2021 Premier Lacrosse League season

2021 Premier Lacrosse League season
League	Premier Lacrosse League
Sport	Field lacrosse
Duration	June 4 – September 19
Number of teams	8
3rd Season
Finals champions	TBD
Runners-up	TBD

The 2021 Premier Lacrosse League season will be the third season for the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). 2021 will represent a return to the tour-based format that the league followed in 2019 after playing a bubble tournament in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns. 2021 also represents a return to one unified professional Field Lacrosse format after Major League Lacrosse and the Premier Lacrosse League announced they were merging on December 16, 2020. This monumental merger sees the Cannons Lacrosse Club moving from the MLL to the PLL as an 8th team set by expansion draft. Like last season, this year will begin with the Whipsnakes Lacrosse Club competing as defending league champions.

Expansion

The addition of an eighth team, the Cannons Lacrosse Club, allows for schedule flexibility and natural bye weeks to occur for each team throughout the season. While the MLL fielded six teams last season and the PLL fielded seven, the post-merger PLL chose to expand by only one team to maintain the highest level of competition. The Cannons will form their initial PLL roster core through an expansion draft of unprotected players from the other seven clubs. Former MLL players will have a chance to join a roster through a new player draft, occurring on March 25.

Player movement

The 2021 PLL waiver wire and trading period began on February 9. On February 28, expansion draft protected rosters are due and the waiver wire closes. On March 11, the Cannons Lacrosse Club will conduct their expansion draft and on March 25, the entire league will participate in an entry draft for former MLL players. The waiver wire with then reopen for the Cannons on March 26 and for the rest pf the teams on March 30. The 2021 collegiate draft will be held on April 6. The conclusion of player movement through trade windows and the waiver wire is set for April 30.

Positions key

A	Attack		D	Defense		FOS	Faceoff Specialist
G	Goaltender		LSM	Long Stick Midfield		M	Midfield
SSDM	Short Stick Defensive Midfield

Waiver wire

The first league waiver wire period began on February 9. Notable players to change teams at this time included:

Trades

The following notable trades were made during the 2021 league year:

• February 11: Atlas traded A Rob Pannell to the Redwoods for the third overall pick in the 2021 Entry Draft and a second round pick in the 2022 College Draft.
• February 25: Chaos traded A Connor Fields to the Archers for M Ian MacKay.
• February 28: Atlas send M Paul Rabil and the sixth overall pick in the 2021 Entry Draft to the Cannons for the ninth overall pick in the 2021 Entry Draft, eighth overall pick in the 2021 College Draft, and a 2022 College Draft first round selection.
• March 2: Atlas send A Ryan Brown to the Waterdogs for the eleventh overall pick in the 2021 College Draft.

Notable retirements

The following notable players retired prior to the 2021 season:

• A Kevin Buchanan - Began his professional field career with the Los Angeles Riptide in 2008. Also spent time with the Bayhawks, Chicago Machine, and Boston Cannons. Buchanan spent the last two seasons with the Chaos Lacrosse Club. He retires with 282 career points outdoors. At the time of his retirement, Buchanan also had 421 points in the NLL.
• A Matt Danowski - Seven-time All-Star, Three-time All-Pro, and Co-Captain of the 2018 World Champion Team USA. Played for the Pride, Lizards, Hounds, Bayhawks, and Chrome during his 13-year career.
• M Jeremy Sieverts - Seven-time All-Star and five-time champion in both the MLL and PLL after going undrafted. Played eleven season with the Bayhawks, Outlaws, and Whipsnakes.
• SSDM Ty Warner - Drafted by the Florida Launch in 2018. Two-time PLL champion with the Whipsnakes and George Boiardi Hard Hat SSDM of the year (2020 PLL Championship Series). Warner announced he was stepping away from lacrosse to focus on medical school and his rights will be retained by the Whipsnakes through the 2022 season should he choose to return.

Other retirements

• Andrew Hodgson
• Brian Karalunas
• Joe Locascio
• Brent Noseworthy
• Nick Ossello
• Tyler Pfister
• Brett Schmidt

Expansion Draft

The Cannons Expansion Draft took place on Thursday, March 11 to select an initial roster from players left unprotected by their team on March 1.

Expansion Draft Format:

• 18 Round Draft
• Max 3 players selected per existing PLL team
• Existing teams will protect 14 players (1-2 goalies + 12-13 field players)
• Teams must protect players selected in the 2020 College Draft

Player Entry Draft

All former MLL players, totaling more than 100 athletes, are currently without teams. Some of these players, along with NLL and other non-collegiate athletes without professional field experience, will be selected to team rosters in a specially formulated three-round draft on March 25. The expansion Cannons will be selecting first in each round and the selection slot of other teams was determined by lottery draw on February 10.

