The third PLL quarterfinal playoff game on Monday saw #7 seed Atlas play #2 seed Cannons. The teams met twice in the regular season, with Cannons winning 19-12 in Week 4 and 14-13 in Week 10. Cannons made it a clean sweep, with five players registering two or more goals in a 20-11 victory. It’s their eighth win in the last nine games, and they will advance to play the defending champion Waterdogs in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Atlas finishes a disappointing season at 2-9.
Cannons outwork Atlas for first half lead
Cannons jumped out to a 2-0 lead with quick goals from Marcus Holman and longstick midfielder Kyle Hartzell. They would also get goals from Matt Campbell, Jeff Trainor, and Matt Kavanagh. Asher Nolting picked up assists on two of the goals. Atlas countered with Xander Dickson recording a hat trick in the opening frame, with the score 5-3 after one quarter.
The second quarter saw Cannons start to pull away, scoring six times for seven more points. Kavanagh picked up his second, Jonathan Donville scored twice, and Pat Aslanian fired a two-point goal. Ethan Rall and Ryan Drenner also added markers for Cannons. Atlas responded with Dickson’s fourth goal, a pair from Jeff Teat, and goals from Eric Law and Myles Jones, but trailed 12-8 at halftime.
Cannons cruise to semifinals
Things only got worse for Atlas in the second half. Nolting, Drenner, Kavanagh, and Donville all found the back of the net again, while Trevor Baptiste scored the Bulls’ lone goal to make it 16-9. Atlas goaltender Jack Concannon was lifted halfway through the third quarter in favor of Drake Porter. Dickson scored his fifth goal of the game to start the fourth quarter, and Law added another for Atlas. But Campbell, Donville, and two more from Nolting put an exclamation point on the Cannon’s quarterfinal win.
Gobbler’s Game Notes
This game should have been much closer than the score indicates. Baptiste won a whopping 33 of 34 faceoffs against three different Cannons players, and picked up a staggering 31 Ground Balls. Atlas had 49 Ground Balls to Cannons’ 31, and shots were even at 44 apiece. So what doomed Atlas? Turnovers – they committed 27 of them, to just 12 for Cannons. Chris Gray and Bryan Costabile were both held to just two assists, and Myles Jones only managed a goal and an assist. However, individual numbers for Jones should rebound next year as he’ll have a full season in the Atlas offensive scheme, which could become more wide-open with his skill set.
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Pat Bernard has four years of podcasting. His first year with the Pattison Ave Phantics and four years running Devereaux Sports. Now currently, both Devereaux Sports and Edge of Sports. Pat is a for 6 Philly sports fan. Flyers, Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, Wings, and Union. The Gobbler is a former pro wrestler and ACPW Hall of Famer! He is originally out of Ambler from Northeast Philly (by the Tacony Bridge). Pat is a credentialed Philadelphia Wings Beat Reported under Edge of Philly Sports.
