PLL Sunday: Redwoods Look in the Mirror and Like What They See in Record Win vs. Atlas

· Yahoo Sports

(Photo Courtesy PLL)

The Redwoods weathered the early Atlas storm en route to a record-setting 21-13 win at the Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday.

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It’s a resounding result that avoids an 0-2 doubleheader featuring the first time a team got a day of rest in between their first and second games played during the same weekend.

“We found some confidence, we talked a lot about it this weekend. Four days together it means a lot and it’s not something we ever get to do,” Dylan Molloy said postgame. “We’re usually in two days and we’re out so just seeing who we have in the locker room and the potential we have… Obviously it sucked to drop the game vs. the Chaos, we could’ve had that game, too, and be flying a little higher.”

After letting the 12-10 Friday night game vs. Blaze Riorden and the Chaos slip, Molloy (3G, 2A), Chris Kavanagh (5G, 2A), Joshua Balacarcel (3G, 3A) and Andrew McAdorey (3G, 1A0 never relented to draw level back at .500 alongside Carolina and Denver in the Western Conference standings.

Kavanagh had repeatedly said in postgame press conferences his team needed to take a hard look in the mirror, and it was clear on Sunday they liked what they saw.

“We finally reached a lot of potential in this game. This is the closest we’ve gotten to playing a full four quarters,” Balcarcel said. “Those early 2s for the Atlas was a big mental check for us and to see us respond so quickly, I think just goes to show what our locker room is about.”

The win effectively ends the defending champions’ hopes at defending their title, dropping New York to 3-7.

“Started the game really hot,” New York co-captain Danny Logan said. “Just the errors and mental mistakes, lack of grit in some areas, came back to haunt us so just a tough one to swallow.”

Brett Makar and Alex Ross converted 2-pointers as New York jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead during a frenetic early back-and-forth that saw eight combined goals in the opening three minutes.

“Sometimes when those plays happen, you get super excited and then you have to snap back to locking in and making the next play. I just don’t think we did a great job of that,” Makar said.

Ryder Garnsey, Kavanagh and McAdorey responded for California to make it 5-3, then Kavanagh set Molloy up to tie it up at 5-5 at the end of the first quarter. By midway through the second frame, unassisted takes from Kavanagh and Balcarcel took a 9-7 lead. 

“Going into Friday there was some pressure. Going into today it was about being together, finding that love in the locker room and have fun, remember why you play this sport,” Balcarcel said regarding the mindset shift from Friday to Sunday.

It was a welcome turnaround for California coach Anthony Kelly, the former Buckeye who was plenty aware of New York’s early gameplan.

“We had a feeling that they were going to come out and shoot some 2s early on, so to say I was frustrated early on is probably a bit of an understatement. But we responded, and that’s all that matters. We chipped away one at a time. …My big message to the guys was that we have to win the mental game and we have to play smart. Outside of those early 2s, I thought we executed the gameplan and stuck to it for almost a full 48,” Kelly said.

The teams traded goals to start the second half as Matt Traynor (2G, 3A) did everything he could to facilitate the offense as the makeshift quarterback with reigning MVP Connor Shellenberger going down in practice yesterday with an injury. New York coach Mike Pressler rued his offense’s missed opportunity to get Traynor the ball more often behind the net.

Traynor fed Jake Stevens on a cut for his third assist of the game to make it 13-12 with 3:49 remaining in the third quarter, but Atlas’ offense went cold the rest of the way, managing just one more score.

California quickly piled on a lead thanks to constant possessions from TD Ierlan’s 58% day vs. Trevor Baptiste, winning their matchups with Balacarcel’s and McAdorey’s speed coming out of the box. That sparkplug duo scored twice in a 41-second span with under a minute left in the third to provide a commanding 18-13 lead heading into the fourth.

“That was a better lacrosse team than us today,” Pressler said. “Every phase of the game they won today and we had our opportunities a couple times to keep it a one-goal game in the second half, but give them credit.”

While former Division II standout Vinny Butrico made the long last-minute drive to make his pro debut and scored a cutting goal in the third, Atlas just couldn’t muster up enough offense. 

The 3-0 fourth quarter broke a regular-season single-game record for total scores as Garnsey and Molloy both scored off simple cuts inside. Liam Entenmann was hung out to dry with 7 saves (25%). New York now has less than a 0.01% chance of making the postseason.

California, however, now has a 88% chance at the playoffs out West — a serious blow to Carolina’s probability updated at 20% after beating them on Friday. Chaos (5-5, -19) takes on the Archers (6-5, +28) in Week 12. The Redwoods play the Cannons in the Boston finale.

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