🧐 PLAY OF THE YEAR CONTROVERSY?

On July 6, a crowd at Harvard Stadium witnessed Utah Archers attackman Connor Fields shoot the ball one-handed — between his legs — and stick it over the shoulder of Maryland Whipsnakes goalie Brendan Krebs in the top left corner.

ESPN analyst Paul Carcaterra was the color commentator for that game and did not mince his words about what he had just seen.

“OH MY GOSH! STOP THE MADNESS!!” Carcaterra exclaimed. “This is the Goal of the Year, and it’s not even close.”

Goal of the Year? Maybe. But when it comes to Play of the Year, apparently it is pretty close.

Earlier this week, we opened the voting for 2024 TLN End of Year Awards, and the results we’re seeing so far are pretty interesting. We won’t reveal who’s winning, but the Fields tweener is in an extremely tight race for Best Play.

One play that’s getting a LOT of love is former Notre Dame goalie Liam Entenmann’s diving man-down save against Syracuse. This save reached No. 1 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays on March 31.

You can watch ALL the moments that have been nominated for Best Play in this carousel on TLN Instagram. Here are the other award categories:

• Best Men’s Player

• Best Women’s Player

• Lacrosse Guy of the Year

• Best Celly

• WTF Moment of the Year

• Hardest Hit

• Best Name

• Feel Good Moment

• Best Uniform

• Best Crossover Moment

• The Duke Cannon Unsung Hero Award

• The Exposed Elbow Award

If you haven’t voted in our End of Year Awards yet, please do so by clicking the button below. Reply to this email with an award category you’d like us to add next year!

⚡️ PLL Announces Champ Series Details

The Premier Lacrosse League has officially announced the dates and location for the 2025 Lexus Championship Series. For the third straight year, Champ Series will be held at The St. James outside Washington, D.C. — games will be played from Feb. 11-17

The four PLL teams that will compete in the 2025 Championship Series are the Utah Archers, Boston Cannons, Maryland Whipsnakes and New York Atlas. For the first time, they will be joined by four WLL teams. Full rosters for PLL and WLL teams have not yet been announced.

The PLL Championship Series is a Sixes event, featuring rules that are nearly identical to the ones adopted by the IOC for play in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The only major differences are PLL Sixes has a two-point arc and allows for more contact.

Tickets for the 2025 Championship Series go on sale next week. Click the button below for more information and to sign up for presale.

🗣 NLL Talk: Duke’s No. 1 Picks Have Arrived

A pair of No. 1 picks out of Duke made their National Lacrosse League debuts last weekend. On Saturday night, Dyson Williams (No. 1 pick in 2023) took the floor with the Albany Firewolves for the first time. The following night, Brennan O’Neill (No. 1 pick in 2024) suited up for the Philadelphia Wings.

O’Neill and Williams played together at Duke from 2021-2024. They both scored over 200 goals for the Blue Devils and combined to produce 544 points during their college careers. They both made the leap to the PLL this summer, with the Denver Outlaws drafting O’Neill No. 1 overall and the Utah Archers scooping up Williams in the second round.

O’Neill, whose box game is unfamiliar to most lacrosse fans, had four points (1G, 3A) in his first action with the Wings.

O’Neill is 0-1 in his Wings tenure, after falling to the San Diego Seals, 18-15, last Sunday. The next time you can catch O’Neill in action is Saturday, Dec. 14, when the Wings host the Las Vegas Desert Dogs.

Williams had a goal and an assist in his first game with the Firewolves. He now trails his father, NLL legend and current Desert Dogs head coach/GM Shawn Williams, by just 1,150 career points on the all-time NLL leaderboard. Keep chipping away, Dyson!

Click the button below for the full NLL game slate this weekend.

🐢 Maryland’s 2-Sport Star Says Goodbye

One of college sports’ best athletes is moving on, as Maryland football safety/lacrosse midfielder Dante Trader Jr. has officially said his goodbye to the Terrapins.

Trader played in all 16 games for Maryland’s lacrosse team in 2023. He was a USILA third-team All-American at short-stick defensive midfield that season, finishing with seven points (5G, 2A), 17 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers.

Although Trader was a blue-chip lacrosse prospect coming out of high school at McDonogh, football became his primary focus over time with the Terps. He chose not to play lacrosse last spring, citing his desire to eventually make it to the NFL.

“Ultimately, my body and stuff like that, I don’t know if I wanted to take the risk (playing lacrosse) again,” Trader told PressBox earlier this year. “You’re going to be playing for two years nonstop going into lacrosse to summer training to football. If God lets me play in the [NFL], I’m going into training, then Combine, then straight to rookie minicamp, so that’s a long process without a break.”

Trader recorded 123 tackles and five interceptions over four seasons with Maryland football. He has been invited to compete at the Senior Bowl in January and could be selected in the 2025 NFL Draft next spring.

🙏 Fundraiser For Marcus Gunderson

The friends and family of Marcus Gunderson, a former University of Utah and Utah Valley goalie who recently passed away, is asking for help from the lacrosse community.

Gunderson unexpectedly passed away last month from a pulmonary thromboembolism, according to his obituary, which also states: “On and off the field Marcus was seen as a leader by his teammates, coaches and fans. Usually being the first to arrive and last one to leave the field, always setting the example.”

The GoFundMe set up for Gunderson’s funeral and medical bills started with a goal of $10,000, which has since been eclipsed by nearly $4,000. If you are willing and able to make a donation, you can visit the fundraiser by clicking the button below.

🤫 Pehlke Goes Undercover With D2 Champs

Folks, Mitchell Pehlke has done it again.

The former Ohio State lacrosse player and host of the Mitchell Pehlke Lacrosse Show on TLN YouTube has now managed to go undercover and sneak his way onto two different rosters. First it was South Carolina (MCLA); now he has a new undercover episode where he tries out for the reigning NCAA Division II Champions Adelphi.

Pehlke’s recent undercover episodes got us wondering: Who would you trust for a final shot with the game on the line? Marco Lombardi or Brad Butch??