Hot and muggy conditions for fans and players at Homewood Field, which was draped in Maryland Terp colors for the hometown Whipsnakes.
New York handled Philadelphia. Boston held on to defeat Maryland 13-12. Denver, bolstered by Jared Bernhardt, rallied down 10-5 to pull away from Utah. Maryland steamrolled Carolina, putting up 20 goals and staying in playoff contention.
Six teams have two wins. They are sandwiched by 3-1 Boston at the top and 1-3 Carolina at the bottom. Good luck separating the six in the middle. Margins are tight in the PLL 2025.
Boston (3-1)
Coach Brian Holman, back at Hopkins where he graduated in 1983, had to be pleased with the vision of Asher Nolting (5 assists) and the playmaking of Cannon midfielders Matt Campbell and Ryan Drenner. Nolting remains mired in a shooting slump, which will be temporary as he continues to flash his distribution skills. In week three’s loss to Philadelphia, the Cannons made horrible defensive pick decisions. They beat themselves. LSM Owen Grant has met expectation as a cover man and in transition. Rookie SSDM from Notre Dame bounced back after a rough outing in Philadelphia with a solid game of coverage.
They clamped down on Maryland in the third quarter, expanding a 7-5 advantage to 12-8. Nolting made it 13-8 early in the fourth quarter and, while going scoreless the last 11:17, Boston held on for the 13-12 win. Rookie Coulter Mackesy hit his shots from the lefty wing and DU rookie Mic Kelly had some dodging success from uptop. Boston will be big favorites over Carolina in San Diego this week.
Denver (2-2)
60% of Logan McNaney’s saves have been clean—that is, caught. The next highest goalie in the PLL is at 47%. The rookie from Maryland has the ability to snare shots without rebounds and throw aggressive outlets. Those runouts have been a difference maker for Denver. McNaney’s humble poise and demeanor are icing on the cake. He celebrated his 24th birthday in style on Sunday at Homewood and is 2-0 as the starter.
Coach Tim Soudan has multiple options with Jared Bernhardt. Do you run him at midfield or on attack? Bernhardt’s speed and acceleration is a unicorn even amongst elite PLL players. After scoring four against Utah, he’s going to be demanding immediate double teams.
Brennan O’Neil, now healthy, is in a little bit of a shooting slump but still impactful with the ball in his pocket as a catalyst. Not everybody in the league has a Graeme Hossack to mark him. I’d like to see O’Neil get more involved in the picking game and cutting off ball.
Denver’s DNA has been transition. Clean saves have led to runouts by Jake Piseno and Ryan Terefenko. The SSDM from Ohio State is tough, sturdy, and likes to stay on the field in the picking game for some pass-down, pick-down looks on the wing arc.
Very veteran defense kept Utah off the doorstep. JT Giles-Harris, Mike Manley, and Jesse Bernhardt have loads of experience. Poles Jake Piseno and AJ Pilate were stable and the Denver shorties played better as the game went on.
Down 7-3 and being outplayed, Denver got goals from Pat Kavanagh and Logan Wisnauskas prior to halftime. The Utah margin swelled to 10-5 and it didn’t look good. Three goals, including a deuce by Bundy, to end the third quarter made it 10-9. Bernhardt tied it at 10. 8-0 run was a shocking finish. Denver held Utah scoreless for the final 19:55 while shooting 0-10 to end the contest. That’s two straight wins for the Outlaws and momentum.
If Denver can get Bernhardt and O’Neil drawing double teams, Kavanagh can become a dissector, with Graham Bundy and Dalton capitalizing on the defensive movement. The midfield offense has been subpar, so it was positive to see Justin Anderson and Young contribute. Denver offense is still a work in progress, with room for growth, which is a good thing if you’re an Outlaw fan.
Denver is a different team with goalie Logan McNaney and playmaker Jared Bernhardt in the lineup. Outlaws meet California in a key Western Conference game this week.
New York (2-2)
Coach Mike Pressler shook up his midfield personnel group, sitting Myles Jones and Kyle Jackson. Reid Bowering, a lefty from BC, was activated and gave Jeff Teat some wonderfully solid picks to run off of. SSDMs Danny Logan and Chet Comizio were back in the lineup. Logan, regarded as the best in the business at that position, may be a two-goal swing himself.
New York showed up with the eye of the tiger. They led 4-1 after 12:00 and 8-4 at half. They haven’t played a full 48 minutes to date, so finishing with a 17-9 victory over Philadelphia felt like a statement win.
