The 4th week of PLL action will be taking place on this July 4th weekend and we are expecting to see some fireworks. This week we see the 1st place Archers vs the 2nd place Whipsnakes, the 3rd place Redwoods vs 4th place Waterdogs, the 5th place Atlas vs the 6th place Chrome, and finally the 7th place Cannons vs the 8th place Chaos. The Archers and Chrome will also be playing each other on Friday night, but I thought it was cool how the standings and games lined up. There was also some big news regarding PLL betting, and that is that Barstool Sportsbook has added PLL lines. Now I just need to convince them to add some prop bets, but we will get into that later. Lets dive in to the week 4 matchups.
The Chrome are coming off a big upset against the Whips and will be looking to pull of another big upset on Friday night against the Archers who have been beating teams by an average of 8 goals. The Archers play with a great energy that leads to second opportunities and those opportunities lead to scoring sprees that are difficult to keep up with. If the Chrome want to win this game they will need to match the energy and then some. I am expecting to see a lot of that energy to come from the Long Island natives Connor Farrell and Justin Guterding as the games are being played at Hofstra. Long Islanders love Long Island with a fiery passion, and if Farrell can control possession and Guterding can get hot, the Chrome may be able to keep this one close. The only problem is that the Archers will also have some notable Long Islanders playing at home like Will Manny and Tom Schreiber and for this reason I am taking the Archers to cover the spread.
Official Pick: Archers -2.5
The #3 Redwoods take on the #4 Waterdogs on Saturday. This game is tough for me. The Redwoods are a better team on paper and I want them to win as a fan, but I do not think they have played well the past two weeks. A serious concern of mine is that the Woods were held scoreless in the 2nd a 4th quarters of last weeks game and we have seen these types of scoring troubles from the Woods before. If the Waterdogs can play solid defense, get some help from the pipes, and have Ryan Brown shoot like he did in week 2, the dogs may have a chance. It will be tough task as TD Irelan is dominating at the stripe, and the Woods do have a ton of Long Islanders returning home that could make some noise like Pannell, Kavanagh, and Jones. This is one of the games I would love to a see a prop bet or a "Bet With" option on the Barstool Sportsbook. With their affiliation to the Waterdogs, maybe put out some odds for SSDM Steven Denapoli to have a goal. Denapoli is a Long Island native and a Hofstra alumn, he also plays short stick defensive middie which is easily the grittiest position in lacrosse. But since that prop is not available (yet), I am going to stick with the Redwoods and am looking to see Pannell, Kav, and Jones all to have 3 goals.
Official Pick: Redwoods ML
The #7 Cannons play the #8 Chaos on Saturday afternoon. Honestly it is laughable that the Cannons are #7 in the league standings. They have one goal losses to the Woods, the Whips, and an Atlas team that is looking like a top team in the league. The Chaos showed some signs of life in week 3 with a win. Their defense held the Woods to 9 goals, and the offense is starting to click with the emergence of Mac O'Keefe. O'Keefe is starting to adapt to the PLL and learning to pull up at the 2 point line with his range. The Cannons have been competitive in every game this year, and I do not expect that to stop now. Lyle did not have a great game in week 3, so I am expecting a big game from him. There are even talks of Shayne Jackson making an appearance on the roster, and it would be lovely to see Thompson and Jackson play together. I think the Cannons will win this game, but if Blaze Riorden has an outstanding game in net for the Chaos we could see the Cannons loose another 1 goal game.
Official Pick: Cannons ML
The #1 Archers take on the #2 Whips on Sunday. This will be the second game of the week for the Archers so we will keep an eye out for some possible fatigue like we saw with the Whips last week. This game is still fresh in the Whips mind and they will be looking to make up for a poor performance. They will also be with out star players Matt Rambo and Zed Williams due to injury. This means we will get to see rookie Ryan Tierney play his first full game in the PLL and I am excited. Tierney was a walking highlight reel at Hofstra, so he should be comfortable playing there for his first start. We will see how well his crafty and deceiving style of play will translate to the PLL. The Archers have played so freaking good in their first 3 weeks , it is honestly tough to pick against them. Even though this will be the Archers second game of the week, so far teams playing a double header are 4-2. With that being said, I think the Archers will be able to win this one easily after rolling the Chrome on Friday.
Official Pick: Archers -1.5
The #5 Atlas play the #6 Chrome for the last game in week 4. The Atlas are coming of an incredible week 3 and I for one am excited to see Jeff Teat play again. If the Atlas come out and play like they did last week, this game wont even be close. The offense was humming with the addition of Teat, and Concannon is still a brick wall with inside shooters. Defenseman Cade Van Raaphorst also had a stand out weekend with 4CTO and 8GB and 1A along with multiple successful clears. The face off battle will be fun to watch with two thicc boys, Baptise and Farrell, going head to head. Even though the Chrome have a lot of talent, I still see the Atlas running away with it. The rookie combination of Teat and Carraway is too lethal and that is why I am taking the Atlas to cover the spread.
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