Key points as Cannons edge past Waterdogs, Archers shine

Utah Archers 16, Maryland Whipsnakes 11

Zach Carey: Archers ride incredible individual attacking performances to first place in the West

Connor Velden‘The goal of the century’ highlighted everything that went right for the Archers in a resilient attacking performance against the Whips.

Utah scored 12 unassisted goals en route to reclaiming first place in the Western Conference. Crucially, despite having just three assisted scores, the Archers turned the ball over well in matchups that they were more likely to attack than in previous weeks.

“When we share the ball and guys are spaced out, we’re really tough to stop,” Utah head coach Chris Bates said after the game. “It was nice to see it open up a little bit today.”

Fields was the headliner, with his absurd between-the-legs, low-to-high rip that put the exclamation point on a resurgence of evasive dominance for the Archers. But Mac O’Keefe (4G), Three Leclaire (2G, 1T), Award clause (2G, 1A) and Matt Moore (2G) all had their moments to keep Maryland at bay.

Moore’s first two scores of the season were a crucial boost. He had shot 0-for-13 with just one assist through the first four games. Against a tough matchup in the No. 3 overall pick Ajax ZappitelloHe went 2-of-5, taking the pressure off the rest of Utah’s offense.

“To see him go out there and score some goals, everyone was excited to see him break the ice and get his confidence back,” Bates said. “That helps us out a lot.”

On the backside, Brett Dobson remained steadfast in the cage with 15 saves, a save percentage of 57.7% and a series of impressive front-door saves.

The Archers are now 3-2 on the season, with a one-game lead over the rest of the field and a valuable +2 scoring differential, putting them in good position to earn a bye into the 2024 Cash App Playoffs.

Next up for Utah: vs. California Redwoods (Saturday, July 20, 5:30 p.m. ET)

Adam Lamberti: Archers attack too much for the Whipsnakes

It was only a matter of time before the Archers offense came to life. Unfortunately for the Whipsnakes, that was on Saturday.

After scoring nine goals in each of their last two games, the Archers scored 16 against the Whipsnakes, highlighted by an incredible score from Fields.

The Whipsnakes played a mediocre lacrosse game, and you can’t expect to play a mediocre game in the Premier Lacrosse League and still win.

Offensively, the Whipsnakes shot a measly 24% and committed 21 turnovers. That doesn’t win you games.

Defensively, the Archers’ attacking firepower was just too much. As Zach pointed out, the Archers scored 12 unassisted goals. That’s a lot.

Look ahead, the Whipsnakes will stick to their lineup, having defeated top-seeded New York Atlas last week.

However, I wouldn’t mind if they looked to the player pool for some defensive help, particularly at the short-stick defensive midfielder position.

Next up for Maryland: vs. Carolina Chaos (Friday, July 19, 8:30 p.m. ET)

Boston Cannons 14, Philadelphia Waterdogs 10

Sara Griffin: A home crowd motivates the Cannons to a home win

It didn’t start out so well, but it ended well.

After the Waterdogs jumped out to a commanding 7-2 lead to start the game, things looked bleak for the hometown Cannons. After a loss to the California Redwoods on Friday night, they wanted to give the crowd at Harvard Stadium something to celebrate on Saturday.

In the first half, the Cannons offense couldn’t find its flow and kept making small mistakes that a Waterdogs defense that had been strong in the first half, capitalized on with ease. Defensively, Boston had no answer Michael Sowers And Kieran McArdleBut in the second half, the Boom Squad came to life.

Head coach Brian Holman said he didn’t have any inspirational, revolutionary words for his team at halftime to revive them for the second half — they had all the motivation they needed. The Cannons simply did what good teams do and made adjustments that paid off in the third and fourth quarters.

A two pointer from Marcus Holman to open the third quarter after some huge saves from Colin Kirst By pushing the ball in transition, momentum was created and, as Coach Holman says, “the offense got going.”

Three straight goals from the Waterdogs might have slowed Boston down a bit, but the Cannons responded in the best way possible, going on a 7-0 run to end the game.

After being left off the Minneapolis roster, Matt Kavanagh gave a signature performance from Matt Kavanagh with five points, leading the Cannons with three goals.

Both Kavanagh and Jeff Trainor agreed that there was definitely a home advantage for the Cannons.

“We wanted to show ourselves to the home crowd,” Trainor said.

An electric atmosphere combined with a 7-0 run led to the Cannons’ second win of the season against the Waterdogs, with the boys in red, white and blue making sure their fans had plenty to cheer about.

The next event in Boston: vs. New York Atlas (Saturday, July 20, 3:00 p.m. ET)

Wyatt Miller: Waterdogs attack disappoints in second half

After the dynamic duo of Sowers and McArdle set the court alight in the first half, the offense fell flat in the second half. Philadelphia was held scoreless for the final 16 and a half minutes of the game as the Cannons went on a 7-0 run to complete a comeback victory.

The Waterdogs went 0-for-11 shooting to end the game with Sowers sidelined for much of the fourth quarter due to injury. But even with Sowers on the court, the Dogs lost themselves at the end, trying to force shots and making crucial mistakes. They committed as many turnovers in the fourth quarter (five) as they did in the entire first half, and all of them were unforced.

Sowers and McArdle were rolling early, as they usually do against the Cannons, scoring or assisting on six of the seven points in the first half and winning their one-on-one matches with Bryce Jong And Garrett Epple consistently. Then the Cannons adapted.

“If Michael beats his man a couple of times, they’re going to adjust,” Waterdogs coach Bill Tierney said. “They were sliding in on him earlier and making it harder for Kieran to get the ball. When teams do that with those two players, we’ve got to get more out of our midfield.”

Connor Kelly And Jack Hannah were the bright spots coming out of the box, each with two points. Hannah pulled off a huge turnover on a first-half drive to set up an unassisted score by Kelly before getting on the board himself. But that’s where the scoring ended from midfield. Ryan Conrad went 0-for-5 while Zach Currier shot 0-for-3 in a subpar performance from one of the deepest midfielders in the league.

“It’s tough to see (Sowers) get demoted, but it’s just a next-man-up mentality,” Kelly said. “I don’t think we’re losing confidence in our offense, we’re just going to different guys.”

That approach didn’t pay off in the rivalry game, as the Waterdogs lost their second game against the Cannons this season and now sit at 1-4. They’ll have the All-Star break to regroup and figure out how to get an offense that hasn’t lived up to expectations back on track.

The next event in Philadelphia: vs. Denver Outlaws (Friday, July 19, 6 p.m. ET)