🔮 FINAL AWARD PREDICTIONS

On Thursday, the Premier Lacrosse League announced the finalists for all 14 End-of-Year Awards. These awards reflect performances during the 2024 regular season, but they won’t be announced until two days before the PLL Championship Game.

Some of these awards feel like foregone conclusions, but others are still up for debate. In this newsletter, we picked out the five most interesting awards and predicted the winner for each one.

MVP Finalists: Jeff Teat, Asher Nolting, Tom Schreiber, Blaze Riorden

We could have called this race at the All-Star break, when New York Atlas attackman Jeff Teat tied the single-season PLL record for points. He ended up finishing with 64 points. The other three finalists combined for 69 points. The 2024 season will go down as an historic one for Teat, who may not see his record broken for quite some time.

🔮 Prediction: Jeff Teat (unanimous)

Rookie of the Year Finalists: Brennan O’Neill, TJ Malone, Connor Shellenberger, Tyler Carpenter, Liam Entenmann

Brennan O’Neill had some electric moments in his first season with the Denver Outlaws. His nine-point takeover in Week 2 and one-handed goal in Week 10 were unforgettable. Maryland Whipsnakes attackman TJ Malone was far more consistent, though, finishing with 37 points (tied for third most in the PLL). As a third-round pick, Malone lived up to his hype as “the steal of the draft.”

🔮 Prediction: TJ Malone

Defensive Player of the Year Finalists: Garrett Epple, Gavin Adler, JT Giles-Harris, Matt Dunn

This race is difficult to predict. Boston Cannons defenseman Garrett Epple won this award last year (with the Redwoods) and led the league with 20 caused turnovers in 2024. Denver Outlaws defenseman JT Giles-Harris might be the best eraser of this bunch, but he doesn’t have the stats to show for it. Ultimately, New York Atlas defenseman Gavin Adler took the biggest step forward and showed why he was the No. 1 pick in the draft a year ago.

🔮 Prediction: Gavin Adler

Goalie of the Year Finalists: Blaze Riorden, Brett Dobson, Colin Kirst, Liam Entenmann

Carolina Chaos goalie Blaze Riorden has won this award four times in the past five seasons and is the favorite to win it again, especially after leading the PLL in save percentage (59.4%) and scoring a coast-to-coast goal in Week 9. The fact that Riorden missed some time due to injuries leaves the door open for Utah Archers goalie Brett Dobson, who led the league in total saves (147).

🔮 Prediction: Blaze Riorden

Coach of the Year Finalists: Mike Pressler, Jim Stagnitta, Tim Soudan

The New York Atlas underwent a complete transformation in Year 2 behind head coach Mike Pressler. After a 2-8 finish last season, Pressler’s Atlas squad went 7-3 and claimed the No. 1 seed in the 2024 PLL Playoffs. Jim Stagnitta did an awesome job coaching up a Maryland Whipsnakes team that was supposed to be in a rebuilding year, but it wasn’t enough to outshine the complete turnaround Pressler led in New York.

🔮 Prediction: Mike Pressler

These positions also have a specific End-of-Year Award: Attackman, Midfielder, Face-Off, SSDM and Long Stick Midfielder. Other awards include Teammate, Leadership, Humanitarian and Sportsmanship.

Winners for each award will be announced on Friday, Sept. 13.

Reply to this email with your BOLDEST prediction for the 2024 PLL End-of-Year Awards!

🥇 U20 Women Gold Medal Matchup

On Saturday, the United States and Canada will meet in the final for the 2024 Women’s U20 Championship in Hong Kong, China. Both countries enter the gold medal matchup with undefeated, 6-0 records.

The United States ran through Pool A, then took down Puerto Rico and Australia in elimination games to reach the final. They have outscored their opponents 189-14 so far, and they have the top three point producers in the tournament: Boston College’s Emma LoPinto (44 pts.), Virginia’s Madison Alaimo (39 pts.) and Northwestern’s Madison Taylor (37 pts.).

Canada is not quite as explosive on offense as the United States, but they’ve been slightly stingier on defense. Their closest call so far was a 17-2 win over Japan in the semifinals.

The United States and Canada will battle it out for gold on Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m. ET. Japan and Australia will clash for bronze right before that matchup. Games are available to watch here.

📈 Archers Bring in Army Star

With reigning MVP Tom Schreiber (fractured clavicle) out for the remainder of the season, the Utah Archers have acquired a secret weapon for the playoffs. Earlier this week, they signed former Army midfielder Jacob Morin via free agency.

Here’s a look at what Morin could bring to the Archers down the stretch:

Morin bears some resemblance to fellow Archers midfielder Tre Leclaire, except he is left-handed. The Auburn, N.Y. product has a big frame (6-foot-2, 205 lbs.) and powerful outside shot, as well as a notorious toe drag. He was a team captain at Army last season and finished his collegiate career with 120 points (104 goals, 16 assists).

In the final week of the regular season, Archers head coach Chris Bates called up former High Point attackman Jack VanOverbeke, who ended up scoring a game-winning goal and making No. 1 on SportsCenter Top 10 Plays in his PLL debut. Morin could be Utah’s next hidden gem.

🛠 Waterdogs Begin Rebuild For 2025

The season may be over for the Philadelphia Waterdogs, but head coach Bill Tierney is wasting no time when it comes to reshaping his roster for 2025. This week, Philly acquired former St. Joe’s attackman Carter Page via waivers.

You might remember Page’s ridiculous between-the-legs goal (and celebration) from the Hawks’ victory over Richmond in the 2024 A10 Championship Game…

Page is from Peterborough, Ontario and was a highlight machine at St. Joe’s. After scoring 145 college goals in the Philly area, his talent and creativity should be very familiar to Waterdogs fans.

Don’t forget, Philadelphia has the No. 1 pick in the 2025 PLL Draft.

🏆 Battle For Minto Cup Underway

Many of the top college players in the country are currently competing for the 2024 Minto Cup (Junior A Box Lacrosse), which features the Orangeville Northmen and the Coquitlam Adanacs this year.

Here’s a full list of NCAA players to watch, via Adam Levi on X:

The Adanacs, who took Game 1 of the series by a final score of 14-7, are led by St. Bonaventure’s Jaxon Dillon and a pair of Denver stars in Noah Manning and Cody Malawsky. The Northmen have Syracuse’s Joey Spallina, who leads the Minto Cup field in scoring (26 pts.), as well as his college teammate Trey Deere.

Game 2 will be played on Friday night at 7 p.m. ET, with Game 3 (if necessary) scheduled for Saturday at the same time. Games are available to watch here.