What another wild weekend of pro lacrosse! The PLL playoff field is now set, while MLL teams are still fighting to find their way into the postseason.
A sold out Albany crowd watched as the Redwoods and Archers clinched their playoff spots in dramatic fashion. The MLL standings are neck-and-neck as teams trade wins, as the Dallas Rattlers continue their win streak. Let’s see who ended up in the winner’s column and who had a weekend to forget in this week’s edition of Pro Lacrosse Winners and Losers.
Pro Lacrosse Winners and Losers:
Winners
Ryder Garnsey
Ryder Garnsey just might be the most creative player in the PLL and this past Sunday he proved why. From one-handed passes to diving goals, Garnsey played with reckless abandon. His four goals and three assists were the driving force behind the Redwoods’ huge win against the Chrome to clinch a playoff spot. His play style results in some turnovers, but more often than not, he is making life hard on opposing defenses and creating openings through his creative dodging and passing. What will Ryder Garnsey do next?
Can we appreciate this FILTHY @rsgarnz assist to a @_mgk5 goal 🤯 pic.twitter.com/IQLbSyx9yP
— Redwoods Lacrosse Club (@PLLRedwoods) August 25, 2019
Dallas Rattlers
Not too long ago I was putting the Dallas Rattlers in the Losers section because of their 0-7 start to the MLL season, but I couldn’t be happier that they have turned it around in such a big way. The Rattlers are now on a six-game winning streak and are playing like a completely different team. Even playing two road games back-to-back couldn’t stop them from keeping the streak alive. The Rattlers beat the Cannons and Bayhawks in convincing fashion only about a month after those same teams clobbered them. The play of Ryan McNamara, Sean Sconone, Jack Curran, Bradley Voigt, Bryce Wasserman and the defense have been the catalyst for this turnaround. The Rattlers are the hottest team in the MLL, and in all of pro lacrosse.
Vicious 🔄by Jack Curran pic.twitter.com/dYJ2HSRPNl
— Major League Lacrosse (@MLL_Lacrosse) August 27, 2019
Trevor Baptiste’s Mic’d Up Goal
The PLL has been innovating how fans watch sports all summer and the cherry on top of all of their experiments has to be the sequence of Trevor Baptiste being mic’d up before, during, and after scoring a fastbreak goal with the grunts and trash talk included. The video speaks for itself.
“That’s speed boy.” 😂 pic.twitter.com/Rfrmyf1MrK
— Atlas Lacrosse Club (@PLLAtlas) August 25, 2019
Honorable Mentions
Clutch Goalies
Goalies like Drew Adams, Jack Concannon, Tim Troutner, Dillon Ward and Sean Sconone were making insane saves in crunch time on the way to securing wins for their respective teams. Concannon was the biggest reason the high scoring Chaos offense was held to only nine goals as he made save after incredible save. Sean Sconone made an absolutely unheard of 33 saves on 54 shots on goal in the Rattlers two wins. Drew Adams had the save of the weekend though as he held off the Whipsnakes to secure the Archers’ playoff spot.
John Grant Jr.
Earlier this summer John Grant Jr. broke the MLL all-time points record. This past weekend, unsurprisingly, he broke another record. John Grant Jr. became the all-time regular season points leader too, thanks to his two goal and seven assist performance. He thinks he could have had more. That’s just classic Junior. Want to see some classic Junior? Check out his favorite plays from his career here.
“I think I let a lot go off the table I think that easily could have been an 11, 12 point game” @JohnGrantJr24 talks to LSN after his 7-point game put him back on top as the @MLL_Lacrosse all-time points leader. Full conversation: https://t.co/GPM0vcga0I pic.twitter.com/RtnPeNuH5u
— Lax Sports Network (@LaxSportsNet) August 27, 2019
Losers
The Crosscheck Heard Round The World
The Redwood’s Jules Heningburg was dodging hard from X when Chrome goalie Brett Queener came out of his net and crosschecked Heningburg in the head causing a scrum in front of the net as well as Heningburg leaving the game with a concussion. I don’t think Queener meant to hit Heningburg directly in the head and didn’t mean to give him a concussion. He saw that Heningburg was going to beat his man and Queener decided to step out to stop him Unfortunately Queener putt his hands up a little too high so that he connected with Heningburg’s head rather than his shoulder. Things happen in a split second so it’s hard to say if Queener meant to do it or not. This is in the losers section because it was an unfortunate play that lead to heated reactions and Heningburg leaving the game. Thankfully it seems like it was not serious and he will be back for the playoffs. The PLL assessed Brett Queener a one game suspension and a fine.
Atlas LC
Despite winning two must win games to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Atlas are out of the playoffs for the first PLL Championship. They will now join the Chrome in the secondary playoffs for the first pick in next year’s Entry Draft.
Was there something we missed in this week’s edition of Pro Lacrosse Winners and Losers? Tell us in the comments.
