With the Premier Lacrosse League introducing gamblers to the sport, perhaps it’s fair to ask: Did Chaos simply hustle everyone in Salt Lake City?
Following a winless showing in group play, the seventh-seeded Chaos are on the verge of winning the PLL Championship Series after a 13-9 victory over third-seeded Archers on Thursday.
Josh Byrne continued his torrid playoff performance with three goals and two assists — all in the first half, including an absurd one-handed runner between the legs. Byrne, who had seven points in the Chaos’ 19-14 win over second-seeded Chrome LC in Tuesday’s elimination round, said on the broadcast he “blacked out” on the play.
Chaos led 8-3 at halftime. Marcus Holman’s diving putback of a loose ball off the ride ignited a three-goal Archers run that pulled them to within 9-7 in the third quarter. Holman had a hat trick in the third quarter alone, but so did Curtis Dickson, whose diving backhand goal gave the Chaos a 12-8 lead they would not relinquish.
Eric Scott added two goals and an assist and Blaze Riorden made 18 saves for the Chaos, who after going 0-4 with a negative-11 goal differential in group play are 2-0 in the playoffs with a plus-9 ledger. They’ve opened up the offense after inserting Miles Thompson for the ball-dominant Connor Fields on attack and featuring their Canadian and Iroquois players with a strong box lacrosse pedigree like Byrne, Dickson and Austin Staats.
“Our offense has found the benefits of moving the ball,” Chaos coach Andy Towers said after the game on NBC Sports Gold, while sidestepping a reporter’s tongue-in-cheek question about “sandbagging” group play. “They’ve been able to shoot disciplined, but most importantly, they’re having fun.”
Towers also cited the performance of faceoff specialist Tommy Kelly, who struggled in group play and in the elimination round but went 14-for-26 against the Archers platoon of Stephen Kelly and Brendan Fowler.
Chaos will play the top-seeded Whipsnakes, who defeated Redwoods 13-12 on Jeremy Sieverts’ game-winner in overtime, in the championship game Sunday (12:30 p.m. EDT on NBC).