For the first time in four years, Maryland will have a professional lacrosse team.
The Maryland Whipsnakes of the Premier Lacrosse League will begin their season at 3:30 p.m. Sunday in Albany, New York, against the New York Atlas.
Here’s everything you need to know.
What is the Premier Lacrosse League?
The PLL is the brainchild of Paul Rabil, a Gaithersburg native and three-time All-America midfielder at Johns Hopkins who co-founded the league with his brother Mike.
It began in 2019 with a touring model in which teams visited 12 locations for 10 regular-season weekends, one all-star weekend and three playoff weekends from June to September. In December 2020, the PLL merged with Major League Lacrosse, the previous home of the Chesapeake and Baltimore Bayhawks.
After five seasons of teams playing without any geographical affiliation, the PLL tied each franchise to a home city starting in 2024.
In July, the PLL announced it was altering its tour-based model to one in which each team will host the rest of the league and play two games on its home field in front of its home fans. Teams will continue to travel to other teams’ home sites or neutral venues, but the plan is for the players, coaches and staff to plant their roots in their home markets.
How many teams are there?
Eight. The Boston Cannons, New York Atlas, Philadelphia Waterdogs and Maryland Whipsnakes make up the Eastern Conference, with the Carolina Chaos, Denver Outlaws, Utah Archers and California Redwoods representing the Western Conference.
In their first season calling Maryland home, the Whipsnakes changed their colors to red, black and gold, matching the state flag and the University of Maryland.
New colors. New Mentality.
Repping the #StateOfLacrosse with our 2024 Season Uniforms. 🐍🥍 pic.twitter.com/H8aVNfjgas
— Maryland Whipsnakes (@PLLWhipsnakes) May 29, 2024
What is the schedule format?
In the regular season, teams will play conference opponents twice and nonconference opponents once for a total of 10 games. Under the new playoff format, the Eastern and Western Conference winners will receive a first-round bye, with the remaining teams seeded based on their overall record. The bottom two teams through the regular season will be eliminated from playoff contention.
For the first time, the PLL All-Star Game will feature a conference-based matchup, with fan-voted All-Stars from teams in the Eastern Conference facing All-Stars from the Western Conference.
How have the Whipsnakes performed?
The Whipsnakes won the first two PLL championships in 2019 and 2020, with Matt Rambo and Zed Williams winning the league Most Valuable Player award in each season, respectively. They lost the championship game to the Chaos in 2021 and were eliminated in the semifinals the following year despite finishing with a league-best 9-1 regular-season record. Last season, they finished 4-6, were the sixth seed in the playoffs and lost in the first round to the Waterdogs.
Who is on the Maryland roster?
Here is the Whipsnakes’ 25-man roster, which unsurprisingly includes 10 former Terps standouts:
- Jake Bernhardt, short-stick defensive midfielder (Maryland)
- Kyle Bernlohr, goalie (Maryland)
- Mike Chanenchuk, midfielder (Maryland)
- Matt Dunn, defenseman (Maryland)
- Elijah Gash, defenseman (Albany)
- Colin Heacock, attackman (Maryland)
- Wheaton Jackoboice, midfielder (Notre Dame)
- Brett Kennedy, long-stick midfielder (Syracuse)
- Keegan Khan, midfielder (Maryland)
- Brendan Krebs, goalie (Manhattan)
- Peter LaSalla, faceoff specialist (Virginia)
- Garrett Leadmon, midfielder (Duke)
- TJ Malone, attackman (Penn State)
- Will Mark, goalie (Syracuse)
- Jackson Morrill, attackman (Yale)
- Tim Muller, defenseman (Maryland)
- Joe Nardella, faceoff specialist (Rutgers)
- Roman Puglise, short-stick defensive midfielder (Maryland)
- Matt Rambo, attackman (Maryland)
- Grayson Sallade, short-stick defensive midfielder (Virginia)
- Colin Squires, long-stick midfielder (Denver)
- Zedekiah Williams, attackman (Virginia)
- Kevin Winkoff, midfielder (Penn State)
- Ajax Zappitello, defenseman (Maryland)
- Stephen Zupicich, long-stick midfielder (Villanova)
Coach: Jim Stagnitta
Assistant coaches: PT Ricci, Drew Snider
Where and when will teams be playing?
Regular season
- June 1-2: Casey Stadium, Albany, New York
- June 7-8: American Legion Memorial Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina
- June 15-16: Villanova Stadium, Philadelphia
- June 28-29: TCO Stadium, Eagan, Minnesota
- July 5-6: Harvard Stadium, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- July 13: All-Star Game at Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky
- July 19-20: Rafferty Stadium, Fairfield, Connecticut
- July 27-28: Torero Stadium, San Diego, California
- Aug 3-4: Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Field
- Aug 9-10: Peter Barton Stadium, Denver
- Aug 16-17: Zions Bank Stadium, Herriman, Utah
Playoffs
- Sept 2: Quarterfinals at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
- Sept 8: Semifinals at Shuart Stadium, Hempstead, New York
- Sept 15: Championship at Subaru Park, Chester, Pennsylvania
Where can I watch the games?
All games will be streamed live on ESPN+, while some will also appear on select television broadcasts on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.
