2026 Season Result: 7-5, lost in Semifinals Draft Selections: 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5 Pending Free Agents: Zach Goodrich, SSDM JC Higginbotham, G Graydon Hogg, A/M Marcus Holman, A Brian Kelly, A Jack Kielty, D Colin Kirst, G Connor Kirst, M Tye Kurtz, A/M Michael Lampert, A/M Remington Reynolds, D/LSM Jeff Trainor, SSDM SEASON RECAP Early on, it was tough to get a read on Boston. They had the dreaded week one bye, which means the rest of the league had a game of experience under

After months upon months of speculation and buzz in the lacrosse world, it’s become official. Southern Methodist University has announced the launch of a varsity men’s lacrosse program. It’s the first NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse program in the state of Texas. SMU will compete in the ACC, bringing the conference to six members for lacrosse. The team’s first official season will be the spring of 2028. As the sixth member, SMU pushes the ACC past the threshold to have an auto

2026 Season Result: 5-7, missed playoffs Draft Selections: 1.2, 2.2, 3.2, 4.2 Pending Free Agents: Chris Aslanian, M Charlie Bertrand, M Liam Byrnes, D Jackson Eicher, A Mark Glicini, SSDM Justin Inacio, FO Austin Kaut, G Greg Langermeier, SSDM Nick Rowlett, FO Christian Scarpello, SSDM SEASON RECAP Carolina came into the season with a new head coach in Steven Brooks and a promising young core. The consensus was that Spencer Ford had a very successful 2026 draft. He showed up

2025 Season Result: 3-9, missed playoffs Draft Selections: 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1 Pending Free Agents: Carson Billig, SSDM Vinny Butrico, A/M Eli Gobrect, SSDM/LSM Liam Kammer, SSDM Nathan Laliberte, F/O Will Mark, G Jon Robbins, LSM/D Jake Stevens, M Cole Williams, M SEASON RECAP In a lot of ways, the Atlas season was defined by the players who never took the field for them. Defending a title in the PLL is extremely difficult, doing it suffering the personnel losses the Atlas su

s the Los Angeles Olympic games draw closer, the lacrosse world has ramped up efforts to put the Sixes format at center stage. The Premier Lacrosse League has held an annual event called the Championship Series since 2023. In past years, it’s been a week-long event featuring the top four teams from the prior regular season competing in a Sixes format. It closely resembles the Olympic ruleset, with a few modifications like a two point line and higher levels of acceptable conta

Early morning rain led to a soggy field, but that the water couldn’t dowse the fireworks of the 2026 PLL Championship game. The Denver Outlaws and Philadelphia Waterdogs, regarded as the two best and most talented teams all season, met in Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey to determine who would be crowned champions. For Denver it was the culmination of the long, hard road back to championship weekend, where they came up one goal short a season ago. For Philadelphia, it

PLL Award season has concluded, and hardware has been handed out. Award finalists are chosen via votes by PLL players, coaches, and GMs. The winners are then chosen by votes from PLL coaches, GMs, hall of famers, PLL front office members, award namesakes, and members of the media. I am fortunate to be included in the voting process for the winners. In other big four sports leagues, entire ballots are made public. The NBA is the leader at this. You can view entire voting total

Tracking the path of college players to the pro ranks is a passion project of mine. I love seeing who is on the PLL rosters every week, where they went to school, and tracking the programs that send players to the pro outdoor ranks consistently. Some schools surprise you, either with more or less pros than expected, some are consistently great, some fluctuate wildly year to year. It’s something fans, and the schools themselves, enjoy and engage with. I am particular about the

Each week, 21 players are named to the gameday roster for each Premier Lacrosse League club. Of these players, 19 suit up for their team, while two are held on the Protected Roster, ready to be activated in case of injury and to prevent them from being claimed by other teams. That means in a given week, up to 168 players are rostered. These players can come from all over the lacrosse landscape. In 2026, players from 60 NCAA programs (plus MCLA Florida) were rostered in the PL

The Pan Am Lacrosse Championships kick off this week, featuring nine teams competing to qualify for the next World Championships. Those will take place in Japan in 2027. While the expectation is that the US and Canada will battle for gold, the fact that multiple teams qualify beyond those top two means this tournament has a lot of weight. There is a lot of talented beyond those top two heavyweights. The Haudenosaunee, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica are all stacked as well, while Co

