The 40 names I want to see at PLL Pro Day
- Dan Arestia
- 3 hours ago
- 6 min read
PLL Pro Day will be held around Baltimore weekend at the end of this month. It’s an opportunity for undrafted and player pool players to be on the field against other pro level talent and earn their way onto a roster.
In compiling this list, I stuck entirely to names that are available and not on a PLL 25 man roster. I did not consider their current day job (if they’re working on), if they’re even interested in being pros, or things like that which might impact availability. The only exception is service academy grads, where I assume their military obligations will make them unavailable so I kept them off the list (as much as I would love to see Pat Skalniak out there).
They are not listed in any particular order; it isn’t a ranking. This is just a rundown of players I personally would love to see evaluated against other pro level players by pro coaches and GMs. I included several at each position, then smaller groups for goalie and faceoff specialists to be proportional to roster sizes.
ATTACK
Aidan O’Neil, Richmond
Finn Thomson, Syracuse
Vince D’Alto, Boston U
Chris Lyons, Yale/Maryland
Alex Marinier, Ohio State
Rory Connor, Colgate/Georgetown
Riley Sullivan, Lafayette
JP Ward, Delaware
Weapons abound. Aidan O’Neill and Finn Thomson were names I expected to hear on draft day. Thomson in particular made a ton of sense for the Whips at pick 32, having already drafted Joey Spalllina. Thomson’s shooting and finishing skills make him a nice complement to the offense that Maryland is building. An endpoint to an offense that has several starting points. O’Neill has versatility to do all sorts of things at the the pro level. He isn’t a guy you build your offense around, but he’s a guy who can fill multiple roles in it. At Richmond he has had success as a scorer and feeder, both above and below the goal. Connor and Marinier are both goal score machines. Not PLL dodging threats, but PLL scoring threats. Vince D’Alto had a shot with the Woods last year but didn’t stick, I’d like to see him get another opportunity to stand out. Riley Sullivan was a scoring machine at Lafayette in 2025, moving to attack after three years at midfield. His best play came as a feeder that senior year, and while he definitely piled up points against some down teams, he had two separate four point games against BU. I’d like to see him on a field with pro level talent to see if he can stand out.
MIDFIELD
Hunter Drouin, Colgate
Griffin Scane, Penn
Will Angrick, Notre Dame
John Murray, Sacred Heart
John Dunphey, Princeton
Andrew Cook, CNU
Hunter Drouin was a name to watch on draft day but went uncalled. He cooled off a bit down the stretch and that may have contributed, but at the end of the day he’s a natural midfielder who averaged about 50 points a year over the last three years. John Dunphey’s stock has done nothing but rise over the last few weeks. In fact, if you held the draft again today, I would wager he gets taken. It’s hard to stand out in this Princeton offense, but Dunphey is a steady producer and a very effective dodger. John Murray has always impressed me at SHU, he’s a high IQ midfielder who played mostly attack this past year. Guys who consistently make the correct play and are efficient usually can be effective pros. Andrew Cook was D3’s best midfielder, scoring 266 points in three seasons at CNU. He finished up his college career in 2024, and had a camp shot with the Cannons. He has PLL midfielder size, if he’s still interested in being a pro I’d want to see him out there.
DEFENSE/LSM
Richard Checo, Lehigh
Jayson Singer, Cornell
Paul Barton, North Carolina
Charlie Cave, Brown
Michael Bath, Princeton
Jed Hoggard, Bowdoin
Evan Karetsos, Dickinson
Elijah Gash, Albany
It’s easy to make a case that Checo going undrafted was a surprise in itself. He’d be available right away as Lehigh didn’t make the tournament, and Checo finished college as D1’s all time leader in caused turnovers. He flexed between close and LSM in college, I would think of him more as an LSM at the pro level. Checo was on the draft board for a few PLL teams, but not at the top of the board for his position for anyone; those teams had Checo as the next guy they’d take if the draft kept going. Singer was an elite defender with Cornell, guarding the top matchup and anchoring a national championship defense. He spent the last year playing football at Elon, but he absolutely has pro lacrosse ability and is worth evaluating. Same with Paul Barton, a four year starting level player at UNC who joined the football team last fall.
