Twenty-nine show up. Nineteen suit up.

PLL training camp begins this weekend in Albany, N.Y. Coaches will have to cut their squads from 29 players to 25 on Tuesday, May 27. Of those 25, only 19 can be active for each game. Competition for those coveted spots will be fierce. 

Here are some of the most intriguing training camp battles:

Maryland Whipsnakes goalie - Brendan Krebs vs. Emmet Carroll

Krebs took control over the starting goaltender spot in 2024 for the Whipsnakes, saving the ball at a 53% clip en route to a Cash App Championship appearance.

Still, head coach and general manager Jim Stagnitta added UPenn goalie Emmet Carroll with the 20th overall pick in the 2025 College Draft.

Carroll, my No. 1 goalie in the class, is an athletic, springy goalie who moves around a ton to eat up shots with his 6-foot-3, 205-pound frame.

Carroll had a down year by his standards in his last season as a Quaker, stopping only 52.8% of shots (compared to 58.9% in 2024), which led to his falling stock in the draft.

There’s no denying Carroll’s talent, however, and he could see early success behind a veteran defense that has the likes of Matt Dunn and Tim Muller.

But he’ll have to play exceptionally to displace Krebs, who was a consistent presence last season for the Whipsnakes, and become the starting goaltender for this Maryland squad.

New York Atlas lefty midfield - Kyle Jackson vs. Payton Cormier vs. Cole Williams vs. Reid Bowering

New York loaded up on lefties this offseason to see which will build the best chemistry with Jeff Teat. By my calculations, only two of them will make the 25-man roster, and there’s a scenario where only one does.

Jackson, who came over from the Carolina Chaos, feels the most safe as a veteran who had a terrific 2024 campaign. 

With his high IQ and ability to set picks, play off-ball and score, it’s evident Jackson was a main priority for the Atlas in the player movement period as a veteran with a Canadian skill set to pair with Teat.

Cormier, who went undrafted in 2024, exploded five goals in his second professional game but did little outside of that. Still, he holds a lot of value as a fourth attackman (which is where he played in his five-goal outing) who can slot in if Teat, Connor Shellenberger or Xander Dickson suffers an injury.

So, for now, it feels like Bowering and Williams are the most likely cuts from this unit, but here’s where it gets interesting.

New York also drafted three midfielders this year:

• Penn State’s Matt Traynor (No. 6 overall)
• Yale’s Max Krevsky (No. 14 overall)
• Cornell’s Hugh Kelleher (No. 30 overall)

While they have very different skill sets than the lefty group presented above, there’s a very real chance that both Krevsky and Kelleher make the roster as high-upside midfielders (Traynor is already a lock).

Kelleher is a two-handed alley-dodger who plays just like recent holdout Dox Aitken, while Krevsky could crack the roster as a two-way midfielder who could provide SSDM depth.

If that’s the case, there could be another cut decision looming between Cormier or Jackson.

Both are terrific players who deserve to be on a roster, but they also play very similarly. They are slippery dodgers and high-IQ players who figure to be lefty pick partners for Teat. But you probably don't need both of them.

Philadelphia Waterdogs attack - CJ Kirst vs. Kieran McArdle vs. Michael Sowers vs. Jake Taylor

This is an interesting one.

It’s not a battle in the sense that any of the four will get cut. In fact, all of these players should contribute big-time for the Waterdogs this season. But who will be the odd man out of the attack unit to start the season?

I think Taylor is a must-start on this attack line.

He is already one of the best inside finishers in the game and will have a Dickson-like impact with the talented feeders around him.

Sowers is the natural fit at X with his ability to dodge to either hand and score and feed with equal ability. So to me, the battle comes down to who is starting on the lefty wing between McArdle and Kirst. 

McArdle has been a staple of the Waterdogs, racking up 149 points in five seasons, so it feels a little crazy to question his job safety. But when you draft Kirst, who plays the same lefty attack position and has superstar potential, at No. 1 overall, it becomes a battle between those two.

One of the biggest appeals of Kirst is his ability to play anywhere and do everything offensively, so he seems more likely than McArdle to succeed coming out of the box, which feels like the natural choice at this point.

But it’s also a tough decision to not have the ultra-talented Kirst on the field for every single possession.

If it were up to me, I’d roll with Taylor, Sowers and McArdle at attack and run Kirst through the midfield to start the season. But if this offense struggles to produce, I’m inserting Kirst for McArdle or Sowers without much hesitation and letting him run the show offensively.

