📺 LACROSSE IS BACK ON TV TONIGHT

After a league-wide bye last weekend, the PLL returns tonight in Minneapolis for Indigenous Heritage Weekend. This newsletter will provide a closer look at what the league is doing to honor the origins of the game, but first let’s go over the matchups and how to watch them.

Here’s the full weekend slate with watch links:

Friday, 7 p.m. ET — New York vs. Maryland (ESPN+)
Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET — Boston vs. Utah (ESPN+)
Saturday, 6 p.m. ET — California vs. Denver (ESPN2/ESPN+)
Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET — Philadelphia vs. Carolina (ESPN+)

The undefeated New York Atlas (4-0) will open the weekend against the Maryland Whipsnakes (1-2), who have struggled to find an identity on offense without midfielder Tucker Dordevic (foot) in the lineup. Rookie midfielder Levi Anderson (St. Joe’s) will make his PLL debut tonight and could provide the Whips with the spark they need on that side of the field. New York won the previous meeting between these two teams, 17-13, in Week 1.

The action will continue late into the evening, with the Utah Archers (2-1) taking on the Boston Cannons (2-1) in a night cap. Star defenseman Graeme Hossack will make his return to the Archers lineup against a Cannons team that will be without both Kavanagh brothers. Rookie Mike Robinson out of Delaware is in line to see some action at attack.

On Saturday, Brennan O’Neill and the Denver Outlaws (1-1) will be featured on ESPN2 as the Game of the Week against the California Redwoods (0-2). Three weeks have passed since O’Neill had his nine-point, breakout performance against the Archers. Can he do it again this weekend? The Redwoods are desperate for a win and must find a way to shut down the No. 1 pick.

The final game of the weekend will feature the Philadelphia Waterdogs (0-3) vs. the Carolina Chaos (2-2). The big storyline here is Philly’s addition of rookie face-off specialist Alec Stathakis out of Denver. The Waterdogs tried to make it work without a FO for the first three games of the season, and they lost each of those games by one goal. Will they look like a completely different team, if Stathakis is able to hang with Chaos FO Nick Rowlett?

Reply to this email with your game picks for this weekend, and don’t forget to set your fantasy lineup by clicking the button below!

🧡 Indigenous Heritage Weekend

Minneapolis is a special stop for the PLL, as the league has gone above and beyond to celebrate the roots of the game. This year, an Ojibwe artist named Patrick Hunter helped design Indigenous Heritage uniforms. Those uniform designs were widely celebrated in this post by ESPN.

Here’s a closer look at some of the details:

Haudenosaunee Nationals star Jeremy Thompson will be in the booth for both of tonight’s games, and there will be multiple Indigenous players on the field over the course of the weekend. Outlaws rookie Jake Piseno, who is also a standout long pole for the Haudenosaunee team, recently described his perspective on ‘The Medicine Game.’

“Whenever you’re out there with a stick in your hand…you can’t be mad at the world,” Piseno said.

The PLL and its teams have put together a lot of great content to honor the Indigenous history of lacrosse. Here are a few links to check out…

🔗 The Oldest Game in America
🔗 Remembering Alfred ‘Alfie’ Jacques
🔗 Roots of Lacrosse in New York
🔗 Zed Williams on The Creator’s Game
🔗 Marcus Holman on Alfie Jacques
🔗 Tom Schreiber’s Wooden Stick

While in Minneapolis this weekend, the PLL will also hold youth lacrosse clinics in partnership with a non-profit called Anishinabe Baagaadoewin, which strives to promote Indigenous history and culture through the sport. If you shop from the 2024 PLL Indigenous Heritage Collection, a portion of proceeds will be donated to this organization.

🚨 Drip King Headed To MCLA

There have been lots of NCAA transfers so far this offseason, but only one has broken the internet: Former UMass face-off specialist Caleb Hammett — also known as “Drip King” — is transferring to Liberty University and will compete in the MCLA next spring.

While at UMass from 2021-24, Hammett won 55.1 percent of his face-off attempts and recorded 292 ground balls. He also amassed over three million followers across his social media platforms, making him one of the most popular lacrosse players on the Internet.

Liberty is one of the best club lacrosse programs in the country. Last spring, the Flames made it to the MCLA Division I semifinals, where they fell to the eventual champs BYU.

📈 John Grant Jr. Takes D2 Job

MLL legend and current California Redwoods offensive coordinator John Grant Jr. has a new college gig: head coach of the men’s lacrosse team at Lees-McRae College (NCAA Division II).

“I am extremely grateful and excited for the opportunity to lead the Lees-McRae men’s lacrosse program,” Grant Jr. said in a news release from the school.

Grant is one of the greatest lacrosse players of all time and has also built an impressive coaching résumé over the years. He was a player/coach for both the NLL’s Rochester Knighthawks and the MLL’s Denver Outlaws. At the college level, he has served as an assistant/OC at Air Force (2018-20) and Johns Hopkins (2020-22).

The Lees-McRae Bobcats compete in the Conference Carolinas and finished with a 3-8 record last season.

🍿 Watch The Best of MPLS

Since the PLL had a league-wide bye last weekend, we went back through the first seven episodes of The Mitchell Pehlke Lacrosse Show and compiled some of our favorite clips for a YouTube montage this week.

If you’ve never watched the show, this 15-minute video is a great way to get a taste of what it’s like.

The MPLS crew will be back with a full episode next Wednesday, breaking down everything we saw in PLL Week 4 and more. See you then!