The final four round robin games of the 2025 Lexus Championship Series saw record breaking performances from teams and individuals, meaning a lot of goals were scored and there was a lot of movement in the Golden Stick Award standings over the course of three days. 

As the dust settled going into the playoffs, however, the top suspects going into the Lexus Championship Series are all at the top of the standings with one outlier that most people probably didn’t see coming. 

Mac O’Keefe, Utah Archers, 16 Scoring Points

In Friday night’s big victory over the New York Atlas in what was constantly referred to as a heavyweight matchup, O’Keefe was quiet. He led the team with eight shots, but only one of them got past Atlas goalie Liam Entenmann. 

“If you’re playing us, and you’re trying to take something away, you’re trying to take Mac O’Keefe away,” head coach Chris Bates said. “We’re trying to get Mac volume shots. If we can get him ten shots, we’ll take it. … If he gets his hands free, he has carte blanche to shoot the ball.”

O’Keefe more than made up for that outing on Saturday night. In the team’s victory over the Maryland Whipsnakes, O’Keefe tied the record for goals scored in a single Lexus Championship Series game, with eight (7G, 1T). 

“He shoots the sh*t out of the ball,” said Whipsnakes head coach Jim Stagnitta. “He always has. It’s no secret.”

O’Keefe was one of the front runners for the Golden Stick Award coming into the Lexus Championship Series. The new playoff format, where the top-ranked team gets a bye going into the championship game, will have him play one fewer game than the players behind him in the standings. While the Archers surely will take the extra rest in an effort to be the first team to win the PLL double, how will it affect his chances of winning the Golden Stick Award?

Bryan Costabile, New York Atlas, 16 Scoring Points

The single-game goals record O’Keefe tied was actually set the night before when Costabile had six one-point goals and two two-point goals in the team’s loss to the Boston Cannons (he added two assists for a total of 12 points). 

Costabile, like O’Keefe, did a 180 degree turn between Friday and Saturday’s games. Unlike O’Keefe, however, it was a turn in a negative direction. In the team’s loss to the Cannons, Costabile scored one goal on eight shots.

Atlas head coach Steven Brooks didn’t think the trend would continue moving forward, however.

“I don’t think you will see that again,” he said. “If we have a chance to play tomorrow, I have a feeling he is going to step up.”

With the Whipsnakes loss, the Atlas earned a semifinal rematch against Boston, giving Costabile a chance at redemption as well as a chance to reclaim the lead in the race for the Golden Stick Award. 

Asher Nolting, Boston Cannons, 13 Scoring Points

In Nolting’s three years of professional lacrosse, he’s known for scoring goals by using his size and physicality to lean in on players close to the crease and essentially slam dunk the ball in the net. In the first two games of the 2025 Lexus Championship Series, however, he flashed some range, scoring one two-point goal in each game.

“Asher never ceases to amaze me,” said Cannons head coach Brian Holman. “I’ve just never seen a kid like him. As big as he is, as agile as he is. His personality, his way, it’s just really special. Nothing shocks me with Asher.

“Asher is Asher,” he added. “I don’t try to put constraints on any of these guys, but I’m certainly not going to try to put it on him. If he feels he’s got his hands free, and he can let it rip, let’s let it rip.”

Marcus Holman, Boston Cannons, 13 Scoring Points

The veteran sharpshooter – he was the winner of the Accuracy Challenge at the 2024 PLL All-Star Skills Challenge and the MVP of the All-Star Game – tied for the team lead in scoring points (seven) when the team broke the record for goals in a Lexus Championship Series game with 34 against the Maryland Whipsnakes. 

His chance at a Golden Stick Award is in jeopardy, however, as he exited Saturday’s victory against the Atlas early and didn’t play in the second half.  

Alex Vardaro, Boston Cannons, 13 Scoring Points

On the Cannons, Nolting and Holman, as well as Matt Campbell, draw a lot of attention. That’s been to Vardaro’s gain, as he has quietly climbed the Golden Stick Award leaderboard. After a solid opening game against the Archers where he scored a hat trick, he has scored five goals in each of the final two games of the round robin play. 

Not only has he scored goals, he’s done it in an efficient manner as well. In the two games against the Whipsnakes and Atlas, he has 10 goals on 16 shots for a 62.5% shooting percentage.