PLL Week 6: Pannell Joins 300-Goal Club

Week 6 of the Premier Lacrosse League in Dallas featured a trio of tremendously high-scoring games, including perhaps the most anticipated matchup yet this year.

Showcasing their talents on ABC, the Waterdogs mounted a late comeback that was stalled by Brett Dobson in a battle for the PLL’s top spot in the standings. The young goalie from St. Bonaventure halted Waterdogs star Michael Sowers as time neared zero, sealing a 19-18 victory and a 5-1 record.

“To be honest, I had already given up 18, so might as well try and not to give up one more and try to get hit with one to make a save,” Dobson joked.

The first quarter of the shootout featured 15 combined goals, but the Archers defense slowed things down by only allowing five in the second half. Goals from Mac O’Keefe, Matt Moore and Tom Schreiber gave the Archers a 19-16 advantage early in the fourth quarter, but the Waterdogs made things interesting with answers from Thomas McConvey and Sowers.

But it was the Archers who survived the offensive affair, helped by six points from Schreiber and five from Connor Fields.

ATLAS IMPROVE PLAYOFF HOPES

As the only two teams with less than a 90-percent chance of making the playoffs heading into the weekend, the Atlas and the Chrome were somewhat desperate. Thanks to a dominant showing from Trevor Baptiste and a bounce back effort from Jack Concannon, the Atlas walked away 11-9 victors and avoided last place.

Baptiste took advantage of the Chrome sitting faceoff specialist Connor Farrell, winning 21 of his 22 draws, while Concannon made 11 saves after being benched twice for Drake Porter. Concannon’s most important stop came in the final 10 seconds after an attempted two-pointer from Sam Handley. He previously stonewalled Colin Heacock and Justin Anderson to keep his team ahead.

For the Atlas, the result ended a three-game skid.

“Just couldn't be more pleased to get back on track here after three really tough weeks,” Atlas coach Mike Pressler said. “To hold a team in this league to under 10, to dominate the faceoff X again, we're better in the 32 and so much better in the goal today. A great team. We made progress.”

Chris Gray led the Atlas with four points.

300 CLUB GROWS AGAIN

For the second time this season, someone has joined the elite group of players with 300 career goals. Weeks after thee Cannons’ Marcus Holman reached the milestone in Minnesota, Rob Pannell joined the likes of Holman, John Grant Jr., Paul Rabil and Brendan Mundorf midway through the first quarter against the Cannons.

“I’ve been very fortunate I’ve been very healthy for 11 years,” Pannell told the ESPN team right after hitting the milestone. “I’ve been fortunate to play around great players on great teams. It’s a credit to those guys and those teams more than it is to me.”

Unfortunately for the Redwoods, the accomplishment came in a loss. The Cannons continued their turnaround, getting monster production from the attack line in a 16-10 triumph. Holman had seven points, Matt Kavanagh had five and Asher Nolting added four, as the group moved to 4-2.

“Coach [Brian] Holman was also saying it's the biggest game of our season because it's the next one,” said Kavanagh, who got revenge on his old team. “That's kind of the mentality that we've been having all season, and we're going to continue that going into next week as well.”

HE’S THE MAN(NY)

As the Whipsnakes put it on social media, Will Manny called game.

The first-year Whip pulled off an impressive swim dodge before going low-to-low for a game-winner with less than nine seconds on the clock. By beating Blaze Riorden, he lifted the Whipsnakes to a 17-16 triumph and a needed second win.

“We’ve been in every game this year,” Manny said. “We stuck with it. It’s an awesome win. That’s how a lot of games are going to be in this league.”

Manny and Matt Rambo each had five points while playing alongside Brad Smith for the first time this season. Making his return to the lineup after injury, Smith added four points on two goals (one two-pointer) and an assist. Brendan Krebs made his first start in net, filling in for injured Kyle Bernlohr. He made 11 saves.

“We’ve been in games all year with two one-goal losses, and we blew two one-goal leads in the fourth quarter,” Stagnitta said. We’ve talked about the fact that no matter who we put in the lineup, we’ve put ourselves in the position to win games and I feel like we’re good enough.”

NOTEWORTHY

The Chrome parted ways with former Tewaaraton Award winner Dylan Molloy after this week’s action. … The Kirst family enjoyed a cool moment when brothers Colin and Cole suited up against each other. Colin made 17 saves for the Cannons, while Cole notched four points. … Brett Dobson had to fight through equipment issues, breaking two sticks. … The Whipsnakes’ Tucker Dordevic shot so hard that he broke a part of the net.

UP NEXT
ALL TIMES EASTERN

In Baltimore, Maryland

Saturday

Archers vs. Atlas, 3 p.m. (ABC)
Whipsnakes vs. Chrome, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Sunday

Redwoods vs. Chaos, 1 p.m. (ABC)
Waterdogs vs. Cannons, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)