The 2024 Premier Lacrosse League season continues with Week 2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The weekend begins with two Friday matchups featuring the hometown Carolina Chaos vs. California Redwoods and the Utah Archers vs. Denver Outlaws.
I have six total best bets for Friday night, so let’s take a look at my favorite plays.
Carolina Chaos vs. California Redwoods
| Carolina (-1.5) Odds | Moneyline: -120 |
| Denver (+1.5) Odds | Moneyline: -110 |
| Total | 24.5 |
| Time | Friday · 6 p.m. ET |
| TV | ESPN+ |
Odds via BetMGM
The Chaos host the California Redwoods, and Carolina is a 1.5-point favorite with the total sitting at 24.5 at some sportsbooks.
In addition to this being California’s first game of the season, there are a few notable absences on both rosters.
Carolina’s starting goaltender Blaze Riorden left the last game with a knee injury, and while he's still listed on the gameday roster, he's doubtful to play, and backup goalie Austin Kaut is expected to get the start.
Kaut actually made a start against the Redwoods last season, allowing 13 goals and making 15 saves. While that’s not a bad stat line, there's still a noticeable dropoff from Blaze to him, which should be good for a few extra goals allowed in this game.
On the other end, California is missing some players this time around, with Arden Cohen and Jack Kelly as the only returning members of its 2023 defense. While Chris Fake and Chris Conlin both could end up having great pro careers, my expectations for this new defensive unit aren’t too high in their first game together.
The Redwoods will be missing last year’s second overall pick Owen Grant on defense, as well as offseason trade acquisition Chris Gray on offense. I actually think the defensive losses are far more significant.
California’s offense last year was strong and retains all of its key contributors while adding rookie Garrett Degnon.
Even at 24.5, I think this total is too low, and I expect both offenses to have success against their opposing defenses. While the Chaos are strong defensively, I expect them to allow double-digits on Friday, given the lack of Riorden and the matchup with California.
The Redwoods have a handful of stretch shooters and Carolina struggled to defend Denver from distance last weekend.
Bet this game to go over 24.5 at -115 on BetMGM or FanDuel.
Due to the new pieces on defense, I also expect Kelly to struggle on Friday, and I recommend betting him to stay under his saves prop of 13.5 at -125 on DraftKings.
Kelly stayed under this mark in eight of 12 games last year, and Carolina tends to take fewer shots than most teams, with the goal of settling for high quality shots over a high quantity of shots. This is a good price to bet Kelly to stay under his saves total on Friday.
Finally, despite liking this game to go over, I’m betting Ryder Garnsey to stay under his points prop of 3.5 at +100 on BetMGM. Garnsey got off to a hot start last season but still managed to stay under this mark in nine of 12 games last season.
I expect the Redwoods to test Carolina more from the midfield, and while Garnsey should still have an impact, the Chaos should be able to limit that impact enough for him to stay under his points total.
Picks: Over 24.5 | Jack Kelly Under 13.5 Saves | Ryder Garnsey Under 3.5 Points
Utah Archers vs. Denver Outlaws
| Utah (-2.5) Odds | Moneyline: -250 |
| Denver (+2.5) Odds | Moneyline: +190 |
| Total | 24 |
| Time | Friday · 8:30 p.m. ET |
| TV | ESPN+ |
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
The second game of the night features the Utah Archers facing the Denver Outlaws. Utah is a rare 2.5-point favorite against Denver and the total ranges from 22.5 to 24.
While some sportsbooks opened the total at 22.5 and have since moved it to 23.5, that original number is more in line with what I think this total should be.
While Utah is typically efficient on offense and Denver’s new-look offense showed promise last week, I’m trusting these two defenses on Friday. Brett Dobson was lights out in cage last week, but the Archers actually did a good job of forcing the Waterdogs to take poor shots and deserve some credit.
While I’m not expecting another 23-save performance from Dobson, I do think this defense has the ability to hold Denver to potentially single-digits, especially with the news that Logan Wisnauskas is out.
As for the Outlaws, I expect a better showing from them defensively. They gave up 16 points last week, but they allowed a pair of two-pointers, and Sean Sconone only made five saves on 14 shots on goal.
It was evident that Sconone wasn’t 100%, and he'll now miss Friday’s game due to injury.
Considering the defense in front of him, I trust backup goalie Owen McElroy to have a better outing. Last year, we saw these teams combine for just 18 and 19 goals in their two meetings.
While this 2024 Outlaws offense is better on paper, I think the 24 that DraftKings is offering is too high. Bet this game to stay under 24 at -125.
I also recommend betting Sam Handley to stay under 2.5 points at +100 on bet365. Handley was aggressive last weekend and recorded four points off three goals — one of which was a two-pointer — yet, I wasn’t impressed with Kaut’s goaltending on two of those goals, and I think Utah’s short-stick defensive midfielders are stronger than the ones Handley faced last week.
He only recorded more than three points once last year, and while he should have a much better sophomore season, this is a good game to fade him.
Finally, I’m betting Grant Ament to stay under 3.5 points. Ament appears to be fully healthy and took advantage of mismatches for four points last weekend. But this line is a bit of an overreaction based on his production from the midfield in the past.
Last year, Ament recorded more than three points as a midfielder just once and averaged just 2.4 points through 10 games last season.
As mentioned earlier, Denver’s defense is deep enough to defend Utah’s various offensive threats, and I expect Ament to be limited on Friday.
Bet Ament to stay under 3.5 points at -140 on DraftKings.
