The Premier Lacrosse League is getting set for its third season as a league this summer, with games starting on June 4. After a unique 2020 season due to COVID-19, the league is set to start back up with a full season of play.
The format of the season isn’t the only thing that has changed. There are some new faces and even a new team in the league. With that in mind, here is everything you need to know about the 2021 PLL season:
What teams are playing in the 2021 PLL season?
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In its third season, the PLL has eight teams. The original six teams were Archers LC, Whipsnakes LC, Atlas LC, Redwoods LC, Chaos LC and Chrome LC. In 2020, Waterdogs LC was added as a seventh team. Now, with the PLL merging with Major League Lacrosse, the league added the Cannons Lacrosse Club.
How can I watch the 2021 PLL season?
All 44 games of the 2021 season will be available to stream on Peacock Plus. In addition, four games will air on NBC and 17 will air on NBC Sports Network; those games will also be available on the NBC Sports app. Check out the full broadcast schedule here.
When and where are games during the 2021 PLL season?
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The PLL is able to play a full schedule in 2021 after having to change the structure of the season due to COVID-19 last year.
This season, there will be seven weeks of regular-season play beginning June 4, plus an All-Star weekend on Sunday, July 18. There will be three weeks of postseason, with the PLL Championship set for Sept. 19.
Each weekend will feature a different playing location. The places the PLL will be hitting are, in order of schedule, Boston, Atlanta, Baltimore, Long Island, Minneapolis, San Jose (All-Star weekend), Colorado Springs, Albany, Salt Lake City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. (championship weekend).
The regular-season weekends will include play from Friday to Sunday, with five to six games being played in a weekend. Each team in the PLL will play nine regular-season games.
What happened in the 2020 PLL season?
With COVID-19 affecting the PLL season in 2020, the league did not play a full season, but rather had a championship series. Each team played in Group Play games to determine seeding for the championship tournament. Whipsnakes LC went undefeated and finished first, followed by Chrome LC, Archers LC, Redwoods LC, Waterdogs LC, Atlas LC and Chaos LC.
Whipsnakes LC defeated Chaos LC 12-6 in the 2020 PLL Championship, with Zed Williams scoring five of his six goals in the fourth quarter of the game. He also took home Tournament MVP honors. Surprisingly, Chaos LC won two straight games to get to the championship, with upset wins over No. 2 Chrome LC and No. 3 Archers LC, after going 0-4 in Group Play games.
So far, Whipsnakes LC are the only team to raise the PLL Championship Trophy, winning in 2019 as well as 2020.
Who were the best players in the 2020 season?
Matt Rambo of Whipsnakes LC continued to dominate the league, leading all players in points (25) and assists (18). His teammate Zed Williams led the league in goals with 20, and fellow Whipsnake Joe Nardella had the best faceoff percentage (72%) and ground balls (65). Whipsnake goaltender Kyle Bernlohr finished with the best save percentage in the league at 63%.
Grant Ament of Archers LC was sensational in his rookie season, finishing second in the league in points and third in assists. Josh Byrne of Chaos LC finished top-five in goals, points and assists in the league. Archers’ Matt McMahon and Atlas’ Cade van Raaphorst ended in a tie for caused turnovers with 12.
What new players have joined the PLL?
With the 2021 Player Entry Draft and the College Draft completed, there are a number of new faces in the PLL.
Most notably from the MLL is Lyle Thompson, the brother of fellow lacrosse stars Miles and Jeremy Thompson. He was a phenom at the University at Albany, setting an NCAA record for the most career points in Division I history with 400 and the second-most career assists with 225. He is now a member of Cannons LC.
From the 2021 College Draft, Jeff Teat was taken with the No. 1 overall pick by Atlas LC. The attackman from Cornell was previously drafted in 2020 by Chaos LC, but he chose to return to Cornell for his fifth year of eligibility.
Duke’s Michael Sowers was taken No. 2 by Waterdogs LC, and Chrome LC selected Duke’s JT Giles-Harris with the No. 3 pick. Other notable players taken were Notre Dame’s faceoff specialist, T.D. Ierlan, at No. 4 and Mac O’Keeffe, the Penn State attackman, at No. 6.