Intentional or not, the Championship Series was truly built for the best team to win, a team that understands itself and it’s values. 

“We obviously have a lot of talent,” said attackman Jay Carlson. “It's still about playing unselfish lacrosse. I think watching some of these other teams in other games, some of these guys have their ball in their stick a little too long. They're trying to get their own points, own goals, while I think our team kind of plays unselfish offense.”

Building the roster

A ping pong ball might’ve saved the Whipsnakes chances at repeating. When the Expansion Draft rules were announced and Jim Stagnitta knew he’d lose some players to the incoming Waterdogs Lacrosse Club, he and his staff decided their defense would be the most irreplaceable. The whole group had come out of the same system at Maryland and meshed well in their first season with the Whipsnakes. So Stagnitta forfeited 71 points of offense knowing he’d replace them in the offseason drafts.  

Then a global pandemic happened. With the college lacrosse season cut short, and the NCAA offering an extra year of eligibility, many of the players Stagnitta and his staff thought would be coming into the PLL stayed in college. 

Luckily, the Whipsnakes had that one ping pong ball for the Expansion Draft. It was pulled fifth, rather than the anticipated 7th spot, and gave Stagnitta his first major win of the offseason: Williams. With midfield and attack experience and the ability to drive an offense on the opposite of Matt Rambo, Stagnitta knew Williams would be a key element to this year’s team. 

“That going our way made all the difference in the world,” Stagnitta said. 

In the months leading up to the Championship Series, the Whipsnakes traded for Max Tuttle, a midfielder formerly with Chrome LC, and finalized a roster that included Jay Carlson and Brad Smith as potential offensive contributors. Smith sat out all of 2019 with a broken foot, while Carlson had played in 2019 but not on a consistent basis.

In the spring, Carlson wasn’t sure he’d be making the trip to Utah. Originally, he’d heard there might be 20 players with two additional spots for reserves and the man who’s known for his crease dominating antics wasn’t positive he’d be on that list. 

He called Stagnitta. He told his coach from the year before that he’s the kind of player that arrives each year better than the last. He explained how his game, a player that exploits holes in the middle of a defense and capitalizes on inefficient slides, would be perfect for tournament play. When defenses grow tired, their play proves sloppy and sloppy defenses forget about guys like Jay Carlson. 

After starting six games in the PLL’s inaugural season, Carlson had trained to be a starter in 2020. A week or so after their first phone conversation, Stagnitta rang Carlson and told him he’d be coming.

“On paper, some people from the outside were like ‘eh I'm not sure what we're going to get from those guys,’ and they thought we were going to lose some scoring from those other guys,” LSM Michael Ehrhardt said. “But we all knew, in our team, that we had a great group of guys going into this tournament and that we were going to have success with it.”

Two games to glory 

Matt Rambo and Zed Williams didn’t score a single point in the Whipsnakes semifinal matchup against Redwoods. Rambo entered the game the PLL leader in points with 20, while Williams led the PLL in goals with 14. For most teams, not having either of those players score would paralyze the offense. But the Whipsnakes had other scoring options. 

The Redwoods slid quickly. It helped limit Rambo and Williams from attacking their one-on-one matchups as they were rarely alone but it also led to an overactive defense. As the Redwoods defense slid, the second and third slides couldn’t keep up with the ball movement. 

It was just like Carlson had suggested to Stagnitta. Eventually, teams would lose him. It led to him finding the ball on the doorstep (no team had more rebound goals than the Whipsnakes) and him catching and shooting as well (no team scored off two passes more than the Whipsnakes). Carlson scored four goals in the game while Smith and Tuttle each added one. 

The Redwoods' focus on the attackmen led to transition woes as well. The defense didn’t want to slide off of Rambo and Williams, a fair strategy, but it left Ehrhardt unmarked in transition and led to two two-point goals from the LSM. 

Jeremy Sieverts, a second-line midfielder, scored the game-winning goal in overtime on his third shot of the PLL Championship Series. After dodging on a short-stick midfielder,  No one slid to the previously unthreatening Sieverts. He swept across the alley and bounced in a goal.