for the game winner. The Waterdogs had been in control the whole game until they were outscored 4-0 in the fourth.
Ryan Drenner scored the first-ever goal in Waterdogs team history, picking up a ground ball after Atlas goalie Jack Concannon made a save, to put them on the board first. Drew Snider and Connor Kelly followed behind him, getting the Waterdogs off to a hot start and putting them up 3-0. Ryan Brown finally got the Atlas offense going late in the first, finding the back of the net twice to help make it a 4-2 game.
While the Waterdogs started the second quarter similarly to the first, the energy started to flip more towards Atlas. Trevor Baptiste started to find his form at the faceoff dot and Eric Law started to catch fire. The do-it-all attackman had four goals in the quarter, including two coming off of assists from Rob Pannell, who was making his much-awaited PLL debut. Law’s best goal was his fourth, coming as he picked off a pass and threw about five fakes before beating Charlie Cipriano.
Coming out of the half, the Waterdogs held an 8-6 lead. However, neither offense was really able to get into much a rhythm. Concannon and Cipriano both stepped up big time in the third, with only three combined goals being scored the entire quarter.
Atlas was able take that energy from Concannon in cage and translate it into success on both ends of the field during the final 18 minutes of the contest, holding Waterdogs scoreless during that time period and getting their offense rolling.
Pannell scored his first career PLL goal late in the third, backing into BJ Grill and putting it in on the doorstep. Goals from Bryan Costabile, Cloutier, and Connor Buczek followed before Cloutier’s second goal of the game, which was the game winner.
Eric Law led Atlas with four goals while Rob Pannell also tallied four points (1G/3A) in the win. Concannon made 14 saves, six of which came in the third quarter alone. Trevor Baptiste was Atlas’ main man at the X, winning 11 of 24 draws.
Connor Kelly netted a hat trick for the Waterdogs and Kieran McArdle tallied four points (2G/2A). Cipriano made 16 saves. At the X, Jake Withers went 8-12 and Drew Simoneau won six of 13.
