(Inside Lacrosse Photos Chris McNulty, PLL)
Six seasons up, six seasons down for the Premier Lacrosse League.
Nearly a month past the Utah Archers completing its quest as repeat champions, it's time to look toward to 2025. Now entering its seventh season, here are seven questions I'm asking for this PLL Offseason.
1. Will The Archers Three-Peat?
It’s proven to be the most difficult task in professional field lacrosse history.
Three teams were repeat champions before Utah won its second-straight PLL title last month, and only the Whipsnakes have managed to get back to the title game the following postseason. The Philadelphia Barrage lost in an epic semifinal overtime in 2008 after their back-to-back titles, while the Bayhawks didn’t even make the playoffs after their two straight in 2014.
The Archers did it both ways. In 2023, they steamrolled through the regular season but, in the title game, required a Brett Dobson save at the buzzer and Tom Schreiber heroic shot clock-beating winner. In 2024, they went through some ups and downs in the regular season before a much more comfortable title game win vs. Maryland.
This roster is built for sustained success. Dobson has cemented himself as a primetime goalie with consecutive championship MVPs, Schreiber (who recently said he wants to play at least until the Olympics in ’28) will be motivated to give his best coming off a fractured collarbone and upcoming free agents Grant Ament, Matt Moore and Graeme Hossack all seemed happy to keep the band together for the foreseeable future. To re-sign 2023 SSDM of the Year Latrell Harris will further boost a defense that, frankly, needs no boosting.
The depth built behind Schreiber was impressive to win their final four games after he went down. The selflessness from Ament to be excited to train as a midfielder in the offseason is super encouraging for coach Chris Bates and Co. Dobson's even-keeled personality helps everyone play at their best with calm and confidence. The best teammate in the league, Ryan Ambler has shown no signs of slowing down his on-field contributions.
But to have a target on your back now double the size while their seven rivals better in the offseason? That’s been a hill too steep to climb for the previous three teams who successfully defended their crowns. There’s a good deal of luck (staying healthy, getting a bounce here and there, etc.) involved, but above all it requires an elite locker room culture.
What Utah has brewing is special. To cross that threshold from special to historic, though, will require them to freshen up and get better, as well. Will Bates hit more home runs in a less-stocked draft class? Could Tony Resch’s defense add a guy like Jack Rowlett in free agency? What about splashing some cap space on 2022 MVP Trevor Baptiste?
2. With The No. 1 Pick in the 2025 PLL Draft, the Philadelphia Waterdogs Select…?
On the opposite end of the standings, Bill Tierney’s first season in the pros was a forgettable one. But at least it yielded the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s draft.
Although there will be plenty to learn from those late-game situations execution-wise (remember, five of their eight losses came by a single goal), Philadelphia will get the lone selection that’s not really up for debate, with Cornell’s CJ Kirst projected to go first overall.
Kirst would slot into an offense that hasn’t shied away from starting two lefties at attack in the past. With Michael Sowers and Kieran McArdle having formed great chemistry together the past few seasons, injecting another ball-handler in need of touches and shots would be intriguing to see how it'd all fit together. While Kirst also excelled as a midfielder during the U-20 gold-medal winning World Championship for Team USA in 2022, he’s simply too good to ever take off the field.
Still, figuring out the number of touches and shot attempts is a good problem to have. With Sowers, Kirst and the bevy of options Philly boasts offensively, there will be too many weapons to stop for opposing defenses to keep them off the scoreboard in late-game situations next season.
The bigger question is who goes second overall to the Redwoods? They traded for Chris Gray last offseason, but with his work commitments and subpar first year with California, do they get Chris Kavanagh? After finishing bottom in save percentage this summer, do they take a goalie higher than one has ever been drafted before? There are some talented shot stoppers in this class, such as Emmet Carroll, Jack Fracyon, Mike Gianforcaro, Logan McNaney and more.
3. Who Will Be the Marquee Free Agent To Sign Elsewhere?
The biggest move in the last free agency period was the Boston Cannons signing reigning DPOY Garrett Epple from the California Redwoods.
Guys like Jules Heningburg, Colin Heacock and Jake Richard also switched teams, but for the most part, talent stayed home and re-signed with their respective clubs. The most notable re-signing was 2024 MVP Jeff Teat, who responded to his new deal with a record-shattering season.
This year, there are plenty of marquee names with expired deals. Guys already mentioned in this post like Baptiste, Moore, Ament, Hossack and Rowlett would be surprising to see in other jerseys. The entire Cannons attack line is also set for negotiations (sans second-year Pat Kavanagh; is his presence enough to get Matt to re-sign and forgo looking for more PT elsewhere?).
