Boston Cannons 21, Utah Archers 14

Sarah Griffin: Cannons go back-to-back thanks to red-hot offense and elite goaltending

The Cannons are back-to-back Championship Series winners, capping the 2025 tournament with a dominant victory over the Utah Archers in Monday's final. From start to finish, Boston dictated the pace, outshooting, out-executing and outworking Utah on both ends of the field. 

The offensive firepower for the Boom Squad was relentless, led by Golden Stick Award winner Matt Campbell who put on a show with seven goals on 13 shots (53.8%).

“That guy should be the poster child [for Sixes]. He’s the best player in the country,” head coach Brian Holman said after the game.

Campbell closed out the series with 23 scoring points. When the Cannons needed a dagger to keep a typically potent Utah team at arm’s length, he was the one to deliver. 

Asher Nolting was also a force, finishing just two points behind his teammate in the pursuit of the Golden Stick title. But more importantly for Nolting, he consistently controlled possessions and set the tempo for his team’s offense.

While the offense thrived, Colin Kirst was the backbone of the Cannons’ second straight title run. The young netminder set a new tournament record with 72 saves, shutting down the Archers’ offense in the championship with 15 saves (55.6%).

Standing as a brick wall in net, with a strong defensive line in front of him led by Ethan Rall, Carter Parlette and Bubba Fairman, Kirst held Utah to a 28% shooting percentage. 

Perhaps even more impressively, the Cannons almost entirely shut off Mac O’Keefe. O’Keefe scored just one goal and only got two shots off all game. When asked what the defensive game plan was for the sharpshooter, Holman said: “Honestly, it was just to make his life miserable.”

With their dominant defensive performance, elite goaltending and offensive efficiency, the now two-time Championship Series winners have set the standard for sixes lacrosse. 

Zach Carey: Utah’s offense fails to win one-on-one against pressing Boston defense

The Archers’ offense couldn’t compete with the Cannons’ pressure defense. After averaging 27 points per game in pool play, Utah tallied only 14 in the Champ Series final. 

As Boston challenged the Archers’ offensive threats to win individual matchups by extending out to the perimeter and cutting off passing lanes, Utah had no real answers. Offensive heavyweights Matt Moore and O’Keefe combined for just 13 touches. Boston’s Campbell had 24 himself.

“Frankly, we didn’t run by guys,” head coach Chris Bates said postgame. “Sometimes it becomes a one-on-one game. And, if you look at the one-on-ones, they took advantage of it.”

Utah settled for far too many two-pointers, shooting 2-for-14 from deep. 

“We were stubborn with our shooting,” Bates said. 

In a sign of how much the settled offense struggled to produce, those two makes came from Beau Pederson and Mason Woodward, two of the Archers’ defenders. Pederson actually led Utah in scoring with four points on Monday. 

As the Archers settled for bad looks, they couldn’t solve Kirst in cage. They also struggled to create offense in unsettled scenarios as they caused zero turnovers defensively. In fact, Boston only coughed the ball up six times. 

“Offensively, we were not good,” Bates added. “The things we thought we could take advantage of, we certainly didn’t.”

On the other end, the Cannons wore the Archers’ defenders down with Campbell dominating his matchups. In contrast to Utah’s two-point heavy approach, Boston only took three long balls and didn’t connect on any of them. The Cannons dominated inside the arc instead.

“We got beat one-on-one all day long,” Bates said. “Matt Campbell ran by us. Alex Vardaro ran by us.”

Boston shot 51.2% on the game and 55.2% from one-point range. The Archers shot 31.6%. In a complex game, that tells a lot of the story. 

While the loss certainly stings for Utah, this week remains a valuable building block in the club’s quest for a three-peat this summer. 

“We got to look at some guys. I think we got to grow,” Bates said. “I think you saw [our] leadership evolve. You know, Ryan [Ambler], as our captain, was exceptional. And then you saw guys take next steps and own responsibility … in a different way.”

If anything, the Archers will hope to use Monday’s loss as fuel ahead of the 2025 regular season. 

“There’s definitely a little extra motivation for this summer,” Pederson said.  

Suffice to say, a team on the verge of dynastic status playing with an added fire is an imposing prospect.