Cannons 13, Waterdogs 7
Cannons Lacrosse Club showed off their championship pedigree on Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. The forever-reigning MLL champs took down Waterdogs LC 13-7.
Goaltending was a big factor in the game, with the Cannons’ Nick Marrocco making 11 saves for a .650 save percentage over Dillon Ward’s six saves and .320 SV%.
The Cannons, who dropped their first game of the PLL season 12-11 to Redwoods on Friday, were hot right out of the gate on Sunday, leading 2-1 thanks to Paul Rabil and Lyle Thompson before the Waterdogs were able to get on the board.
Waterdogs’ defender Steven DeNapoli picked off a pass near the player’s box, a play he called “high-risk, high-reward,” and ran in to score, shaking off a Brodie Merrill check to his neck. That was the only offense the Waterdogs could muster in the first quarter. The Cannons’ Andrew Kew replied with a natural hat trick scored in just over two minutes, with the first two coming only 10 seconds apart.
Leading 5-1 after the first quarter, the Cannons rattled off four more to start the second. Ryan Drenner bounced in a rebound to kick things off. First overall expansion pick Lyle Thompson scored his second of the game coming from behind the net with a stutter step. He then got the hat trick, bulldozing past a defender.
Zach Currier replied for Waterdogs after Jake Withers set a double pick, but the Cannons had an insurmountable 9-2 lead at halftime.
Thompson’s low backhand went through Ward’s five-hole to put the Cannons into double-digits four and a half minutes into the third quarter. Waterdogs’ rookie Michael Sowers, fresh out of his Princeton Tigers uniform, got on the board two minutes later after earlier having a goal denied for a crease violation. This one, too, was reviewed, but the dive shot counted. DeNapoli and Deemer Class kept the scoring pace up for the Cannons before Sowers scored his second, losing his helmet as he popped out from behind the Cannons’ net.
Scoring was limited in the fourth. Sowers was denied the hat trick after he was deemed to again be in the crease. Rabil scored on a bounce shot with under five minutes to play to put Cannons up 12-5. Waterdogs’ Ryland Rees replied 14 seconds later with the game’s only 2-pt goal, a low skipper that made the score somewhat more respectable. Kew topped off the game with his fourth of the afternoon.
Thompson and Kew led all scorers with four goals each.
That puts Cannons LC at 1-1 after the first weekend of PLL action. They next face Whipsnakes LC on Saturday, June 12 at noon on NBC. The Waterdogs fall to 0-1 and will play against Chaos LC on Friday evening on peacock.
NOTES:
Cannons LC made two lineup changes from Friday, inserting Drew Simoneau over Thomas Kelly and Deemer Class over Bryce Wasserman || Chris Hogan did not play in either game for Cannons this weekend
Redwoods 14, Chrome 11
Redwoods LC picked up their second win of the young PLL season on Sunday afternoon, winning 14-11 over Chrome.
Chrome led 3-0 early, their success helped by Jordan Wolf, who assisted on goals by Colin Heacock and Jordan MacIntosh. Unfortunately, Wolf went down late in the second quarter with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, and did not return.
Redwoods scored twice late in the first quarter, with Pannell capping the period by tiptoeing along the crease and patiently waiting out John Galloway in goal.
Redwoods tied the game early in the second, and kept the pressure on. Sergio Perkovic showed he still has an affinity for the 2-pt goal, tallying one from outside the arc and from just inside for three points in the frame, and capping a six-goal run for Redwoods.
“In the first quarter we started out a little slow but now we’re getting our spacing and attacking their shorties; they don’t want to slide and we’re taking advantage of it,” Perkovic told Paul Burmeister after his goals.
Ryan Lee also had a pair in the second quarter, scoring goals 21 seconds apart to send Redwoods to the locker room up 9-5. They went on to outscore Chrome 3-1 in the third for a 12-6 lead.
Chrome’s three-goal run to start the fourth quarter was stopped by a long-bomb from Jules Heningburg. Jordan MacIntosh had a hat trick in the frame for Chrome (though one was a deflection from Justin Anderson’s 2-pt attempt) but it wasn’t enough to push for the tie.
TD Ierlan won 15 of 28 faceoffs, and Tim Troutner made 14 saves in Redwoods’ win. Rob Pannell led in scoring with a pair of goals and three assists.
Chrome will face the 0-1 Waterdogs next Sunday, while the Redwoods play Saturday against the 0-1 Atlas.
NOTES:
Chrome’s Matt Gaudet was suspended prior to the game after the league became aware of an off-field altercation between Gaudet and Chaos’ Austin Staats the previous night. Both were suspended pending investigation, and the league has not commented further ||