Bryan Costabile was dealing from the outside. Jeff Teat was in MVP form. They put together a pair of 6-1 runs to silence the critics. Defenseman Gavin Adler was tenacious covering Michael Sowers and goalie Liam Entenmann was on fire.
Rookies Max Krevsky and Hugh Kelleher were solid in their two-way roles. Some say lacrosse is a young man’s game. Atlas square off with Utah this week.
Utah (2-2)
Built a 10-5 lead and then hit a wall, outscored 8-0 to end the game. 13-10 loss stings. Multiple pass goals have been in short supply. Picking game has no punch. Mac O’Keefe and Grant Ament not producing to prior levels. Archers missing Tre LeClaire as a valuable chip. Transition goals have been in short supply. Connor Fields isn’t getting to the rack like he did as an isolation dodger in 2024. Utah ranks low in face-off percentage and offensive efficiency. Turnovers continue to be an issue.
Rookie Sam King has provided a burst of energy and been highly productive when he gets touches. Tom Schreiber remains impactful but he can’t do it alone. I’m not seeing multiple pass goals or ball reversal. Utah skip lanes have been jammed.
Philadelphia (2-2)
Offense wasn’t flowing, which was frustrating if you kept your eyes on Coach Bill Tierney during the broadcast.
It felt as if Philadelphia failed to match New York’s intensity, urgency, and fight level from the opening face-off. Down 4-1 and 8-4 at half in the heat wasn’t ideal.
D-man Jack DeBenedetto from Denver dressed and covered Xander Dickson well. Ben Randall didn’t have his best game, trying to navigate through picks chasing Teat around for 48 minutes. Jack Hannah and Thomas McConvey were too quiet. Philly didn’t use the pick game for Michael Sowers as much this week and Jake Taylor got face guarded by Michael Grace.
Will we see CJ Kirst this week in San Diego? The Tewaaraton winner is coming off surgery. Certainly July 11 in Chicago looks likely. Where will he play—attack or midfield? That’ll be an interesting decision for the veteran coach.
Two bright spots on defense were Kenny Brower, who covered Connor Shellenberger, and Marcus Hudgins at the LSM spot. Hudgins’ diving ground ball play along the sideline may have been the hustle play of the week. Philly plays California out west this weekend.
California (2-1)
The Redwoods enjoyed a bye weekend, avoiding the tropical temperatures in Charm City, and now host a pair of games from San Diego on Friday (Denver) and Saturday (Philadelphia). All PLL games can be seen on ESPN+.
Maryland (2-3)
The Whips split games this weekend, dropping a close contest to Boston and thrashing Carolina on Sunday in the finale. That emphatic win keeps them in the hunt.
On Sunday, rookie goalie Emmet Carroll earned another starting nod after playing well in the rout of the Chaos. Levi Anderson was dressed and made an impact off the dodge from the wings. Look for the lefty from St. Joe’s to be back in the lineup. Rob Pannell set the all-time assists record on Saturday and found the net twice on Sunday, ending a tough string of bad shooting luck. Matt Brandau and Aidan Carroll are surging and finding their role definition. FOGO Joe Nardella takes a back seat to nobody.
My concern about Maryland revolves around their SSDM position group and the close defense’s inability to slide, rotate, and recover against the Cannons. Too often they left their SSDM group on an island in disadvantageous areas and offered no help.
Maryland deserves a bye after two games within 16 hours in intense heat and humidity. You won’t see them again until Chicago on July 11 and 12.
Carolina (1-3)
The Chaos had no answers for Maryland, trailing 4-2 after one quarter and 12-4 at half. Offensive inefficiency was rampant in the 20-6 loss, one of the worst in PLL history.
Aside from the dysfunction on offense, which was untestable given new personnel in the lineup with Sergio Perkovic, Shane Knobloch, and Owen Hiltz, it was the lack of defense that was startling because the Chaos usually play above par at that end. Short stick coverage was awful, slides were disjointed, pick play was poor, and interior coverage non-existent as Maryland got every look they wanted and controlled all the matchups. Blaze Riorden got shelled in an unusually poor effort for the normally stellar netminder. The offense was held scoreless for the last 17 minutes in a game that can be best described as forgettable. Jackson Eicher and Knobloch were positives. Coach Roy Colsey has to continue to rotate the lineup to find combinations that fit. The defensive communication and execution must improve. Carolina looked like the B league team playing in the bigs. Get back to work and see if you can make baby steps towards being competitive in San Diego.
San Diego is up next with games on Friday and Saturday night from Torero Stadium.
