Jackson Morrill Resurgent at Attack
By Nick Zoroya
Jun 14, 2023
Jackson Morrill leads the league in points but he doesn’t really care. Individual achievements aren’t of great interest to him. Despite tallying 10 points, 0 turnovers, and an astonishing 100% shot on goal percentage, Morrill only cares about one thing, winning.
Head Coach Tim Soudan has built a team culture based on a team first mentality, where being egoless is nonnegotiable. Morrill, who credits his time at Yale for teaching him how valuable culture is to success, fully embraces the Chrome culture. He knows exactly what his role is within the team:
“Me dodging for four goals is usually a sign that our offense isn’t playing as well..a game where I have four assists is a better indicator that our offense was playing well”
Morrill’s role at X is to quarterback the offense, to find open players and set them up for success. In week one, a dominant team victory, he had four assists. However, when the Chrome are struggling offensively, he’s proven that he can put the team on his back and take scoring into his own hands. Such was the case in a week two loss where Morrill scored five of the team's seven goals.
Entering the 2023 season there was some doubt about who would start at attack for the Chrome. Brendan Nichtern, the 2022 PLL Rookie of the Year, was placed on the military list, meaning a starting attack spot was up for grabs. Morrill had an excellent rookie season in 2021 playing attack, his natural position, scoring 22 points. In 2022 he moved to midfield to make room for rookies Nichtern and Logan Wisanuaskas, and finished the season with 8 points. While he’ll do whatever the team needs, he's definitely happy to be back at attack.
“I’m definitely more comfortable at attack than midfield. I hadn’t played midfield since sophomore year of high school. It took a lot of time on my own to find comfort in playing midfield. Being back at attack is like riding a bike. Wing attackmen might make the transition to midfield a bit smoother than a guy like me who’s used to being at X. If I ever need to move back to midfield in the future, 2022 gave me a better understanding.”
His comfort level has resulted in a meteoric increase in production. In just two games his six goals and four assists have already surpassed his 2022 point total. What’s more impressive is that the league leader in points never takes his position as a professional for granted.
“To say I showed up to any of my three training camps confident I would make the team, would be inaccurate.”
No matter what position he may play in the future, just know that Jackson Morrill is ready to do what needs to be done.
