✅ ROB PANNELL PICKS NEW TEAM

After spending the past four seasons with the Redwoods, veteran attackman Rob Pannell is joining the Maryland Whipsnakes. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Tim Kavanagh; the team and the Premier Lacrosse League confirmed shortly thereafter that Pannell’s new contract with the Whips will run through the 2025 season.

Pannell, 35, is entering his 13th professional season. By signing with the Whipsnakes, the former Cornell star and 2013 Tewaaraton Award winner appears to be chasing a PLL Championship before retirement. Although Pannell ranks third all-time in pro field lacrosse history with 611 career points, his only championship came with the MLL’s New York Lizards back in 2015.

“At the end of the day, at this point in my career, I’m playing to win a championship,” Pannell said in his final press conference with the Redwoods last August.

Last season, Pannell led the Redwoods with 30 points (15 goals, 15 assists), but the team finished 3-7 and currently has the No. 2 pick in the 2025 PLL Draft. The Whipsnakes, on the other hand, made a run to last year’s title game.

With the Whipsnakes, Pannell should slot in as the starter at X attack. Matt Rambo will remain the primary lefty dodger, with reigning Rookie of the Year TJ Malone (also a lefty) rounding out the starting unit as the third attackman. Second-year pro Matt Brandau is Maryland’s fourth attackman; he was acquired in a trade that sent Zed Williams to the Philadelphia Waterdogs earlier this offseason.

Whipsnakes head coach/general manager Jim Stagnitta has been aggressively reshaping his offensive personnel over the past two off-seasons. Signing Pannell is the latest example of his efforts to keep Maryland at the top of the league. His squad has appeared in four of the league’s six championships, claiming victory in each of the first two title games (2019, 2020).

Are the Whipsnakes front-runners to win the 2025 PLL Championship after signing Rob Pannell? Let us know what you think by replying to this email!

💰 Hofstra Lands NIL Deal For Entire Team

This week, the Hofstra Men’s Lacrosse team announced a “landmark” Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal with The Athlete Amplifier, resulting in all 46 members of the team receiving financial compensation.

Here’s a video of Hofstra head coach Seth Tierney breaking the news to his team:

“We’re doing it our way,” Tierney told his team. “The best guy on the team, and whoever the last guy on the team, is getting the same amount.”

In the video, Hofstra alum and founder of Athlete Amplifier Foundation Joe Rinaldi explains how the agreement will work.

“The Hofstra lacrosse players will receive $500 up front in an [investment account through Charles Schwab & Co.],” Rinaldi said. “You’ll participate in an investment competition. If you win at the end of the year, you’ll receive an additional $500.”

The goal of this agreement is to advance financial literacy among the student-athletes.

🔙 High School Lacrosse is BACK!

College lacrosse has been underway for over a month, but now high school lacrosse is back in action as well.

Check out the Top 25 high schools in boy’s and girl’s lacrosse, according to USA Lacrosse Magazine’s preseason rankings:

McDonogh (MD), ranked No. 1 on the boy’s side, is gunning for a fourth straight MIAA A Conference Championship this season. The Eagles are led by top recruit Brendan Millon, who will join his older brother McCabe at Virginia this fall. They open the season with a banger: on the road against No. 7 Malvern Prep (PA) tonight at 5 p.m ET.

👀 Pietramala Among Tewaaraton Additions

Twelve men’s players and 14 women’s players were added to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List on Thursday. The most notable addition was North Carolina’s Dom Pietramala, a redshirt sophomore attackman with 21 goals on the season.

Pietramala currently ranks fourth in NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse with an average of 4.2 goals per game. He’s a huge reason why North Carolina is off to a 4-1 start. Earlier this season, he scored six goals in a 13-12 win over Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field — where his father, current UNC defensive coordinator Dave Pietramala, was a legendary player and coach.