Draft results

Rnd.	Pick #	PLL Team	Player	Pos.	College
1	1	Cannons	Lyle Thompson	Attack	Albany
1	2	Archers	Graeme Hossack	Defense	Lindenwood
1	3	Atlas	Daniel Bucaro	Attack	Georgetown
1	4	Waterdogs	Liam Byrnes	Defense	Marquette
1	5	Chrome	Randy Staats	Attack	Syracuse
1	6	Cannons	Zach Goodrich	Short Stick Defense	Towson
1	7	Whipsnakes	Chris Aslanian	Attack/Midfield	Hobart
1	8	Chaos	Max Adler	Face-off	Bentley
2	1	Atlas	Michael Rexrode	Defense	Rutgers
2	2	Archers	Ryan McNamara	Midfield	Marquette
2	3	Redwoods	Ryan Lee	Attack	RIT
2	4	Waterdogs	Mikie Schlosser	Midfield	Michigan
2	5	Chrome	Sean Sconone	Goalie	UMass
2	6	Atlas	Andrew Newbold	Defense	Sacred Heart
2	7	Whipsnakes	Charlie Hayes	SSDM	Detroit Mercy
2	8	Chaos	Challen Rogers	Midfield	Stony Brook
3	1	Cannons	Nick Marrocco	Goalie	Georgetown
3	2	Archers	Warren Jeffrey	Defense	Vermont
3	3	Redwoods	Isaiah Davis-Allen	SSDM	Maryland
3	4	Waterdogs	Ben Randall	Defense	Ohio State
3	5	Chrome	Colin Heacock	Midfield	Maryland
3	6	Atlas	Brendan Sunday	Attack	Towson
3	7	Whipsnakes	Bryan Cole	Midfield	Maryland
3	8	Chaos	Kyle Jackson	Midfield	Michigan

College Draft

Due to NCAA eligibility rules in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many college seniors returned for a fifth year of eligibility in the spring 2021 season. As a result, this year's draft on April 26 was expected to be among the most talent saturated in years. It once again aired on NBCSN beginning at 10:30 EDT and hosted by Paul Burmeister, along with analyst Ryan Boyle on the broadcast. PLL coaches called in via video call for breakdowns of their draft picks.

Format:

• Each club was awarded four picks, with the exception of Atlas LC and Chaos LC, which own six picks each.
• Eligible players must currently be in their senior season.

Rnd.	Pick #	PLL Team	Player	Pos.	College	Conf.
1	1	Atlas	Jeff Teat	Attack	Cornell	Ivy League
1	2	Waterdogs	Michael Sowers	Attack	Duke	Atlantic Coast Conference
1	3	Chrome	JT Giles-Harris	Defense	Duke	Atlantic Coast Conference
1	4	Redwoods	TD Ierlan	Face-off	Denver	Big East Conference
1	5	Archers	Jared Conners	LSM	Virginia	Atlantic Coast Conference
1	6	Chaos	Mac O'Keeffe	Attack	Penn State	Big Ten Conference
1	7	Whipsnakes	Connor Krist	Midfield	Rutgers	Big Ten Conference
1	8	Atlas	Dox Aitken	Midfield	Virginia	Atlantic Coast Conference
2	1	Cannons	Jack Kielty	Defense	Notre Dame	Atlantic Coast Conference
2	2	Atlas	Jake Caraway	Attack	Georgetown	Big East Conference
2	3	Atlas	Danny Logan	SSDM	Denver	Big East Conference
2	4	Chrone	Ryan Terefenko	SSDM	Ohio State	Big Ten Conference
2	5	Archers	Tre Leclaire	Midfield	Ohio State	Big Ten Conference
2	6	Chaos	Kyle Gallagher	Face-off	Notre Dame	Big Ten Conference
2	7	Chaos	Tanner Cook	Midfield	North Carolina	Atlantic Coast Conference
2	8	Whipsnakes	Ryan Tierney	Attack	Hofstra	Colonial Athletic Conference
3	1	Atlas	Peter Dearth	SSDM	Syracuse	Atlantic Coast Conference
3	2	Archers	Jeff Trainor	Midfield	UMass	Atlantic Ten Conference
3	3	Chaos	Jared Bernhardt	Attack	Maryland	Big Ten Conference
3	4	Chrome	Justin Anderson	Attack	North Carolina	Atlantic Coast Conference
3	5	Archers	Conor Gaffney	Face-off	Lehigh	Patriot League
3	6	Chaos	Kyle Thornton	Defense	Notre Dame	Big Ten Conference
3	7	Whipsnakes	Colin Squires	Defense	Denver	Big East Conference
3	8	Redwoods	Charlie Bertrand	Attack	Virginia	Atlantic Coast Conference
4	1	Cannon	Stephen Rehfuss	Attack	Syracuse	Atlantic Coast Conference
4	2	Atlas	Gerard Arceri	Face-off	Penn State	Big Ten Conference
4	3	Waterdogs	Ethan Walker	Midfield	Denver	Big East Conference
4	4	Chrome	Jackson Morrill	Attack	Denver	Big East Conference
4	5	Redwoods	Jamie Trimboli	Midfield	Syracuse	Big East Conference
4	6	Chaos	Ryan Smith	Attack	Robert Morris	Independent
4	7	Whipsnakes	Nick Grill	Defense	Maryland	Big Ten Conference
4	8	Redwoods	Charlie Leonard	Face-off	Notre Dame	Big Ten Conference

Coaching changes

• Cannons Lacrosse Club – Following weeks of uncertainty, Sean Quirk was officially named the head coach of Cannons Lacrosse Club on January 19. Quirk served from 2016 through the 2020 season as the head coach of the MLL's Boston Cannons. In 2020, he was named MLL Coach of the Year. On February 9, the Cannons announced the return of John Klepacki (Boston Cannons) and addition of Sean Kirwan (Virginia) to the assistant coaching staff.