Boston Cannons lefty attack - Coulter Mackesy vs. Will Manny

Similar to the Waterdogs’ battle between Kirst and McArdle is the battle in Boston between veteran Manny and rookie Mackesy.

It’s no secret that a big reason for the Cannons’ offensive woes in 2024 was their lack of stability on the lefty side. Pat Kavanagh, Matt Kavanagh, Chris Aslanian and Matt Campbell were all tested on that side with mixed results.

Pat was traded to Denver in the offseason while brother Matt retired. Aslanian was traded to Carolina, and Campbell is far more valuable in the midfield.

So it was no surprise when Boston took a lefty sharpshooter in Princeton’s Mackesy at No. 4 overall.

A smooth dodger and playmaker, Mackesy can do it all – shoot, feed, dodge, play off-ball – which allows him to find a role in any offense.

While Mackesy seems like a Day 1 starter, I’d be remiss not to mention Manny, the eight-time All-Star and proven goal-scorer. Manny has a super snappy release and some of the best hands catching the ball in traffic, routinely making tough plays look easy.

After tallying 32 points in 2023 with the Whipsnakes, Manny was cut after 2024 training camp before being scooped up by Boston. He never saw game action for the Cannons, however, a move that head coach and general manager Brian Holman said he regretted.

With Marcus Holman and Asher Nolting as their linemates, Mackesy or Manny is likely to find success in the offense. But training camp will prove vital in deciding which option has the edge.

Denver Outlaws goalie - Owen McElroy vs. Logan McNaney

McNaney was the first goalie off the board in the 2025 College Draft, going No. 11 overall to Denver.

An undersized goalie, McNaney has drawn comparisons to former Whipsnake Kyle Bernlohr for his rock-solid fundamentals and unflappable demeanor. He makes hard saves look easy and is playing in his fourth Final Four this weekend, perhaps playing some of his best lacrosse ever.

But in the PLL, everyone is a good goaltender, and McElroy was a first-team All-American his senior season at Georgetown. He’s a bigger, athletic righty who took over the starting spot in the second game of 2024 and played well, though was inconsistent at times.

McNaney seems to have the upper hand early on in this battle just because of the draft capital used on him, but he’s also going to be missing the first weekend of training camp. Could that be a window for McElroy to push ahead?

California Redwoods attack - Dylan Molloy vs. Brendan Nichtern vs. Jackson Morrill

Ryder Garnsey is the leader of this unit on the lefty side after recording 26 points (12G, 1T, 12A) and having to carry a stagnant offense that only averaged about 10 scores a game in 2024.

No. 10 overall draft pick Chris Kavanagh figures to have a starting spot, as well, but where he’s used on attack will have an impact on who the third starter is.

If Kavanagh plays on the right wing, his natural position, it’ll likely be a battle between Morrill and Nichtern for the starting X attack spot.

Nichtern, the 2022 Rookie of the Year, played every game for the Chrome in 2022 and registered 38 points (16G, 22A).

After Nichtern was unavailable for most of the last two seasons (he had military commitments after graduating from West Point), general manager Joe Spallina traded the 26th pick in the 2025 College Draft to acquire him from the Outlaws, who still retained his rights.

Funnily enough, Nichtern’s absence in 2023 opened an opportunity for Morrill to start at X attack for the Chrome, where racked up 23 points on a balanced 11 goals and 12 assists. Morrill later fell out of the starting lineup as he bounced around to the Whipsnakes and Utah Archers.

Nichtern is a more dynamic dodger than Morrill, but perhaps Morrill’s IQ will unlock Kavanagh and Garnsey from the wings.

It seems like it’s Nichtern’s job to lose, but Spallina also brought in Molloy, a bruising righty attacker who played for him with the New York Lizards and had a good showing at Champ Series, so you can never count him out, either.

Carolina Chaos faceoff - Nick Rowlett vs. Justin Inacio

The only faceoff battle in training camp is between Rowlett and Inacio.

Rowlett had a rough 2024 season, facing off at 36.7% after being above 50% as a rookie in 2023.

Inacio hasn’t seen game action since 2022 when he was with the Archers, but he’s a proven option who’s played for Team Canada and in the NLL.

Both players will struggle to beat the top faceoff men in the league, but it’s still a battle worth monitoring.