Through the first three weeks of the 2024 PLL season, one team stands out: New York Atlas.
The Atlas sits at first in the standings with a 4-0 record and plus-19 goal differential. Jeff Teat is leading the league with 30 points, and the team is averaging a league-best 17.8 scores per game. Their week three victory against the California Redwoods was their offensive best game yet. They won 20-15, and outscored California 12-7 in the second half.
The success of Trevor Baptiste at the stripe, and the connection between Teat, Connor Shellenberger, and Xander Dickson have the Atlas looking unstoppable throughout the early going of the season.
Here are 5 plays from the week three win that encapsulate Atlas’ success:
1:33 2nd Quarter: Redwoods 7 – Atlas 8
The Atlas offence has the perfect blend of elite distributors and off-ball players. For this goal, Teat is operating at the top of the arc against Redwoods M Cole Kirst. As Teat begins his dodge, Dickson motions to SSDM Chet Comizio to move away from the goal. The defence begins to prematurely shift towards Teat, leaving Dickson open in the middle of the field with two yards of space. As soon as Dickson flashes his stick, Teat finds him for the easy finish. The Atlas punish small mistakes by the defence.
7:33 3rd Quarter: Redwoods 8 – Atlas 12
After a messy, missed-shot-filled possession, Shellenburger uses a pick to get Redwoods defender Arden Cohen hung up. Several Atlas players start moving around flashing their sticks. A hard cut from Brian Costabile forced Redwoods LSM Jared Conners to support off of Teat, who then found his left hand open. Shellenberger threw a quick pass right into Teat’s stick. Teat took two steps to the left and flipped the ball into the top left corner past Jack Kelly. Teat proved in the first clip that he can feed into tight windows, and this one shows his ability to finish those situations as well.
6:42 3rd Quarter: Atlas 13 – Redwoods 8
One of the areas the Atlas struggled in last season was the transition game, and this goal shows improvement in that area. After a save from Tim Trounter, SSDM Peyton Rezanka caught an outlet pass and started the fast break. Rezanka threw a quick pass to Teat on the left wing, who found Comizio for an easy step-down.
When an offence is hot, everyone on the team becomes more dangerous and the Atlas can get scoring from anywhere on the field. Teams will be hesitant to slide off the three attackmen in transition, so the defensive personnel will get looks throughout the summer. If they can cash them in… look out.
11:20 4th Quarter: Atlas 16 – Redwoods 10
After a strong faceoff win from Baptiste, the Atlas fast-break offence goes to work. Baptiste passes to Shellenberger, causing Redwoods defender Chris Conlin to move upfield and leave Dickson open. Shellenberger throws to his former Virginia teammate, who improves his angle and fires the ball into the back of the net before Holden Garlent can rotate over.
Baptiste is one of the more well-rounded players on the Atlas and has a solid offensive game for a faceoff man. His offensive ability gives the defense one more player to think about and before they can properly rotate, a goal has been scored. This also demonstrates the difficult decisions for defences. On the last one, Comizio scored, but if you leave these attackmen open they will make you pay.
4:37 4th Quarter: Atlas 19 – Redwoods 12
The Atlas offence is dominant playing 6-on-6, give them a power play, and they might be unstoppable. On this play towards the end of the game. Shellenberger plays the role of feeder and Teat plays the role of scorer. “Shelley” operates from the right wing and moves about ten yards upfield. He then fired a cross-field skip pass to Teat, who was sitting on the left post, and quick-sticked the ball into the goal.
This goal comes from the attention Shellenberger demands when he has the ball and ball watching from the Redwoods left Teat wide open for the easy finish. He is probably the best feeder that Teat has played with in his time with the Atlas, and is an example of the easy goals Teat has been scoring this year.
While things can certainly change in the last 7 weeks of the season, the New York Atlas are clicking on all cylinders and look like the team to beat in the 2024 PLL season. The game against the Redwoods showed how dangerous they can be when all three phases (offence, defence, faceoff) are contributing.
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