2025 Utah Archers Season Preview

2024 Record: 6-4, Won PLL Championship

Notable Departures: Jack VanOverbeke (free agent), Jack DiBenedetto (free agent), Ryan Aughavin (free agent), Jackson Morrill (free agent), Cole Williams (free agent), Latrell Harris (playing indoor)

Notable Additions: Will Lynch (free agent), Devon McLane (free agent), Max Merklinger (free agent), Richie Connell (free agent), James Shipley (free agent)

Draft Picks: Brendan Lavelle, Mitchell Dunham, Bryce Ford, Sam King

Utah is once again the team to beat. The Archers are the back to back champions. They joined the Philadelphia Barrage (2006-07), Chesapeake Bayhawks (2012-13), and Maryland Whipsnakes (2019-20) as teams to accomplish this outdoors. As evidence of just how much they win as a team, only Tom Schreiber, Grant Ament, and Brett Dobson were up for individual awards last season. They had five players with 20+ points, led by Connor Fields with 32. They had a rookie, Mason Woodward, make arguably the biggest play of the title game when he turned a caused turnover into a two pointer that totally shifted the momentum of the game.

The Archers have been essentially the same group on the field for their two title seasons. Their top 6-8 on offense is pretty immovable. Their SSDM unit is the same every week, their D is the same every week, Dobson never misses a game in net. They’re remarkably consistent as a result. The drawback is all the rostered players who are behind that top group rarely, if ever, see the field. This manifests as a problem in the offseason, when they leave during free agency. So the Archers biggest question every year is, can these new guys fit in? If that’s the biggest issue, the team should be doing alright.

Coach Chris Bates and his staff have successfully found more depth every year. This year it looks like they’ve done it again. The late round steal that is Sam King is perfect for the Archers; King can play anywhere on the field, be pass first or shoot first, and he’s incredibly smart and efficient. He is what you get if the Archers start building their players in a lab. Bryce Ford was a quality midfielder at Maryland. Those are always good fits in the pros. James Shipley is a two way midfield option and good depth there.

The Archers will once again get everyone’s best shot this year. The three peat has never been done in pro field lacrosse, and only twice in pro box lacrosse history. It’s not fair to the Archers to say they should, but it’s not wrong to say they could.

Best Case Scenario

Same food, just reheated. The Archers once again are the best built roster in the PLL. Their defensive midfield is the league’s best, the offense is versatile and stocked with players that are both lethal individually and interchangeable. Grant Ament, even as a MOTY finalist last year, has room to grow and develops even more as a middie, leading the league in scoring from the position. Draft pick Branden Lavelle takes what we’ve seen on tape and brings it to the PLL, locking down even the league’s top attackmen. This allows Mason Woodward to move to LSM full time, and he develops into the best in the league. It all happens in front of Brett Dobson, who finally wins Goalie of the Year. The Archers may drop a game here or there along the way, but there’s no doubt about who the best team in the league is, and they become the first team in outdoor pro lacrosse to three-peat.

Worst Case Scenario

The Archers are a very high floor team. The major hurdles that might appear for this team aren’t the kind of things you scheme and prepare to handle. A scenario where the Archers depth is seriously tested is one they’d like to avoid. As a result of being so successful and having such a clear top 19 players, the Archers tend to lose their depth every offseason. Their free agent departure list above is evidence of that. That means they add new depth pieces every year. Should they have to rely on those pieces which are still new and unproven, things might get bumpy. That happening along with a 2024 Waterdogs level rash of bad luck would have the Archers struggling on a weekly basis, though still in the postseason.