Here’s the full list of men’s and women’s additions to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List:

MEN’S ADDITIONS
Sean Byrne, Goalie, Army
Hunter Drouin, Midfield, Colgate
Sam English, Midfield, Syracuse
Cody Malawsky, Attack, Denver
AJ Marsh, Defense, Navy
Anderson Moore, Goalie, Georgetown
Dominic Pietramala, Attack, North Carolina
Julian Radossich, Defense, Fairfield
Eric Spanos, Attack, Maryland
Bobby Van Buren, Defense, Ohio State
Zach Vigue, Goalie, Richmond
Casey Wilson, SSDM, Denver

WOMEN’S ADDITIONS
Summer Agostino, Defense, Clemson
Carly Bernstein, Attack, Duke
Maddie Dora, Attack, USC
Sam Forrest, Defense, North Carolina
Chloe Humphrey, Attack, North Carolina
Ashley Humphrey, Attack, North Carolina
Kayla MacLeod, Attack, Clemson
Caroline Mullahy, Attack, Harvard
Betty Nelson, Goalie, North Carolina
Reagan O’Brien, Defense, Johns Hopkins
Natalie Shurtleff, Midfield, Clemson
Caitlin Slaminko, Attack, Cornell
Jocelyn Torres, Goalie, Ohio State
Isabelle Vitale, Attack, USC

Click the button below to see the original 50 men’s and 50 women’s players who were named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List at the beginning of the season.

🥍 Falcons Running Back Loves Lacrosse

You may not realize it, but Atlanta Falcons running Back Bijan Robinson is a big time lacrosse guy. This week, he pulled up to practice at Dunwoody High School in Atlanta and hung out with the team.

Before becoming an NFL Pro Bowler with the Falcons, Robinson was a star running back for the Texas Longhorns. When he was still in college, he stopped by a Texas (MCLA) practice and shot around with the team.

Add Bijan Robinson to the ever-growing list of confirmed lacrosse guys!

📺 College Lacrosse on TV!

Here’s the men’s D1 slate and watch links for this weekend, via Inside Lacrosse (all times Eastern):

Friday, March 7:
5 p.m. — Detroit Mercy at Hampton (FloSports)
5 p.m. — Lehigh at Navy (CBSSN)

Saturday, March 8:
10 a.m. — VMI at Monmouth (FloSports)
11 a.m. — Scred Heart at Canisius (GoGriffs.com)
11 a.m. — Hofstra at UNC (ACCNX)
11 a.m. — Quinnipiac at Mount St. Mary’s (The Mount All-Access)
11:30 a.m. — UMBC at Richmond (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Air Force at Duke (ACCNX)
12 p.m. — Robert Morris at Bellarmine (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Binghamton at Stony Brook (FloSports)
12 p.m. — Boston U at Bucknell (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — St. John’s at Bryant (no streaming info)
12 p.m. — Colgate at Lafayette (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Penn State at Cornell (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Utah at Dartmouth (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Denver at Yale (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — UMass Lowell at Fairfield (YouTube)
12 p.m. — Michigan at Harvard (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Marist at Iona (Iona Insider)
12 p.m. — LIU at Queens (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Loyola at Providence (FloSports)
12 p.m. — Wagner at NJIT (America East TV)
12 p.m. — UMass at Vermont (America East TV)
12:30 p.m. — Delaware at Maryland (BTN+)
1 p.m. — Mercer at Le Moyne (NEC Front Row)
1 p.m. — Manhattan at Merrimack (Merrimack Sports Network)
1:30 p.m. — Towson vs. Virginia (Corrigan Sports Network) *in Houston, TX
2 p.m. — High Point at Jacksonville (no streaming info)
2 p.m. — Albany at Hobart (Hobart All-Access)
2 p.m. — Ohio State at Notre Dame (ACCN)
3 p.m. — Cleveland State at St. Bonaventure (ESPN+)
3:30 p.m. — Army at Holy Cross (ESPN+)
3:30 p.m. — Villanova at Penn (ESPN+)
7 p.m. — Rutgers at Princeton (ESPN+)

Sunday, March 9:
12 p.m. — St. Joe’s at Drexel (Lacrosse TV)
2 p.m. — Hopkins at Syracuse (ESPNU)