But the most natural free agency signing is one that Whipsnake fans have already been calling for on social media. Outlaw attackman Logan Wisnauskas’ rookie deal is up following an injury-hampered ’24 season. After scoring a hat trick in the season opener — his only appearance — Wisnauskas missed the rest of the year and "What position will Brennan O’Neill play for the Outlaws?" question went unanswered. While rejoining his former Terrapin teammates feels like a good match, keep an eye on if the Cannons make a push for Wisnauskas to resolve their lefty attack issues that popped up down the stretch. Would the Waterdogs let McArdle walk if they’re bound to pick up Kirst in the draft? If so, he could be another option for Boston.
4. Who Will Win the Championship Series?
The top four finishers from the regular season qualified for the 2025 Championship Series: the Atlas, Archers, Cannons and Whipsnakes.
The Whips struggled mightily in their last Champ Series appearance in 2023 when Brad Smith did not get much help offensively. The Archers will have a ton of weapons, but their talent who play in the NLL like Schreiber (Toronto), Dobson (Georgia), Hossack (Halifax) and Tre Leclaire (San Diego) won’t be available. The Atlas also make their return to the competition after a year away, with a potential Virginia takeover in Connor Shellenberger, Xander Dickson and Dox Aitken to catapult them into the “favorites” conversation.
But the Cannons are the reigning Championship Series title winners and will have something to say about that. The continuity should help as Asher Nolting, Marcus Holman, Matt Campbell and Ryan Drenner were all excellent last February.
5. How Will The 2025 Regular Season Schedule Vary?
The connections between the clubs and the turn to home markets for the first time in the 2024 regular season got better and better as the season progressed. From Boston winning its second game thanks to a huge crowd at Harvard Stadium to Utah getting the momentum they needed for their playoff push from their homecoming in the final weekend of the regular season, the hybrid model between touring and giving each team a home was celebrated. More fans got to identify with teams closer to where they live or are from. No fan's swap was as hilarious as Mikey Diggs (@diggstape) flipping from his now current home market in California Redwoods back to his former favorite team in the Atlas.
The schedule also ended up working out quite well in the postseason, with the top seed coincidentally hosting the first couple rounds. Boston missed out on the bye week due to goal differential so got a home quarterfinal game (even if they fell as flat as their first homecoming game of the year). New York also fell short in their semifinal on Long Island, but in a much different fashion in one of the best overtimes ever.
But there were some interesting kinks to iron out, if not smooth over. The Maryland Whipsnakes ended their regular season on a four-game win streak, then had to suffer through some mistakes in the playoffs after a lengthy three-week rest as their bye came in the last week of the regular season. On the flip side, the Redwoods started the season slowly after their bye week came in the first weekend of the year. Should those neutral-site weekends where all eight teams play bookend the regular season instead of the all-star break? Will that all-star game remain in Louisville (where it’s been the last two years)?
Additionally, a long-running issue for the fans has been the PLL postseason overlapping with the NFL. Removing the two league-wide bye weeks (after Weeks 3 and 11 this year) could the title game to Labor Day weekend, which could help, but it’s still a holiday and a last hoorah for family vacations. Plus, that’s a maneuver much easier said than done.
6. Will There Be A Head Coaching Change?
There have been coaching changes in all but two PLL offseasons, with four of the original head coaches still in place.
Following the inaugural 2019 season, Atlas head coach John Paul and Chrome head coach Dom Starsia both stepped down. Following the 2020 bubble season, Sean Quirk was hired to stay on as the Cannons' head coach after leading them to the final MLL title. In 2022, Quirk stepped down due to health reasons following consecutive seasons near the bottom of the standings. Current head coach Brian Holman was hired prior to the 2023 campaign. Ben Rubeor replaced John Paul and stayed on for three seasons before stepping down. Mike Pressler replaced him last offseason. And finally, Andy Copelan stepped down after February Champ Series and Tierney took over.
Bates, Stagnitta, Chaos coach Andy Towers and Redwoods coach Nat St. Laurent have all just completed their sixth campaigns with their respective clubs.
7. Will There Be Any Rule Changes, Drastic Or Not, For 2025?
The most substantial rule changes in PLL history were announced just a couple weeks before the 2023 season when the shot clock following face-off wins was shortened to 32 seconds. That didn’t give coaches/GMs much time to adjust, and the Waterdogs and Cannons championed a "prevent" face-off model that was both effective and polarizing. As a result, the PLL outlawed longpoles from facing off, which was both celebrated and led a return to normalcy at the stripe where coaching staffs actually tried to win the draw. Offenses also took some getting used to the faster pace following face-off wins, but those that did thrived at the top of the standings (most notably being the Archers).
Now that all the teams have had an offseason to adjust to the face-off changes and the faster pace, will the rules stay pat for 2025?
More minor changes like moving the 2-point arc in by the corners, more severe penalties for hits to the head and expanded video review have also been implemented the last few offseasons.
