The second game of the Premier Lacrosse League’s Denver weekend was the first one of a three-game Saturday slate and boy, was it an early one. Face off was at 9:30 a.m. Denver time, as Chaos took on Chrome in a battle to the very end. Chaos is looking to string some wins together, as they are sitting dangerously close to the bottom of the standings. Chrome, is pretty towards the top, and looked to continue their winning ways.
The score was tied going in, however Chrome blanked Chaos in the fourth to propel themselves to a 13-9 victory.
Hopefully you had your coffee: here we go. The first three or so minutes of the first were a stalemate. Chris Cloutier finally found the back of the net to draw first blood for Chaos. Jordan MacIntosh had an answer shortly thereafter. Chase Fraser scored the next goal for Chaos, as the shot clock was expiring. Fraser used a ton of traffic to fire a shot off, in a hurry. Mac O’Keefe and Colin Heacock traded goals, and MacIntosh got his second to even it up at three.
Josh Byrne scored a pretty one next. He received a pass at the arc, broke a defender’s ankles, and fired a shot bar down. Brendan Nichtern closed the quarter out with a goal, and we sat at 4-4 after one.
Nichtern opened the second, just as he closed the first. Next up, O’Keefe has us questioning anything we’ve ever known about him. Mac came streaking in and received a pass at the arc. Now, he’s known for his side-arm, almost underhand type shots. Not this goal. O’Keefe fired a two-pointer overhand, and cashed in. MacIntosh got his hat trick and Will Haus got his first, to give Chrome a 7-6 lead going into the half.
Head coach of Chaos, Andy Towers, commented on the first half.
“I feel good about it. I think we’re competing all over the field. I think we’re communicating on defense, and getting good looks on offense.” Towers also added, “I think it’s going to be a dog fight all the way down the stretch.”
Dog fight is exactly what it was. The pace of this game is hard to put into words. It was a very back-and-forth and up-and-down type game. Dylan Molloy scored to open the third, and more importantly, give Chrome a two-goal cushion. With the way this game was going, that seemed like it could be enough. Chaos said hold up a second. Patrick Resch got his first, and Byrne got his second to tie it up. Justin Anderson and Cloutier traded goals to close the quarter out, and we sat at 9-9.
The fourth quarter started, and Chaos’ offense stopped. Chrome outscored Chaos 4-0 in the final frame to ride this game out. Cole Williams, Molloy, Anderson and Logan Wisnauskas scored, and their defense was as stingy as could be. Your final, 13-9 Chrome.
“Connor Farrell at the face-off X did amazing. The D and Sean Sconone are always playing great. And the O was actually clicking and spreading the love a lot,” said Molloy after the game, although he wasn’t happy with his own performance, stating that “It needs to be better. Blaze is a hell of a goalie, but I’m tough on myself. I needed to stick more of those (shots).”
Players of the game for Chaos were O’Keefe (three points) and Dhane Smith (three assists). Byrne and Cloutier also scored twice each. Blaze Riorden had a solid three quarters, but fell off in the fourth. He made 12 saves, with a 48% save percentage. As for Chrome, Wisnauskas (1+4), Molloy (2+2) and MacIntosh (three goals) led the way. Sean Sconone held it down in the fourth quarter, making 11 total saves, with a 58% save percentage.
Next week in Salt Lake City, UT, Chaos are reaching do-or-die territory. They take on Archers on August 13th at 3 p.m. Chrome looks to continue to jump up the standings, taking on Cannons on August 13th at 5:30 p.m.
