After an unusually slow start to the season, the Waterdogs are back on track winning their fourth game in a row here in week 8. The offense got off to a hot start early, scoring 8 goals on 13 shots in the first quarter, including Charlie Kitchen’s first goal in the PLL. Kitchen had a perfect dodge to the goal, creating enough space for McArdle to thread the ball in. With quick hands, Kitchen managed to catch and fire the ball behind his back to beat Marrocco and give the Waterdogs their lead back. The offense came from a multitude of players for the Dogs as many people recorded a point, even the defenders got in on the action. However, none of them had quite the day like Kieran McArdle, who managed to score 3 goals (on 43% shooting) and earn 4 assists) for 7 total points. McArdle was able to find his spot multiple times to scorch one past Marrocco, and when the defense eventually closed on him, he was able to diagnose the shift and find the open man for an easier shot. As much as lacrosse is a team sport, someone always has to step up, and McArdle most definitely stepped up against the Cannons. With near perfect passing, the Waterdogs were able to swing the ball around early and often in the first, leading to truly unselfish play and racking up 10 assists on their 15 goals.
The rest of the game was a little lackluster in terms of scoring for both teams, only scoring a total of 16 goals out of the 29 in the whole game. While some may think of this as poor offense, I would classify this as a more of a defensive chess match. Both teams limited the scoring opportunities, while accumulating plenty of turnovers and ground balls to match. Even when the Waterdogs were able to get shots off towards Marrocco, he turned 16 of them away, giving himself a 52% save percentage on the day. Even though the offense struggled, the Waterdogs still won and that was due to the efforts of the defense standing strong and taking away shots and passing lanes. The Dogs defense was stifling, responsible for 12 caused turnovers and 37 ground balls, and the defenders to thank for that are Byrnes, Sabia, Gobrecht, and Randall. With all this good work defensively, it's easy to forget Ward, but he managed to be the stalwart they needed by coming up with 9 saves.
While both the Waterdogs and the Cannons both had their best quarters in the first, the Waterdogs looked to be in their peak form, winning faceoffs and creating offense via their passes and dodges to the crease to their outstanding defense and great work between the pipes from Dillon Ward. If I could give out an MVP for a single game, it would, without a doubt, be Kieran McArdle.