Week 8 in the PLL kicked off in Chicago with the Philadelphia Waterdogs taking on the California Redwoods. The Waterdogs had won two in a row leading up to the All-Star break, and welcomed back faceoff specialist Alec Stathakis to the lineup. Meanwhile, the Redwoods split their homecoming doubleheader the week before the break, remaining atop the Western Conference. A huge second half saw CJ Kirst scoring five of his six goals as the Waterdogs prevailed 15-13. Philly’s third straight win moves them up to 4-2, and into first place in the Eastern Conference. The Redwoods drop to 4-3 with the loss, but remain in first in the West, pending the outcomes of other games this weekend.
Richmond scores first career PLL goal, but Waterdogs trail at halftime
The Redwoods struck first, with Brayden Mayea finding the net at 1:56. Kieran McArdle (4:39) responded for Philly, but Dylan Molloy (9:02) put California back in front 2-1 after the first quarter. Ryder Garnsey (0:21 second quarter) quickly extended the lead to 3-1 before Josh Yago (1:54) got one back. The Redwoods kept pressing, and markers from Andrew McAdorey (5:14) and Brian Tevlin (6:59) put them up 5-2. CJ Kirst (7:42) broke the run, and Silas Richmond followed with his first career PLL goal (10:32) to pull the Waterdogs within one, 5-4 at halftime.
Kirst, Waterdogs explode in second half for third straight win
Kirst opened the second half with his second goal (0:49) to tie the game, 5-5. Chris Kavanagh buried a feed from Tevlin 14 seconds later to put California up 6-5 before the Waterdogs went on a three-goal run. Michael Sowers (1:47), McArdle’s second (2:18), and Kirst’s hat trick goal (2:36) gave Philly an 8-6 lead. Kavanagh (3:58) netted his second to make it a one-goal game before Zach Currier (6:39) pushed the Waterdogs lead back to two. The Redwoods then scored three of the next four goals to tie the game 10-10, thanks to Josh Balcarcel (8:10), Sam English (10:02), and Garnsey’s second (10:48), sandwiched around Kirst’s third goal of the quarter and fourth of the game (10:35).
California continued to roll to start the fourth quarter, with Garnsey’s hat trick goal (2:05) and a second from McAdorey (4:11) giving Redwoods a 12-10 lead. Another three-goal run from the Waterdogs came in response, with Sowers (5:07 power play), Yago (5:42), and Kirst (7:15) giving Philly a 13-12 lead. Garnsey tied the game once more at 13-13 with his fourth goal of the night (8:38). But Philly would get a hat trick goal from Sowers 14 seconds later, and Kirst would finish the scoring by tallying his second sock trick of the season at 11:09. Redwoods had one more chance at the end of the game when Philly was flagged for an offsides penalty with two seconds remaining. By rule, 10 seconds were added to the game clock, but Mayea lost the handle on an inside feed, and the Waterdogs ran out the clock for their third straight win.
Other Stats Of Note
Waterdogs: CJ Kirst (6g); Sowers (3g, 2a); McArdle (2g, 1a); Yago (2g, 1a); Currier (1g, 2a); Richmond (1g); Matt Collison (1a); Matt Whitcher (1a)
Redwoods: Garnsey (4g, 1a); Kavanagh (2g, 2a); McAdorey (2g); Tevlin (1g, 1a); English (1g, 1a); Molloy (1g); Mayea (1g); Balcarcel (1g); Jared Conners (1a)
Matt DeLuca (Waterdogs): 14 saves; Dillon Ward (Redwoods): 10 saves
Alec Stathakis (Waterdogs): 18-31 faceoffs; 7 ground balls
Penalty Kill: Waterdogs 3 for 3; Redwoods 0 for 1
