It’s Carolina homecoming week for Week 2 of the 2024 Premier Lacrosse League. The Carolina Chaos will play host for this weekend’s PLL action, taking place on Friday, June 7th, and Saturday, June 8th. The games will be played at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. Let’s take a look at the Premier Lacrosse League Week 2 picks and best bets.
Last week, it was the New York Atlas who took full advantage of their homecoming, winning both matches over the Boston Cannons and Maryland Whipsnakes to start the season off 2-0 and grab the early advantage in the Eastern standings, with all three of the other Eastern teams suffering a loss.
The Utah Archers defeated the Philadelphia Waterdogs, and the Carolina Chaos outlasted the Denver Outlaws. In Week 2, we will see the California Redwoods play, while the Philadelphia Waterdogs will have the week off.
PLL: Premier Lacrosse League Week 2 Picks and Best Bets
Carolina Chaos (-1.5) vs California Redwoods
The biggest news for this game is that the Chaos will be without four-time Goalie of the Year, Blaze Riorden, who left their Week 1 matchup with a knee injury. The team will likely turn to veteran backup Austin Kaut in hopes that Riorden will return in a few weeks. The Chaos scored 16 points but turned the ball over 22 times in Week 1 against the Outlaws.
For the Redwoods, it’ll be their first action of the season after having Week 1 off with a bye. The biggest question for this Redwoods team is going to be the new-look defense. The departures of Garrett Epple, Eddy Glazener, and John Sexton are going to lead to a completely new look for California.
On the offensive side, it’s all about the young players Nakeie Montgomery, who’ll be used as a two-way midfielder, and Cole Kirst, who led all midfielders in points (18) in 2023. Also, third-round pick Levi Anderson is expected to make an impact.
Carolina has home field advantage and one game in the books. However, missing their star goalie, in addition to the massive turnover problem in Week 1, is too concerning to take them as the favorites. This youthful Redwoods team, which has been 12-7 against the spread as underdogs since 2021, is going to come out hungry and ready to roll in its first action of the season.
Pick: California Redwoods +1.5 (-134)
Utah Archers (-2.5) vs Denver Outlaws
The Outlaws were the team on the other side of all of those turnovers and points for the Chaos in Week 1. Brennan O’Neill looked good in his first start scoring two points, and has a bright future ahead of him. As the Chrome last year, this team struggled, and a lot of that showed through in Week 1 again. Despite getting 22 turnovers, they still gave up 16 points and lost by five.
Siss scored in Albany last year and has already scored in Albany this year!
We love a FOGO goal. 😄 pic.twitter.com/njCFgPRJYg
— Utah Archers (@PLLArchers) June 1, 2024
The Archers looked good in Week 1 against the Philadelphia Waterdogs and could be argued (it’s still only one week in) as the best team in the league so far. Their defense was lights out in Week 1, while the offense was good early on, with an eight-goal lead. They didn’t score a single goal in the final 20:23 of play.
That could be concerning, but this is a team that can figure that out quickly. And let’s face it, they didn’t need to score the way their defense was playing. 2.5 isn’t nearly a big enough number in this game, and the Archers covered both matches last year against the Chrome. Give me the Archers easily.
Pick: Utah Archers -2.5 (+104)
New York Atlas (-1.5) vs Carolina Chaos
This is the marquee matchup of the weekend. Flexed into the Saturday, 5 p.m. ET slot on ESPN2, the 2-0 Atlas will take on the home team after their Friday game against the Redwood. Connor Shellenberger, the No. 2 pick in the Premier Lacrosse League College Draft, looked the part in Week 1 with three goals and four assists against Boston.
Shellenberger missed Sunday’s game with a groin injury but hopes to play this week. Jeff Teat, the former number one pick, balloted out putting up 11 points Saturday and added three more against the Whipsnakes.
Carolina will be on their second game of the weekend as they look to follow in the Atlas footsteps by sweeping their homecoming weekend. New York has already matched its win total from 2023 with a strong Week 1, but since 2021 are just 1-3 against the spread vs the Chaos.
In all four games, New York were -1.5-point favorites. Last season the Atlas went 1-5 ATS as favorites, while the Chaos are 17-11 ATS since 2021. This one should be close. Give me the Chaos to cover.
Pick: Carolina Chaos +1.5 (-122)
Boston Cannons (-1.5) vs Maryland Whipsnakes
The weekend wraps up with two 0-1 teams looking to get their first win of the season. The Cannons gave up 34 shots on goal in Week 1, which didn’t make things easy for Colin Kirst. The Cannons got destroyed on faceoffs going just 7-32. Their top pick, Pat Kavanagh, was relatively quiet on the day.
The Whipsnakes also lost to the Atlas in Week 1, but their loss was a little closer than Bostons. The Atlas jumped out to a 10-1 lead on the Whipsnakes, but Maryland fought back. The Atlas were without rookie number two overall pick Connor Shellenberger in this game. The biggest takeaway from Week 1 for the Whipsnakes was the resilience they showed. Expect them to battle it out until the end.
Pick: Maryland Whipsnakes +1.5 (-134)
