Matt Moore ruled out vs. Atlas: How will Archers adjust?

Matt Moore is out for the Utah Archers’ game against the New York Atlas on Friday due to a right hip injury.

Moore has been nursing a hip issue – he’s been listed as questionable multiple times this season – and sat out the last six minutes of the Archers’ loss to the Denver Outlaws last Sunday as a result.

Moore missing Friday’s action hurts a Utah offense that has been searching for answers so far in 2025. The righty attackman is fourth on the team in points (seven), tied for first in goals (six) and first in touches (115). He provides a physical dodging presence on the righty wing that the club will miss against the Atlas.

His absence also means the Archers lose a player who demands a pole. In its two championship runs, the Utah offense thrived by lining up too many must-pole players for four long sticks to cover. Alongside Tom Schreiber, Grant Ament, Connor Fields, Mac O’Keefe and now rookie Sam King, Moore is one of those guys who can abuse short-stick matchups.

Ament is the logical first option to fill in for Moore at attack. The 2021 Attackman of the Year has unmatched positional versatility. But Utah might want to keep Ament at the midfield, where he can exploit favorable matchups and has more room to operate.

“I think he’s better in space,” head coach Chris Bates said of Ament. “He did some things in that game [against the Outlaws] where he was helping generate offense in really good ways. He came out of the box and, all of a sudden, you see that burst.”

Ament has had a relatively slow start to the 2025 season with two assists and no goals (0-for-9 shooting) while he’s dealt with a hamstring injury. But Bates says he’s healthy and has emphasized that the points will come if the team can use him right.

“We’ve got to try to get him in space,” he added.

While he hasn’t been as productive as he was early in the season last year, the All-Pro midfielder has still had his moments. One came right after halftime on Sunday when Ament dusted renowned speedster Zach Geddes out of the box and found Schreiber open on the crease.

Getting Ament more reps like this – as the last guy out of the box who can get a running start at his defender – should yield more positive results for him and a Utah offense that is seventh in the league in scores per game.

Ament could still filter in at attack since he’s the best attackman of the options to replace Moore and because of the value in the volume of touches available to an attackman. If Utah wants to keep him coming out of the box, though, that leaves three rookies as options for the two-time reigning champs.

King has been electric to start his professional career with 11 points through four games. While he’s been effective out of the box for Utah, he was a Tewaaraton Award finalist as an attackman for Harvard this past spring and can orchestrate an offense from behind the cage as a goal-scorer and a creator.

Max Merklinger is a righty attackman out of Richmond whom the Archers signed following the 2025 College Draft. He’s a physical dodger who can score with either hand and does most of his damage above goal line extended. He put up 31 goals and 21 assists in his final season for the Spiders, including a three-goal, one-assist performance against Cornell in the NCAA quarterfinals. There’s no one-for-one Moore replacement, but Merklinger is the closest option Utah has.

Bryce Ford – Utah’s fourth-round draft pick this spring – played in the first two games of the season, registering one goal on two shots. The lefty can play attack or midfield. Notably, the Archers aren’t afraid of starting three lefties at attack – they did so with O’Keefe, Fields and Jack VanOverbeke in Salt Lake City last summer.

Utah likes to maintain its matchup advantage out of the box. Should Merklinger or Ford (one of whom will replace Moore in the 19-man lineup) start at attack, that would allow Utah to still run Ament and King out of the box to get short-stick matchups. In that scenario, New York could double-pole the midfield and short Ford or Merklinger. But that’s a headache that could create some chaos that the Archers could take advantage of.

When Moore missed time last August, the coaching staff started VanOverbeke at attack in his first two career games. Suffice to say, they’re not hesitant to throw a rookie debutant down at attack in a big spot even if there are other capable attackmen on the roster.

Ament or King would be traditional replacements. But in the Archers’ positionless offense that prioritizes handedness over position and matchups over absolute volume of touches, Merklinger or Ford could get the nod to fill in at attack while Moore is banged up.