The PLL Has An Addiction To 1-Goal Games
There are only 8 teams in the league. Each team only dresses 19 guys for game day.
That means in order to play in the PLL, you need to be one of the best 152 lacrosse players on the planet. And when every team in the league is filled with dudes who are all in that top 152, then obviously every game is going to be tight.
Who knows how long this will last for. The time will come when there are so many expansion teams that the talent pool will get a little watered down. It's only natural. But in the meantime, the Premier Lacrosse League has mastered the art of the 1-goal game. Last weekend in the season opener, there were 4 games on the schedule. 3 of those games were decided by a goal (one of them in overtime). And the only game that wasn't a 1-goal game? The biggest shit kicking of the weekend? A 3-point win for Archers over Cannons, which is still just a 2 possession game.
The moral of the story here is that it's pretty safe to assume this league is going to be aggressively tight all season long. Just something to keep in the back of your mind if you're looking to get a little financially invested in the games this weekend.
PLL Week 2 Schedule | Charlotte, NC
Friday, 6pm // Chrome (1-0) vs Archers (1-0) // ESPN+
The Chrome picked up a win last week thanks to DIII legend Cross Ferrara scoring the dagger against Whipsnakes with 6 seconds left in regulation. They're running back the same lineup this weekend in Charlotte. The Archers looked solid against Cannons, but they'll be without Grant Ament after he went down with another hamstring injury in week 1. The faceoff battle here is huge with Farrell vs Sisselberger. The goaltending matchup is pretty even. Archers have plenty of weapons on offense to help ease the pain of losing Ament, but I think Chrome have a little too much momentum heading into the weekend for Archers to keep up with. So give me Chrome ML.
Friday, 8:30pm // Waterdogs (1-0) vs Redwoods (1-0) // ESPN+
The Waterdogs were able to pick up a greasy overtime win last weekend against Chaos without having Dillon Ward in the lineup. He's arguably a top 2 goalie in the world right now, but he was still playing in the indoor season with Colorado. He's back in the lineup this weekend for Waterdogs, but who knows if he'll actually get the start. He might still need another week or so to get back into the field game after playing box all winter. But if he plays? I'll never bet against Dillon Ward, especially not when he's coming into the season with revenge on the mind after losing in the NLL Finals.
The Redwoods picked up a great win against Atlas last weekend. However, it was a lot of Ryder Garnsey doing the damage for them with 6 goals. Can he keep that pace up all summer? I'd love for that to be the case, but maybe not. So the biggest thing to watch this weekend is if the Redwoods offense can be an "everybody eats" type of offense, or if they actually need one guy to put the team on his back each game.
Either way, my pick on this depends on what the situation is with Dillon Ward. Either way, give me Under 24.5.
Saturday, 3pm // Whipsnakes (0-1) vs Atlas (0-1) // ABC
Whipsnakes get Zed Williams back on offense this week, and the Atlas just released one of their better defensive players. I don't think that's a great equation if you're an Atlas fan.
Granted, the team just picked up Stephen Rehfuss out of the player pool. Atlas already have a disgusting amount of firepower on offense, and now they added even more. It'll be nice and hot in Charlotte this weekend, so the ball is going to be MOVING out there. All of that sounds like a lot of goals to me. Over 23.5 is the play.
Saturday, 5:30pm // Chaos (0-1) vs Cannons (0-1) // ESPN+
The Chaos roster from last week to this week looks completely different. That's because they get back 6 of their guys who just wrapped up their NLL season by winning a championship with the Bandits. I'll be honest, I can't believe most of these guys are playing this weekend. I figured they'd still be in Buffalo getting completely obliterated to celebrate their championship. But most of them are back in the lineup, and they'll be playing with so much confidence it'll make your goddamn head spin.
The Cannons looked okay against Archers last week. Asher Nolting, Ryan Drenner and Marcus Holman are always going to give you a chance in any game you play. Cannons are a scrappy bunch, and the Chaos might be dealing with a bit of a Bandits Championship Hangover. So give me Cannons +1.5 here to play it safe.
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