Patrick Resch ’14 Wins PLL Championship with the Chaos

We all missed sports during the pandemic when everything was shut down, and many wondered what it would look like when we were finally able to start competing again. Some of us joked that we may not remember how sports work (me). Apparently, that break made no difference to the Chaos, which won the Premier Lacrosse League Championship at the end of September.

Patrick Resch '14 has been playing professional lacrosse since 2015 and has been with the Chaos for the past three years. This is not only the team's first championship win, but also the first win since the PLL and MLL (Major League Lacrosse) merged. Long story short: the MLL started in 2000 and was the only league until the PLL made its way onto the scene in 2019. In December of 2020, the two merged, expanded by one team, kept the PLL name and the rest is history. "One league is good for the sport," Resch said.

Let's set the scene. The Chaos ended the three-month regular season in sixth place out of eight teams. They swept through the quarterfinals vs. the Archers and the semis against the Atlas, teams they had lost to earlier in the season, and made their way to the championship game against the two-time defending champion Whipsnakes. It was a little bit of déjà vu, given that the Chaos had fallen to the Whipsnakes in the final the year before.

The outcome was different this time around as the Chaos walked away victorious (14-9). "It felt great to get some redemption after how last year ended," Resch said. "It was pretty cool to end up on top as the sixth seed. Our team has always embraced being the underdog, rallied around that mentality and used it as fuel. It was really special to show how the Chaos has developed over the course of the year and how we play for one another."

How did the Chaos go from underdog to champion? The world shutting down was hard for everyone, but it helped the squad get to work on the field. "We were in a bubble in Salt Lake City last year. We were either at the hotel, the practice facility or the game facility. It was fun because, for three weeks, we were full-time lacrosse players and could focus all of our energy on playing, practicing and recovering."

Although Resch enjoyed last season, he and the rest of the guys were happy to have a normal season this year. "We were able to get back on the road, which is the best part of playing. The only major difference is the COVID testing and the fact that fans were allowed there, but we couldn't sign autographs or take pictures."

All these years later, Resch thinks back on his time at Dartmouth fondly. Two things that still tie him to his alma mater: 1) his jersey number and 2) the Chaos' head coach, Andy Towers, was his coach at Dartmouth all four years. "It was really cool to reconnect with Andy. He was an unbelievable coach and mentor for me at Dartmouth. His biggest thing that he talked about then that carried over to the Chaos was caring for your teammates and playing for the guy next to you. That really stuck with me and is the reason we play the game and why I still love doing it. I love being part of the locker room. Andy still continues to preach that message to this day."

Resch said that he plans on being back with the Chaos next summer for his fourth year and will continue to play as long as he can. "I'm going to keep showing up until they tell me not to," he laughed.

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