In a battle of teams that have under achieved in the first half, Atlas (2-4) faced Chrome (1-5) in the opening of the second half of the Premier Lacrosse League schedule.
A few one goal decisions which could have gone the other way have Atlas in unfamiliar territory at the bottom of the standings. With talent like Jeff Teat, Eric Law, Chris Gray, as well as Romar Dennis and Bryan Costabile, this team should be in the upper part of the league and need a strong second half to correct this.
Chrome won their first game of the year, but have dropped four games since, losing twice to the Cannons, as well as the Waterdogs and Archers. Chrome’s woes continued with faceoff man “The Milkman” Connor Farrell out for this game. With Logan Wisnauskas, Brendan Nichtern, Dylan Molloy, as well as Jackson Morrill, Chrome should give Atlas all they can handle in this game.
The goaltending match-up had Sean Sconone in net for Chrome facing Jack Concannon in net for Atlas.
Although not the best game Atlas has played, Chrome let them off the hook time after time en route to a 11-9 win. Trevor Baptiste was exceptional on the faceoffs winning 21 of 22 for a 95.5%. Bryan Costabile (2g,0a), Chris Gray (2g,2a) and Jeff Teat (1g,1a) led the Atlas offense.
For Chrome Cross Ferrara was superb with a hat-trick, and Sam Handley was able to score Chrome’s first 2-point goal of the season.
To The Game:
Bryan Costabile got Atlas on the board early when he blasted a shot past Sean Sconone just 0:31seconds into the game. Xander Dickson was able to finish a great move from Chris Gray at 3:33 to increase the lead to two for the Bulls.
Cross Ferrara got Chrome on the board beating Concannon at 8:16, but a three goal explosion put Atlas way out front. Eric Law finished a Xander Dickson feed at 10:47, followed by Brendan Curry converting a Trevor Baptiste pass in transition off a faceoff win 0:07 seconds later. Chris Gray then scored off a Brendan Curry feed at 11:24 to extend the lead to four.
After one quarter, Atlas 5 Chrome 1.
Second Quarter:
Chrome cameback to open the second. Cross Ferrara converted a Ryan Terefenko pass at 0:19 seconds, followed by Will Haus finishing a Jesse Bernhardt pass at 5:06 to bring the game within two goals.
A 2-point goal from Koby Smith with just 0:45 seconds left in the half sent the Atlas to the dressing still up by four goals.
At the half, Atlas 7 Chrome 3.
Third Quarter:
Chrome opened the third quarter scoring with Justin Anderson scoring 0:58 seconds into the quarter, but a Bryan Costabile goal off a Chris Gray pass brought the lead to 8-4. Gray himself picked the corner off a Brendan Curry feed extending the Atlas lead to five goals.
After three quarters, Atlas 9 Chrome 4.
Fourth Quarter:
Chrome opened the fourth quarter scoring. Jackson Morrill with a great move on the top of the crease off a Jesse King pass at 1:16, followed by Cross Ferrara with his third goal of the game off a skip pass from Logan Wisnauskas 0:26 seconds later made the game interesting. Jesse King brought Chrome within two, firing a laser to the top corner off a Jackson Morrill feed at 4:39.
Eric Law got Atlas on the board on a perfect pass from Jeff Teat who found him all alone in front of the net at 5:35. Teat then scored with a bankshot that went off Sconone’s foot, the post, Sconone’s shaft and in at 6:03.
Chrome came back with a Sam Handley blast from beyond the arc at 7:23. That was Chrome’s first 2-point goal of the season.
Chrome had an opportunity with just seconds left but Atlas goalie Jack Concannon came up with a huge save off a Sam Handley blast to preserve the victory.
Final score, Atlas 11 Chrome 9.
The Three Stars:
1. Chris Gray
2. Cross Ferrara
3. Trevor Baptiste
Game Stats:
Shots on goal were 25-22 in favor of Atlas.
Faceoffs were dominated by Trevor Baptiste winning 21 of 22 (95.5%).
The ground ball battle went to Atlas 42-22.
Chrome was 0 for 4 on the power-play, while Atlas was 0 for 1.
Top Scorers:
Chrome:
Cross Ferrara 3g, 0a
Jackson Morrill 1g, 1a
Jesse King 1g, 1a
Sam Handley 0g, 1 2-pt g, 0a
Atlas:
Chris Gray 2g, 2a
Brendan Curry 1g, 2a
Bryan Costabile 2g, 0a
Eric Law 2g, 0a
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Gary Groob has been involved with Lacrosse for the majority of his life, whether playing, coaching, or covering the sport for the media.
An avid fan, with a real drive about helping to “grow the game”, Gary became part of podcasts about the game in 2010. Through the podcasts, Mr. Groob was given an opportunity to write about lacrosse, and the rest as they say, is history.
Through many miles (flying and driving) Gary has made inroads with the National Lacrosse League, Major Series Lacrosse League, the Ontario Lacrosse Association, as well as the Arena Lacrosse League, covering the leagues, their teams, and players, working for, and in concert with all of them.
In the year 2020, Mr. Groob was made the media person for the Arena Lacrosse League, voted onto the board of directors of the Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club, as well as being made administrator of the Lacrosse page “Global Lacrosse” with a membership of 9000 members in over 90 Countries. Gary was also made an administrator of Lacrosse History Past Present and Future in 2022.
Mr. Groob co-hosts a weekly Lacrosse show on Spanglish Sports World, and ZingoTV channel 250, as well as writes a weekly lacrosse column for La Portada Canada News (both in print, and online).
Gary also hosts a Lacrosse talk show and podcast for The Edge of Philly Sports Network, seen live Sunday nights at 9pm (ET), and archived on the Edge of Philly YouTube page, as well as Spotify.
Mr. Groob’s other sports interests include Hockey, Football, Boxing, Wrestling, and Baseball, competing competitively in Boxing and Wrestling for many years.
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