Elijah Gash has always been a player I’ve pulled for. The athleticism and physical ability is undeniable; he has the size and speed of an NFL tight end. But coming out of Albany he was just so raw in terms of on field skill and IQ. The Whipsnakes rostered him for a year but he just didn’t get enough time to play and develop. Gash has since been playing indoors in the NLL and just won a title with the Rock; if I was a GM I’d want to see how his development from the indoor game might elevate his outdoor pro game.
SSDM
Eliot Cohen, Washington & Lee
Patrick Hackler, Yale/Johns Hopkins
Andrew O’Berry, Harvard/UNC
John King, Penn State
Zach Goorno, Bowdoin/Maryland
Chase Yager, Harvard/UVA
Patrick Hackler has the skillset that creates an entire roster spot in the PLL. While at Yale, Hackler took wings, played man down, was the top shorty, and stayed on with the top midfield to trap opposing players in the sub game. Not just as a 5v5 type tactic, but because he was that good on offense too. Two way ability like that is a premium trait in the PLL. Eliot Cohen and Zack Goorno have both been the top shorty in D3 at different times. Goorno took a grad year at Maryland, Cohen has been elite in D3 the past few seasons. They have the physical traits and athleticism of a PLL defender, the question will just be about them covering pro level midfield dodgers. A question that pro day exists to answer.
FACEOFF
Luca Accardo, High Point
Andrew McMeekin, Princeton
Warner Cabaniss, CNU
Tommy Burke, Vermont/Ohio State
Bo Columbus, Robert Morris
Burke and Columbus have already gotten some looks in PLL camps, and while the coaches in those camps have had positive notes on their play, the fact of the matter is teams tend to carry one faceoff man, two at the very most on the 25 man. It’s not an easy spot to break in. Luca Accardo had an exceptional year at High Point and has been an All American. McMeekin is the best in this group at going forward and is skilled enough to be dangerous; he likely is already on radars with PLL coaches who are waiting for Princeton’s season to end. Cabaniss has a pro fogo build at 6’0, 200 lbs. He was one of the best in D3 in his time at CNU. As a notable reference, he went better than 50% against W&L’s Tyler Spano, and Spano is currently at 59% and the top weapon for this new team, Notre Dame. If Cabaniss can get the better of Spano, it’s worth seeing what he can do against pro level specialists.
GOALIE
Ryan Croddick, Princeton
Michael Gianforcaro, Princeton/North Carolina
Dylan Renner, Adelphi
Collin Krieg, UNC
Christian Tomei, Ohio State/Jacksonville/Belmont Abbey/Adelphi
Goalie remains one of the most challenging spots to break into the PLL. An underappreciated part of Brett Dobson’s decision to go pro instead of taking another year in the ACC is that Dobson correctly spotted teams with goalie openings in his draft year. Pro teams tend to find a goalie they trust and stick with him for the long haul, so openings are few and far between. Ryan Croddick is already on team radars, but given Princeton is the one seed in the NCAA tournament and still competing, it’s no surprise he isn’t on a roster. Yet. Croddick made a strong case for top goalie in the 2026 class. He thrives in part because of the way the defense plays in front of him; for my money Croddick leads the nation in “sees the shots he wants to see and not the ones he doesn’t”, but he still makes the stops he has to make. The pair of Adelphi goalies are interesting to me as well. Renner already was on the Archers roster but didn’t stick. He had top tier D1 interest as a transfer but chose to remain at Adelphi, and he’s been a Kelly award winner. Tomei has already had a remarkable journey. He played in the All American game as a high school senior, and took his talents to Ohio State. Tomei struggled with weight, fitness, and finding his way, ultimately heading to Jacksonville before leaving lacrosse altogether. Eventually he found his way back, first at the NAIA level, then at Belmont Abbey in D2 and then this past year at Adelphi. In 2026, he has looked fit, focused, and posted some of the best save metrics in all of college lacrosse this year. He has always had the ability, and though it took some time for him to get there, he finally is starting to reach the potential that everyone saw in him as a high schooler.