The 2022 Premier Lacrosse League season rolls on as the league heads to Charlotte, North Carolina, for Week 2.
Friday night features a matchup between the new-look Chrome and banged-up Redwoods, as well as a battle between the winless rivals, Archers and Chaos.
Let’s take a look at both matchups and see why I’m eyeing the totals in both games.
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Chrome vs Redwoods (-1.5)
| Chrome Odds | +130 |
| Redwoods Odds | -160 |
| Total | 23.5 |
| Time | Friday, 6 p.m. ET |
| TV | ESPN+ |
Odds via BetMGM Sportsbook.
Chrome LC enters Friday's matchup looking for their first two-game win streak since July 2, 2021, while Redwoods LC aims to bounce back after a blowout loss to Atlas LC in Week 1.
Despite losing last week, the Redwoods are 1.5-point favorites in their matchup against the Chrome, and the total is set at 23.5 across all sportsbooks.
The Chrome put together a stout defensive performance to open the season, holding the most efficient offense in 2021 to just 10 goals.
Newcomer Nick Grill and rookie JT Giles-Harris played great on-ball defense along with veterans Michael Manley and Jesse Bernhardt. Along with long-stick middie Eli Salama and short-stick defensive middies Ryan Terefenko and Will Haus, the Chrome’s 2022 defense is greatly improved.
Sean Sconone also played well in his second career start for Chrome, making 11 saves on 21 shots.
On the other side, the Redwoods defense struggled in their first game and had the unfortunate pleasure of having to guard an Atlas offense that features 2021 Rookie of the Year Jeff Teat, NCAA career points leader Chris Gray and the game’s best off-ball attackman of the past decade Eric Law.
While the Redwoods defense didn’t do themselves any favors, they’ll have a slightly more favorable matchup in Week 2.
Chrome’s offense started out great in the first half, with former first overall pick Dylan Molloy and rookie Brendan Nichtern leading the way. Tewaaraton winner Logan Wisnauskas was a tad quieter, but given his limited practice time, that was to be expected.
However, the Chrome offense benefitted from Archers missing starting defenseman Warren Jeffrey due to his presence in the National Lacrosse League Finals. The Chrome also struggled to get quality scoring chances in the second half once the Archers began pressing out on them.
The Redwoods certainly have the offensive weapons to put up points, but the unit looked lost in week one and, with the exception of Jules Heningburg winning his one-on-one matchups, struggled to generate quality scoring chances.
Part of their struggles were due to the stellar play of Atlas’ short-stick defensive middies and they’ll face a similarly formidable defensive unit when facing the Chrome. Redwoods will also be missing starting midfielder Sergio Perkovic, whose two-point ability typically helps stretch defenses.
Ultimately, there's still too much uncertainty surrounding both teams to effectively take a side in this matchup.
Yet, given both teams’ strong defensive units and tendencies to slow it down and play settled six-on-six offense, I’m taking under 23.5 goals in Friday’s matchup.
Pick: Under 23.5
Chaos vs. Archers (-1.5)
| Chaos Odds | +130 |
| Archers Odds | -170 |
| Total | 23.5 |
| Time | Friday, 8:45 p.m. ET |
| TV | ESPN+ |
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook.
Both Chaos LC and Archers LC enter Friday night’s matchup seeking a win. Both are coming off one-goal losses in week one and are missing some key players due to injuries and NLL commitments.
The Archers are 1.5-point favorites despite Chaos winning the last two matchups between the teams, including defeating Archers in the playoffs for the second year in a row.
The total is set at 22.5 at most sportsbooks, but Caesars Sportsbook is currently offering a slightly higher total of 23.5.
As discussed last week, the Chaos are missing leading faceoff specialist Max Adler and four offensive starters in Dhane Smith, Chase Fraser, Chris Cloutier and Josh Byrne due to them playing for the Buffalo Bandits in the NLL Finals.
Archers are in a similar position, with Connor Fields and Warren Jeffrey both missing due to the NLL Finals, Grant Ament out with a hamstring injury and rookie faceoff specialist Justin Inacio moved to the unavailable to travel list this week.
Both sets of absences had a significant impact on the teams in week two, and while attackmen Wes Berg and Austin Staats are returning to the Chaos roster, both offenses should see similar struggles on Friday night.
The Chaos offense was practically nonexistent against the Whipsnakes, and if it weren't for some timely two-pointers and opportunistic transition opportunities, they could have scored even less than eight goals.
Meanwhile, Archers struggled to finish plays and are still lacking effective dodging threats, though they did improve as the game progressed and Connor DeSimone was a bright spot in place of Ament.
The past five meetings between these teams have all gone under 23.5 total goals.
While matchup history can often be deceiving, the Chaos’ recent success against the Archers is due to an effective execution of the defensive scheme they deploy.
Last season, the Chaos defeated the Archers in back-to-back games by trusting their defenders to win one-on-one matchups and 2021 MVP goaltender Blaze Riorden to make clean saves. Last year, a weaker Chaos defense did it successfully against an Archers team that had both Ament and Fields in the lineup.
This year, the Chaos defense has improved by adding short-stick defensive middie Zach Geddes and defender Brett Kennedy, while Archers are missing their two aforementioned attackmen.
The Archers are still missing defenseman Jeffrey, but their defense, led by 2021 Defender of the Year Graeme Hossack, should have an even easier time against this makeshift Chaos offense than in Week 1.
I’m betting the under and doing so at Caesars Sportsbook, where you can get a total of 23.5. However, if Caesars isn’t available where you are, I still like betting under 22.5.
Pick: Under 23.5
