The Utah Archers handled the Maryland Whipsnakes 13-8 Saturday night in a game in Denver that turned decisively in the third quarter when Maryland faceoff specialist Petey LaSalla left with a left ankle injury — handing Utah an advantage they never relinquished.
LaSalla had gone 6-for-12 before exiting and Utah led 7-4. Once he was gone, Archers faceoff man Mike Sisselberger won all 10 remaining faceoffs — going against a trio of short-stick defensive middies that Maryland was forced to press into duty — finishing 18-for-24 on the night. Utah dominated possession from that point forward, and the Whipsnakes never had a chance to get into rhythm offensively. The Archers pulled away and didn't look back. Maryland falls to 5-4 with two regular-season games remaining.
Connor Fields led Utah with three goals and was the game's top scorer. On the Maryland side, Joey Spallina led the Whipsnakes with three points — two goals and an assist — but shot just 28.6 percent on seven attempts. Ryan Connell added two goals on four shots (50%), and Aidan Carroll chipped in two more. Rob Pannell finished with a goal and an assist despite taking seven shots at 14.3 percent, illustrating how difficult Brett Dobson was to solve all night.
Dobson made 18 saves at 69.2 percent — the kind of dominant goaltending performance Maryland has seen from him in big games before. Emmet Carroll made 13 saves for Maryland but stopped shots at just 52 percent as the Archers generated high-quality looks throughout.
TJ Malone, one of the PLL's most dangerous players over Maryland's recent win streak, managed just one goal on 10 shots (10%). The possession imbalance that Sisselberger created in the second half largely explains it — when the Whipsnakes can't get the ball, nobody can score.
Maryland's two remaining games — against Denver and Boston — will determine their playoff seeding.
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