Brett Dobson leads Archers to title with another MVP performance
By Zach Carey | Sep 15, 2024
In two years as a starter in the PLL, Brett Dobson is a two-time Cash App Championship MVP.
The third-year keeper out of St. Bonaventure and The Hill Academy made 17 stops in Sunday’s Cash App Championship, lifting the Utah Archers to their second consecutive title. Dobson is the only two-time Championship MVP in PLL history after his 18-save performance catapulted Utah to its first title in 2023.
“He just shows stuff that you think is open, and then, when you shoot it, it's not there,” Maryland Whipsnakes attackman Matt Rambo said postgame. “He’s one of the top goalies in the league, so that’s what you’d expect from one or two of the best goalies in the world right now.”
After holding the Carolina Chaos to just one goal in the semifinals, Dobson limited a resurgent Whipsnakes offense to eight in the Cash App Championship. And he did it all using his backup’s stick.
Mac O’Keefe broke the head of Dobson’s stick while shooting on him in warmups. So, in an all-time performance, Dobson saved shot after shot after shot with Nick Washuta’s crosse.
“It’s unbelievable,” O’Keefe told ESPN’s Quint Kessenich.”That was pretty wild, but you wouldn’t be able to tell. He was lights out for us.”
Dobson kept Utah in the game early when Maryland came out firing. His 10 first-half saves were crucial to stem the tide after the Whips went up 3-0 and then 4-1 in the first 13 minutes of action. Once the Archers’ offense pulled away to a 10-6 fourth-quarter lead, Dobson made a number of late stops to snuff out any hopes for a Maryland comeback.
“Just Brett Dobson being Brett Dobson in the playoffs,” Grant Ament said after the Archers' 12-8 victory at Subaru Park. “It was awesome to see.”
In front of Dobson, Utah’s close defense locked down the deadly trio of TJ Malone, Zed Williams and Matt Rambo. Malone dished out four assists but shot 0-for-10 as fellow rookie Mason Woodward stayed on his hands all night long. Williams shot 1-for-10 with Graeme Hossack bodying him up, and Rambo went 1-for-7 as Warren Jeffrey owned that matchup.
“Years ago, when we wanted to get Hoss as part of our group and picked him up, and then picked Warren up, it was specifically to go beef on beef with Zed and Matt,” Archers head coach Chris Bates said postgame. “I thought that was effective and, however many years later, it proved to be a pretty smart move. And then [Mason] did a really good job on TJ.”
Woodward put in a stellar showing as a rookie in his first title bout. Limiting Malone and scoring a massive two-point goal in the second quarter defined his complete, clutch performance.
Meanwhile, Archers defensive coordinator Tony Resch was responsible for a stellar game plan against the Whipsnakes. The matchup decisions were flawless for the Archers. Resch put his guys in position to contain the Maryland attack, take midfielder Levi Anderson out of the game by poling him and trust Dobson to stand big in the cage.
“At the end of the day, the big boy is the big boy,” Bates said about Dobson. “He’s played big in big games and gives us a sense of calm. He makes save after save, and you can feel it on the bench. You can hear our guys feel it when it’s a big save.”
The Utah bench and the entire lacrosse world have felt Dobson’s presence on the game’s biggest stage the past two years. As he and the Archers revel in going back-to-back, the rest of the professional lacrosse world is left to spend an offseason trying to solve the puzzle that is beating Brett Dobson.
