Game 2 of the quarterfinals sees the 3rd seed Archers take on the 6th seed Redwoods (ROLL 'WOOOODS!). This is another rematch for the playoffs, the first game of the summer saw the Archers win on a goal from Marcus Holman. On that day Holman had 6 points, the game winning goal, and one of the coldest celly's of the season. The 'Woods had nothing for the man on that day, and as a 'Woods fan that was tough to watch. If you will reminisce with me back to 2019 when the Redwoods and Archers faced off in Columbus, Ohio for the PLL Playoffs. That game was intense and featured two major losses for the Archers, a shoulder injury for Tommy Schreiber caused by a Garrett Epple hit and an unfortunately and scary neck injury for Jackson Place. The Redwoods won the game and moved on to eventually reach the championship.
REDWOODS
This season for the 'Woods has been underwhelming. The addition of Notre Dame rookie defenseman Arden Cohen and the return of a healthy TD Irelan was something the Redwoods thought would have them battling for the top seed. Instead, they come into the playoffs as the 6th seed, but it doesn't matter now, the playoffs are here and the 'Woods are lookin' to roll. Well, they would be rollin' if Eddy Glazener was healthy. Instead, the Redwoods defense will be without their field general. The troops will have to rally and find a way to communicate without the best mic'd up player in the league. Seriously, no Glazener sucks for us 'Woods fans. The best way for the 'Woods to minimize the loss of Glaze is to just not play defense and keep the ball in Rob Pannell and the 'Woods O's hands. TD Irelan at the faceoff stripe needs to DOMINATE his matchup against rookie Justin Inacio. In their matchup earlier this season TD won 62% of the faceoffs and Jack Kelly saved 57% of the shots, but the 'Woods still lost. Kelly's saving at 46% in cage this season, the Redwoods might need him to stand on his head against this high-powered Archers offense. The Redwoods offense has shot 28% this season and has the lowest 1-point goal total at 96. The 2-bomb or the threat of it has been an advantage for the 'Woods, who have the 2nd most in the league with 9 2's this season. The 'Woods penalty kill is 2nd highest at 72%, but this number will probably drop with the loss of Eddy Glazener. Coach Nat will hope his Power Play unit will improve, the threat of Jones and Perkovic shooting from deep should cause problems for the Archers defense.
ARCHERS
Coach Bates' Archers come into the playoffs on a two-game win streak after a two-game losing streak. The Archers O has been the best in the league and that was without last season's point leader Grant Ament, who missed 5 games this season due to injury. The Archers are facing off at 38%, between Justin Inacio and Frankie Labetti, last in the league. The Archers defense is giving up 11 scores against per game and that's without Warren Jeffrey who has missed the entire PLL season due to injury after winning the NLL Championship in the spring. I thought the loss would impact the Archers defense heavily, but Scott Ratliff has slotted into that 3rd pole spot seamlessly, not surprisingly, Ratt is the man. Jon Robbins has played well as the backup LSM. The Archers were probably hoping Jared Conners would have a larger impact in the middle of the field. 4 assists, 18 GBs, and 6 CTs isn't bad, but Coach Bates probably expected more from his 2021 first round draft pick. The goalie position has been "OKAY" for the Archers this year. The last three seasons has been goalie by pair with Drew Adams and Adam Ghitelman each playing a half per game. Ghitelman was the full-time starter this season with the retirement of Adams and he has played decent this summer with a save percentage of 49, which is 4 percent below his career average. Coach Bates drafted Brett Dobson, and after Ghitelman had a poor game against the Atlas this season the rookie got his shot. It came against the Whips, but Dobson saved 52% of his shots in a two-goal loss, not bad for a rookie.
I have no idea who will win this playoff matchup. The loss of Glazener for the 'Woods, and the improvement of the Archers offense could be rough for the Redwoods. Even with those hurdles I'm still picking the Redwoods to win. ROLL 'WOODS till the end!
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