Archers LC has signed goalie Nick Washuta to a Championship Series contract.

The goaltender started in net for Vermont every year of his collegiate career aside from two games his freshmen season in 2017. As a sophomore, he led the country with a 60.9% save percentage and became the first goalie in program history to record 11 wins in a single season, finishing with 12.

While his senior season was cut short due to COVID, Washuta was on track for another incredible campaign in 2020.

The 11th overall pick in the 2020 MLL Draft, Washuta joined the Denver Outlaws in the bubble for his first professional season, playing in five games. In 2021, he was picked up by the Chrome from the player pool in August but ultimately did not see any playing time in the PLL until this past year with the Archers.

Washuta appeared in two games for the Archers to back up Adam Ghitelman with Brett Dobson out and now will get the chance to do so again for the Championship Series.

“It’s an incredible opportunity to be with the Archers again,” said Washuta. “I really love the group, it’s a great group of guys, well-coached, and I’m especially excited to be with Coach [Brian] Kav[avanagh] again.”

Kavanagh, a UVM alum himself, was Washuta’s goalie coach at Vermont for his entire collegiate career.

“He’s a known commodity for us,” said Archers head coach Chris Bates. “With the connection between him and Coach Kavanagh, he spoke very highly of him having coached him in college.”

“With his MLL background, we know the skill he possesses and then we saw it firsthand this past season. In the last game he played for us, he got minutes at the end of that Cannons game and was just lights out. We were all just really happy for him - he’s a really good kid and a fierce competitor.”

Bates recalled the passion Washuta brought for the game in his time with the Archers.

“We’ve got a group of guys that when they’re in practice, they’ll take as many shots on you for as long as you let them and we had to drag Nick out of the net, he just wanted to keep going. He’s a high-character guy that cares.”

Though he’s never played in the Olympic format, given Washuta’s personal style of play he’s thrilled for the opportunity.

“I’m excited for the Olympic-style of play, especially given the volume of shots. Historically throughout college the more shots I saw, typically the better I performed throughout the game and it helped to work up my confidence.”

Washuta mentioned him and some of the other local guys hope to put together their own Olympic-style game before heading out to D.C. to get a feel for the game.

Washuta’s one of the first Championship Series signings of the offseason. The PLL trade window will close on December 2nd.

The Championship Series comes to The St. James in Washington, D.C. from February 22nd through 26th as the top four teams from the 2022 regular season compete against one another in a round robin style tournament. Learn more about the Championship Series here.