Brett Dobson played through the pain of a left ankle sprain in last Saturday’s matchup between the Utah Archers and the Boston Cannons.
After hurting his ankle in the fourth quarter against the Maryland Whipsnakes in Utah’s season opener, he aggravated it midway through the third quarter versus the Cannons and visibly limped for the remainder of the game. Dobson still only allowed nine scores while making 15 stops in the Archers’ 9-8 loss.
“He’s hurting and he was great,” Tom Schreiber said postgame. “Dobber’s been excellent every game in the last couple years. Him playing through something is just kind of par for the course. He’s tough and a team-first guy.”
Dobson is listed as questionable on this week’s injury report due to the sprained ankle. The Archers expect him to continue to play through the sprain on Friday night against the California Redwoods.
“I’m not sure when he’s going to get 100%,” head coach Chris Bates said. “That’s going to take a while, but he’s not coming out.”
Bates admitted that Utah could take the conservative approach and rest Dobson until he’s fully healthy. That’s not in Dobson’s DNA, though.
“He’s not coming out unless you’ve gotta amputate that thing,” Bates added.
Dobson leads the PLL in save percentage (66.7%) and scores against per game (8.0) through two weeks. He’s been his typical stalwart self in cage and isn’t allowing his ankle injury to impact his success between the pipes. Dobson made 15 saves in both games this season, marking the 13th and 14th occasions that he’s had as many stops in his 27-game career.
“He just kind of grizzles down and then continues to be Dobber in cage,” Bates said. “I think we feed off that [as a team].”
The two-time championship MVP continues to establish himself as one of the best keepers in the game. Playing through this injury only adds to his developing legend.
