Premier Lacrosse League Week 5 Saturday Picks: PLL Best Bets for Utah Archers vs Maryland Whipsnakes

Week 5 in Premier Lacrosse League continues with two games on Saturday, including a battle between two teams sitting at .500. The Utah Archers are 1.5-point favorites against the Maryland Whipsnakes and the total is 24.5 at most sportsbooks. Let’s take a look at my favorite bets for this game.

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Utah Archers vs. Maryland Whipsnakes

Odds via BetMGM

The perfect buy-low, sell-high game is on Saturday as the Whipsnakes enter the weekend following a big win over the previously undefeated Atlas. Their opponent is a Utah team that is also sitting at 2-2 following a 14-9 loss to Boston.

If you look up “bounce back spot” in the dictionary, it’s a picture of the Archers with the text “bet Utah -1.5 on Saturday.”

In all seriousness, this is a great spot to back a Utah team that may be underperforming, but lost to a good Boston team and suffered the worst two-point disparity we’ve seen in a while and matches up extremely well with a young Whipsnakes team.

Maryland’s win over New York was impressive and I do think the offense has finally turned a corner since moving Zed Williams to midfield and playing rookies Jack Koras, Kevin Winkoff, Adam Poitras and Levi Anderson along with rookie of the year candidate TJ Malone.

Yet, the defense still has holes, particularly at short-stick defensive midfield and arguably their best SSDM Roman Puglise is listed as questionable for Saturday's game. Brendan Krebs is playing well in net and the defense was able to hold the high-powered Atlas to their season-low point total last week, but I expect Utah to be prepared to exploit Maryland’s defense.

The biggest edge for Utah is on their defensive end, where a Brett Dobson-led unit has actually played fairly well despite some late-game collapses. Utah has the defenders to match Maryland’s physical dodgers and should limit the Whips’ transition chances far better than New York did. Maryland caught Atlas sleeping in transition several times last weekend and the refs missed some obvious offensive foul calls on a couple of their other goals. 

Expect Utah to take care of business against Maryland and bet Archers -1.5 at +115 on BetMGM.

I also recommend betting Utah to be the first to score three points at -120 on BetMGM or -122 on FanDuel.

Utah has had very strong starts all season, while Maryland has started out sluggish in all four of their games. The Archers have scored the first three points in three of four games and are outscoring opponents 18-10 in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the Whips are getting outscored 12-21 in the first period and have only been the first to three points once in their four games. I expect another strong start from Utah to open this game.

I’m also betting Grant Ament to surpass 3.5 points. This line may seem a bit high given Ament’s production in the past, but he’s gone over this in half his games this season and his usage has continued to climb each game. Last game, we saw Ament return to his natural position of attack and while playing him from the midfield had helped him get better matchups in the past, I expect Utah to start him on attack this weekend and that should lead to even more opportunities as a passer and scorer. Last game, he had three assists and a goal on 35 touches compared to 22 touches in the season-opener. Utah’s offense has stalled a bit in recent weeks and Ament is the key to getting the Archers back to being an efficient offense. Bet Ament to go over 3.5 points at +118 on FanDuel.

I’m also betting Tom Schreiber to go over 3.5 points. Much like Ament, Schreiber is critical to Utah’s success and he should get some favorable matchups against Maryland’s young long poles or weak short-stick defenders on switches and unsettled situations. He’s had four points or more in seven of his last 16 games so +125 on DraftKings is close to a fair price to bet him to go over 3.5 points.

I’m also betting Zed Williams to stay under 2.5 points. Williams has stayed under this mark in 10 of his last 16 games and has been playing midfield for the Whipsnakes. While the position change hasn’t limited his touches much yet, I do think he’ll have less opportunities to score in this game against Utah. The Archers boast one of the best short-stick defensive midfield units in the PLL and the 6’4” Beau Pederson is a player that can match Williams' physicality if he doesn’t draw one of Utah’s equally sizable long pole defenders. Bet Williams to go under 2.5 points at -138 on FanDuel.

Picks: Utah Archers -1.5, Utah Archers First to Three Points, Grant Ament Over 3.5 Points, Tom Schreiber Over 3.5 Points, Zed Williams Under 2.5 Points