I love to play the “Player A vs Player B” game. Two stat lines, side by side, try and guess who is who, and then be surprised and delighted to learn the result. Removes the bias of players being on your favorite (or least favorite) team, maybe recency bias, and anything else that might tilt you towards saying one is better than the other. Just the numbers, and the opportunity to be wrong, be surprised, or have your mind changed. For example: Player A: 59.1% save percentage, 1

Marcus Holman, game changer The Boston Cannons home weekend got off to a bit of an up and down start. The home squad went up early against Maryland in Friday night’s opener, but couldn’t hold momentum. The Whipsnakes went on a 6-0 second quarter run as the Cannons struggled to create quality looks, and the looks they did create were saved by a hot Emmet Carroll. Right at the halftime buzzer, Ajax Zappitello heaved a full field shot that actually got past JC Higginbotham and

Faceoff still needs some help The Carolina Chaos lost every faceoff on Friday night against the California Redwoods, and they won the game. With Justin Inacio hurt they opted not to dress a faceoff specialist and instead faced off with Ty English or other defensive midfielders, effectively conceding possession to the Woods. This was a popular strategy in 2023 when the rule changed to a 32 second shot clock after the faceoff, although in that season teams opted to use long sti

Legal action has been filed against the NCAA in a Colorado court seeking an additional year of NCAA eligibility for members of the high school class of 2022. Athletes named as plaintiffs in the suit include Donovan Branch, Jordan Herman, Bryson Taylor, Joey Spallina, Billy Dwan, Luke Rhoa, Michael Leo, and Finn Thomson. Peter Schaffer is listed as the attorney for the plaintiffs. The lawsuit is one of many that have been filed for high school class of 2022 athletes following

Tre Leclaire is on the league’s hottest heater It’s hard to not sound hyperbolic when talking about how hot Tre Leclaire has been lately. Between the Fairfield and Denver weekends, he nearly tripled his season point total. He showed up to Fairfield with ten points on the season. He left Denver with his total at 27, now tied for 10th in the PLL. Scoring 17 points over three games, just shy of six points per game, is unreal. Other players to do that since PLL launch in 2019: 20

On Friday night in Fairfield, Connecticut, early in the third quarter, Rob Pannell caught a feed from TJ Malone and quick sticked a shot low, scoring his third goal of the night to give the Whipsnakes a 9-5 lead. Maybe a small moment in the game, but a much larger moment in lacrosse history. It was career point number 658, which passed Paul Rabil for the all time points lead. It was a moment that defines Pannell as one of the greatest to ever play lacrosse. Pannell became the

Philadelphia Waterdogs attackman CJ Kirst has emerged as a clear front runner for PLL MVP. He’s scoring at a ridiculous pace. He has 20 goals, evenly split 10 apiece assisted and unassisted. He’s averaging 5.5 points per game, he has rocketed up the league leaderboards in scoring categories and has the Waterdogs at third overall in the standings, trailing only due to score differential. What makes all this more impressive is that Kirst was late arriving to the PLL season. Bec

In some major news yesterday, the PLL announced a $100 million Series E financing round. Ares and Joe Tsai were the headliners, but another investor included actor, writer, and producer Glen Powell. Powell has been in attendance at PLL games in the past, and played lacrosse in high school. He's been on record before saying he would have interest in a lacrosse movie as sort of an untapped space in storytelling, and part of his coming on board sees him join the PLL as a creativ

NEW YORK – June 30, 2026 – The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) today announced the closing of a $100 million Series E financing round led by Ares and Joe Tsai, representing the largest capital raise in the history of professional lacrosse.The round also includes a subsequent minority equity investment from ESPN, along with investments from actor, writer and producer Glen Powell, Co-chairman of Wrexham A.F.C, actor and producer Rob Mac (formerly McElhenney), country music singer

The league belongs to the kids Roster turnover has been a popular topic around the PLL lately. Turnover that is happening, at least in part, due to the fact that the young players in the league are so good. In a given game day, a PLL team has 21 players (19 active, two protected) on their roster. This past weekend, Philadelphia’s roster used 12 spots on players who finished college in 2024, 2025, or 2026. That includes four rookies in their midfield in Kyle Lewis, Josh Yago,