RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesAfter Chaos faceoff specialist Justin Inacio suffered a right knee sprain in Carolina’s 13–12 overtime win over the Boston Cannons and was ruled out for the team’s doubleheader in Columbus , general manager Spencer Ford chose not to sign another faceoff specialist to replace him.
Ahead of Friday night’s matchup with the California Redwoods — who boast one of the PLL’s top faceoff men in TD Ierlan — he explained why.
“There could be guys who could come in and possibly win, but there is not one person who can come and be the whole package for us,” Ford said. “Could they get us 40%? Could they be great in the pick game when TD is working to get a switch for [ Chris Kavanagh ]? Can they stop TD from going forward? He has hurt us at that and usually scores a big goal. Can he be great on offense and enable us to play fast in the 32[-second shot clock]?”
Ford and the Chaos feel more comfortable staying in-house at the stripe with a rotation of offensive and short-stick defensive midfielders.
Ty English , Christian Scarpello and Ray Dearth – who took the remaining 23 faceoffs after Inacio exited against the Cannons in the first quarter – will continue to take a majority of the faceoffs against the Redwoods and the Philadelphia Waterdogs this weekend.
Not dressing a faceoff man has also allowed Carolina to add a fourth SSDM to its roster for the first time this season, which means second-year Ohio State graduate Greg Langermeier will make his season debut in Columbus. Langermeier racked up four caused turnovers, scooped up eight groundballs and tallied two assists in nine games as a rookie in 2025.
“We decided on an extra SSDM so that we could be ready with personnel on the field to play 32,” Ford said. “If it works, then that means our guys did their jobs.”
While there has been discussion on social media about Carolina’s decision not to add a faceoff specialist for the weekend, Ford emphasized that he would rather rely on someone already ingrained in the Chaos roster. One external option, Waterdogs backup Connor Farrell , is on Philadelphia’s protected roster this weekend, so Carolina would need to trade for him rather than sign him.
“[I am] not against the faceoff,” Ford said. “[But I am] just not able to make a trade with a team that we are playing tomorrow, and not confident a player can come in and be what we need them to be after not playing for a long period.”
The Chaos will take on the Redwoods at 6 p.m. ET on Friday and then face the Waterdogs at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday. Both games will be on ESPN+.
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