Schedule

The 2021 tour schedule will run eleven weeks long, including three playoff weekends and an All-Star game. A total of 43 games will take place in this time frame.

Week	Date	Games	Time (ET)	Venue	City	Attendance	Ref.
1	June 4	Cannons 11–12 Redwoods	7:00 pm	Gillette Stadium	Foxborough, MA (Boston)	TBD
	June 5	Whipsnakes 13–7 Chaos	5:00 pm
		Archers 18–6 Atlas	7:45 pm
	June 6	Waterdogs 7–13 Cannons	1:00 pm
		Chrome 11–14 Redwoods	3:45 pm
2	June 11	Chaos vs. Waterdogs	7:00 pm	Fifth Third Bank Stadium at Kennesaw State University	Atlanta, GA
	June 12	Whipsnakes vs. Cannons	12:00 pm
		Redwoods vs. Atlas	3:00 pm
	June 13	Chrome vs. Waterdogs	1:00 pm
		Chaos vs. Archers	3:45 pm
3	June 25	Whipsnakes vs. Atlas	8:00 pm	Homewood Field	Baltimore, MD
	June 26	Redwoods vs. Chaos	5:15 pm
		Waterdogs vs. Archers	8:00 pm
	June 27	Cannons vs. Atlas	12:00 pm
		Chrome vs. Whipsnakes	2:45 pm
4	July 2	Archers vs. Chrome	7:00 pm	Shuart Stadium	Long Island, NY
	July 3	Redwoods vs. Waterdogs	12:00 pm
		Cannons vs. Chaos	3:00 pm
	July 4	Chrome vs. Atlas	12:15 pm
		Whipsnakes vs. Archers	3:00 pm
5	July 9	Waterdogs vs. Cannons	8:00 pm	TCO Stadium	Eagan, MN (Minneapolis)
	July 10	Redwoods vs. Whipsnakes	6:00 pm
		Atlas vs. Chaos	8:45 pm
	July 11	Chrome vs. Waterdogs	5:15 pm
		Cannons vs. Archers	8:00 pm
PLL All-Star Game	July 18	All-Star Game	7:00 pm	PayPal Park	San Jose, CA
		Skills Competition	9:30 pm
6	July 30	Atlas vs. Chrome	9:00 pm	Weidner Field	Colorado Springs, CO
	July 31	Archers vs. Redwoods	7:15 pm
		Waterdogs vs. Whipsnakes	10:00 pm
	August 1	Chaos vs. Chrome	2:00 pm
		Atlas vs. Cannons	4:45 pm
8	August 13	Redwoods vs. Whipsnakes	6:00 pm	Tom and Mary Casey Stadium at the University of Albany	Albany, NY
		Archers vs. Chaos	8:30 pm
	August 14	Atlas vs. Waterdogs	4:15 pm
		Cannons vs. Chrome	7:00 pm
	August 15	Chaos vs. Redwoods	2:00 pm
		Archers vs. Whipsnakes	4:45 pm
9	August 20	Playoffs: Quarterfinals	8:30 pm	Rio Tinto Stadium	Salt Lake City, UT
	August 21	Playoffs: Quarterfinals	2:30 pm
		Playoffs: Quarterfinals	6:00 pm
10	September 5	Playoffs: Semifinals	11:00 am	Subaru Park	Philadelphia, PA
		Playoffs: Semifinals	1:30 pm
11	September 19	PLL Championship	12:00 pm	Audi Field	Washington, D.C.

Tour Map

Boston

Atlanta

Baltimore

New York

Minneapolis

Washington, D.C.

San Jose

Colorado Springs

Albany

Salt Lake City

Philadelphia

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Tour locations for the 2021 PLL season

Standings

2021 Premier Lacrosse League Standings
Team	W	L	T	PCT	GB	SF	SA	Diff
Redwoods	2	0	0	1.000	—	26	22	4
Archers	1	0	0	1.000	0.5	18	6	12
Whipsnakes	1	0	0	1.000	0.5	13	7	6
Cannons	1	1	0	.500	1.0	24	19	5
Chrome	0	1	0	.000	1.5	11	14	-3
Chaos	0	1	0	.000	1.5	7	13	-6
Waterdogs	0	1	0	.000	1.5	7	13	-6
Atlas	0	1	0	.000	2.0	6	18	-12

Records, milestones, and notable statistics

• January 12 – The league reveals edits to the former Boston Cannons logo, a team crest, and motto for the upcoming season.