Last season I broke down every PLL game with betting lines available on professional lacrosse for the first time. I wasn’t the most successful with it but hopefully this year goes much better. This week the 2022 season kicks off with four games on opening weekend in Albany, NY.
I’ll likely just stick to sides for the first few weeks of the seasons and skip the totals.
Whipsnakes vs. Chaos (6/4 2:15)
We start off the season with a rematch of last season’s championship between the defending champion Chaos against the 2019 and 2020 champion Whipsnakes. The Chaos knocked off the back to back champs with a 14-9 victory. Previously last season, the Whips had beaten the Chaos 13-7 in opening weekend. Through the season the 5-4 Whipsnakes averaged 11.3 scores per game and allowed an average of 12.6 per game. The 4-5 Chaos averaged 10.7 per game and allowed an average of 11.7 per game with last year’s MVP Blaze Riorden between the pipes. A big factor for the Chaos will be that they’re going to be without most of their most impactful players on offense for the first few weeks of the season with all the guys on the Buffalo Bandits out of the lineup with Game 1 of the NLL Championship series tonight (Let’s Go Bandits!!!). I think that if the Chaos had a full lineup this would be a much closer matchup but without all the Bandits, the Whips should pretty easily get their revenge today from last season’s ship. The ML at -215 is too expensive to me but I’ll take the Whips -1.5 for a unit.
Redwoods vs. Atlas (6/4 5:00)
Last season the Atlas revamped their lineup with young stars and were lead by rookie Jeff Teat to a 6-3 record. They came up short on the season, losing 15-9 in the semifinals to the eventual champion Chaos. The Atlas lead the PLL in scoring, with 13.3 scores per game and they allowed an average of 12 scores per game. The Redwoods are filled with a roster of veterans and although the legend Kyle Harrison retired, the Woods still have a dangerous offense lead by Myles Jones, Rob Pannell and Jules Heningburg. Last season the Redwoods went 5-4 and lost 14-13 to the Whipsnakes in the first round of the playoffs. They averaged 12.2 scores per game and allowed an average of 11.8 per game. When these teams played in Week 2 of last season, the Atlas won 12-9. This will be a possession battle with the two best face off guys in the league, Trevor Baptiste for the Atlas and TD Ierlan for the Redwoods. I like the Atlas to win this game and will take them for half a unit. I’d lean the over but will stay off it for week 1.
Waterdogs vs. Cannons (6/5 1:00)
In their sophomore season last year, the Waterdogs bounced back from their lousy franchise start in their inaugural bubble season of 2020 and ended up going 6-3 last year to go into the playoffs with the top seed in the PLL but lost 14-10 to the Whipsnakes in the semi finals. They averaged 12.3 scores per game and were fantastic defensively, especially in the second half of the season. They allowed the second fewest scores in the PLL, an average of only 10.9 goals per game. The Cannons come into their second season in the Premier Lacrosse League after their 3-6 inaugural season. They scored an average of 12.2 scores per game and allowed an average of 13.3 goals per game, the most in the PLL. Even with the retirement of the face of the franchise, Paul Rabil, the Cannons still have arguably the best player in the world, Lyle Thompson on their attack. These teams played twice last season and split those games. On opening weekend last year, the Cannons won 13-7 and the dogs got their revenge in a 19-7 blowout win in Week 5. The Waterdogs will be without their starting goalie Dillon Ward, who’s out of the lineup since he’s playing in the NLL Championship for the Colorado Mammoth this weekend. Even without Dillon Ward, I like the Waterdogs to win this game. I’ll take the Waterdogs and the over for half a unit each.
Chrome vs. Archers (6/5 3:45)
Last season the Chrome were the worst team in the PLL with a pathetic 2-7 record. They had the lowest scoring offense in the PLL, averaging only 10.2 scores per game and they weren’t much better defensively, allowing an average of 12.8 scores per game, second most in the league. The Archers were very good through the regular season with a 6-3 record but fell short in the playoffs, losing 13-10 to the eventual champion Chaos in the first round. The Archers offense lead the PLL, averaging 13.2 scores per game and they allowed an average of 10.6 scores per game. The Chrome pulled off a low scoring 8-7 upset against the Archers last season on a hell of a performance from goalie Sean Sconone. If there were team total lines for the PLL, I’d be all over the Archers TT over in this game but since there aren’t, I have to approach this differently. The Archers ML is too expensive to me at -250. I think they win this game pretty easily but the -2.5 instead of -1.5 on the score line makes me take a little bit of a step back and just go with half a unit on that instead of a full unit.
Bets
1u Whipsnakes -1.5 (-148)
.5u Atlas ML (-134)
.5u Waterdogs ML (-155)
.5u Watersdogs/Cannons over 24.5 (-115)
.5u Archers -2.5 (-113)
Record: 0-0 (+-0 units)
Please follow me:
Instagram: @atownszone
Twitter: @atownszone
TikTok: @atownszone
If you like the site and my work, share it with your friends!
A Town's Zone 