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The battle of the Premier Lacrosse League’s top heavyweights did not disappoint, as Chaos avenged a Week 1 loss and forced a tie with the Whipsnakes atop the standings with a 13-12 victory at Denver’s Dick Sporting Goods Stadium.

Deemer Class ripped the game-winner to the opposite top corner with 2:26 remaining — his third goal of the game — to push the Chaos to 5-2 and help fend off a late Whipsnakes push. Whips’ Mike Chanenchuk capped off a three-goal run to tie it after Chaos’ Matt Rees gave his team a 12-9 lead after the third quarter.

Whipsnakes could have been the first team to clinch a spot in the playoffs in PLL history with a victory. Ryan Drenner had four goals in the losing effort.

Atlas Pulls off Upset

What looked like it was on track to be arguably the most surprising blowout of the year still ended in an upset as Atlas earned a much-needed 18-15 victory against the usually defensively dominant Redwoods.

“I felt like we actually put a full team effort together,” Atlas attackman Eric Law said on the sidelines during the Archers-Chrome matchup. “I felt like we kind of played up to our potential we felt we could have been at the whole year.”

Law had four goals and an assist, only topped on his team by Connor Buczek. The former Cornell star had five goals, including one 2-pointer, and an assist. As a team, Atlas blew by its previous high for goals in a game of 13.

Redwoods outscored Atlas 13-9 in the final three quarters, but still couldn’t dig itself out of a 9-2 hole after the first quarter and a 10-goal deficit in the second.

“Tough one tonight,” Redwoods coach Nat St. Laurent tweeted after the game. “We will be back! Love this squad and can’t wait to get back to work.”

Archers get back on track

Archers finally snapped a four-game losing streak and moved back into playoff position with a 9-7 victory against Chrome to close out the weekend.

The squad scored the final two goals of the game, with Christian Cuccinello notching the eventual game-winning tally with 6:54 remaining, to get off the schneid.

“This [All-Star] break was pretty awesome for us to sit back and reflect on a lot of the things that had been not going our way,” Cuccinello said on NBC Sports Gold after the game. “It’s just the nature of the league. Every team is incredible. You’ve got to come here and match their energy and exceed it. I think we did that today.”

Archers holds the fourth and final playoff position at 3-4 thanks to a goal differential tiebreaker with Atlas. Whipsnakes, Chaos and Redwoods round out the current postseason participants.

Last swap of the year

Last Monday’s trade deadline only featured one move, as Redwoods improved its faceoff depth and the Archers added another offensive weapon. Archers sent FOGO Jerry Ragonese and a 2020 College Draft fourth-round pick to Redwoods for attackman Joey Sankey in a move announced after the 4 p.m. deadline.

Sankey recorded a goal and three assists in two games with the Woods, while Ragonese has yet to suit up. Redwoods has been dealing with issues at the faceoff X after its only specialist, Greg Gurenlian, suffered an injury before the All-Star break.

Neither traded player suited up this weekend, with Ragonese dealing with a head wound.

Play of the Week

Chaos’ Myles Jones has been a bit quiet offensively this season, but he reminded everyone of his strength and ability with one hand in this impressive goal against defender Bryce Young.

Noteworthy

Redwoods’ Jules Heningburg scored six goals this week to move into a tie for the league lead with Chaos’ Connor Fields. … Archers surprisingly sat Kevin Rice this week in addition to the recently acquired Sankey. That meant more time for Cuccinello, who scored twice. … Four out of the league’s six teams currently have a zero in goal differential: Chaos, Redwoods, Archers and Chrome. … Chrome, which has dressed two faceoff specialists all season, opted to roll with just Connor Farrell against Archers. … JoJo Marasco made his PLL debut with the Woods this week. He dished out two assists. … The PLL was featured this week on CNN and Yahoo. … In the gear department, PLL teams unveiled new adidas adizeros cleats this weekend.

Up Next

The PLL returns to California in two weeks after a one-game hiatus when it heads to Avaya Stadium in San Jose. Redwoods and Chaos kick off the action on Aug. 10 at 4 p.m. ET (NBC Sports Gold), with Chrome and Whipsnakes closing out the Day 1 doubleheader at 7 p.m. (NBC Sports Gold). Archers at Atlas, two teams clawing to get into the playoffs, close out the festivities on Aug. 11 at 7:30 p.m. on NBCSN.