The Premier Lacrosse League’s Battle for the Crown has its first invitee.

Myles Jones tied his previous PLL high for points with four and looked as dynamic as he has all year in Chaos’ 13-10 win against Redwoods on Saturday at San Jose’s Avaya Stadium. With the triumph, Chaos became the first team in the history of the PLL to clinch a playoff spot.

“We made history,” Jones said in his postgame interview. “It’s a big deal for us. Since we committed to this in October, we knew this was something special. This was a special one for our team.”

Jones’ highlight reel play of the afternoon came in the latter half of the third quarter when his spin dodge crossed up Tyler Dunn of the Redwoods. Dunn lost his footing and his helmet, while Jones stepped into a shot from up top and found the net.

Redwoods are poling @Simple__Jake, so @MylesJones_15 is enjoying short-stick matchups. And I don't think the short-sticks are enjoying that matchup. pic.twitter.com/spLHG5bB41

— Joe Keegan (@joekeegs) August 10, 2019

He also joined the famed “bomb squad,” the group of Chaos players who have hit a shot from 2-point range this season. The goal pushed the Chaos lead to 11-8 with 11 minutes and change left in the final frame.

“It felt great,” Jones said. “I’ve been hunting that all year.”

Redwoods cut the lead to one again, but Jarrod Neumann scored from deep to end the comeback effort with 5:53 remaining.

“YOU SHOULD HAVE SLID AGAIN” ⠀
⠀
MIC’D UP @JNEU_XV pic.twitter.com/4v1w5oPBhk

— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) August 11, 2019

Crotty leads inspired Chrome

With its back against the wall, Chrome responded and kept its slim playoff hopes intact.

Chrome set a PLL record for goals, with Ned Crotty leading the way with seven points, in a surprising 20-16 victory against Whipsnakes on Saturday.

“When we were playing in Denver, we were playing way too slow,” Crotty said after the game on NBC Sports Gold. “Today we wanted to dodge hard out of the box and just make the right decisions.”

It was a strong bounce-back performance from Crotty, who was held off the scorecard last week for the first time as a PLL player.

“Especially going into a bye week, that sucked,” Crotty said. “Not only losing but playing like that on top of it. … I wanted to come out, have a couple good weeks and then come out and play my game and create.”

The Chrome defense shut out Matt Rambo, who entered the weekend as the league’s leader in points. His goose egg, combined with five points from Chrome’s Justin Guterding, helped the former Duke star jump Rambo on the points leaderboard.

It’s still an uphill battle for the Chrome, who sit two games back of fourth-placed Archers with two weeks left in the regular season.

The Whips are suddenly reeling, losing three of the last four after it appeared they’d be the clear-cut first team to clinch a playoff berth. Whipsnakes is still a near lock to make the cut but needs to adjust if it hopes to make a run for a title.

Archers balanced against Atlas

Four Archers players notched three or more points Sunday as the team earned a crucial 15-11 win in a battle of squads fighting for the final playoff positions.

The Archers’ best offensive performance of the season helped the team jump into a tie with Redwoods at 4-4 for the third and fourth spots in the standings. Archers holds the tiebreaker due to goal differential.

“This is a group of resilient guys,” Holman said on NBCSN. “A group of winners and a group of great teammates. We take that formula combined with discipline, play and great defense is going to lead us into the playoffs and beyond.”

Holman led the bunch with four goals, while Joey Sankey notched three points on two goals and an assist in his first game since he was acquired in a trade from Redwoods. Ryan Ambler and Christian Cuccinello also added three points.

Atlas went up 5-3 early, but a 7-1 run by Archers gave them a 10-6 lead in the third quarter. Atlas kept up the rest of the way but was never able to cut the deficit back under three.

Eric Law had five points for Atlas in the losing effort.

Play of the Week

Chaos’ Connor Fields went to work from X against Garrett Epple, deking the Redwoods defender into his own net before scoring on a one-handed dunk shot. Fields’ incredible play earned him a slot on the SportsCenter Top 10.

Connor Fields & #SCTOP10 go together like peanut butter and jelly pic.twitter.com/4H5TGNUKQK

— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) August 11, 2019

Noteworthy

The Chrome-Whipsnakes meeting set a new PLL high for goals in a game with 36, besting the previous high by three. The first quarter, which featured 14 goals, was also the highest-scoring quarter in the league’s history. … Chrome may have the worst record in the league but is tied with Archers for the best goal differential. … Jerry Ragonese, acquired by the Redwoods to fill in for injured Greg Gurenlian, went 6-20 at the faceoff X in his PLL debut. … Archers continued to split goalie duties. Drew Adams made nine saves and Adam Ghitelman made eight. … Atlas’ Trevor Baptiste penned his own recap of the season thus far prior to the San Jose matchups for Sports Illustrated. … Paul Rabil was featured for his fashion sense by People this week.

Up Next

The PLL heads north of the border for the first time as the league travels to Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario. Chaos and Archers kick off the weekend on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. (NBCSN), while Chrome and Atlas close the first day’s festivities at 3:30 p.m. on NBC Sports Gold. The No. 2 and 3 teams battle on Sunday when the Whipsnakes and Redwoods meet at 6 p.m. (NBCSN).