Waterdogs Lacrosse Club picked up their second win of the weekend on Sunday afternoon, beating Chrome LC 14-9 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Atlanta.
It’s the ‘Dogs third-ever PLL win and first over a team that isn’t named Chaos. They put up 14 goals in each of their two games this weekend, whilst improving their defensive effort from 12 goals allowed to just nine on Sunday.
Ryan Brown led the offensive onslaught with five goals, giving him eight on the weekend. Mikie Schlosser recorded a second consecutive hat trick.
“It was a little bit of a chemistry thing,” Brown said post-game. “We’re starting to come together. We’ve done a much better job with our spacing. When the ball moves and guys move, it allows everyone to do their thing; win matchups and get open. It makes us harder to defend when everyone’s contributing.”
Brown scored two goals in the fourth quarter which saw the Waterdogs outscore Chrome 5-1 to secure the victory.
“On Friday night (a 14-12 win over Chaos) I wasn’t too pleased with the last five minutes; I thought we let it get away from us,” head coach Andy Copelan detailed to NBC’s Corey Robinson. “We did a much better job in the fourth quarter closing these guys out.”
Each team’s first shot of the game went in. For Waterdogs, Jake Withers won the opening faceoff, Zach Currier scooped up the loose ball, and passed it to Ryland Rees who went for the two-pointer. Chrome’s goal, from Colin Heacock, was only one point but it quickly cut down the early deficit. Brown traded goals with Justin Guterding before the Waterdogs pulled ahead 6-2. Kieran McArdle kicked off the three-goal run. Connor Kelly then passed to Brown who scored a twisting jump shot for his second of the game. Mikie Schlosser scored on a sharp bounce shot before Chrome got a two-pointer from Mike Manley with 4.5 seconds left in the first quarter.
It was a slower second. Brown scored his third of the game after back-to-back transition attempts. John Ranagan put a shot through Dillon’s Ward legs for Chrome’s only goal of the frame. Ben Reeves rolled around a defender with 20 seconds left to send Waterdogs to the locker room up 8-5.
Chrome outscored the Waterdogs 3-1 in the third to close the gap to a single goal but the Waterdogs turned up the offensive pressure in the final frame.
“It wasn’t perfect, and it didn’t need to be,” Copelan said. “You can see the differences between week one and week two. [This] took a lot of guts. We’re down here for two games in three days in some real heat. The guys battled.”
Chrome actually led the game in most defensive categories, recording more ground balls, faceoff wins and a slightly higher save percentage, but their 24 turnovers compared to the Waterdogs 15 cost them. The Waterdogs outshot Chrome 26-15.
The Waterdogs improve their record to 2-1 while Chrome is still searching for their first win of the season.
Next week is a bye week for the league. The Waterdogs are back in action Saturday, June 26th at 8 p.m. against Archers LC, and Chrome plays on Sunday the 27th at 2:45 p.m. against Whipsnakes.
NOTES:
With Jordan Wolf injured, Chrome inserted Kevin Rogers into the lineup || Kieran McArdle took Ben McIntosh’s place in the Waterdogs lineup || Jackson Morrill led Chrome with a second-half hat trick
