‘You need to take over’: Inside Connor Shellenberger’s Year 2 breakthrough

“Get better every week.”

That’s a phrase Connor Shellenberger writes down in his notebook on a weekly basis. In college, he’d listen to music before games. Now, he reviews that message to himself before each game in the PLL.

Shellenberger is an old soul. An avid golfer, he takes inspiration from Scottie Scheffler about the importance of being present. That’s why he diligently takes notes with pen and paper, avoiding the distractions that screens present.

“If you text Connor Shellenberger, you don’t get a text right back,” Shellenberger’s head coach at Virginia, Lars Tiffany, said. “He is really good at being where his feet are.”

The MVP finalist is the personification of a lax rat. He’s obsessed with every aspect of the game. In college, he’d spend hours in the coaches’ offices at UVA, hunkered down with offensive coordinator Sean Kirwan or Kevin Cassese. He’d break down film of other great players as he tirelessly searched for ways to incorporate different techniques into his game. He’s fundamentally cerebral and curious in his approach to bettering himself.

“He’s such a student of the game,” Tiffany said.

That obsession with improving is paired with an intense internal pressure that both motivates him and, at times, catches up with him.

Shellenberger originally committed to Johns Hopkins in eighth grade. He was the top recruit in his class for years throughout high school. He led Virginia to an NCAA championship in his freshman season. He was the No. 2 pick in the 2024 College Draft and was thrust into the New York Atlas starting lineup in his professional debut.

At every level, on every team he’s played for, he’s been looked to as the guy the moment he stepped on the field. Tiffany often says that “pressure is a privilege.” In Shellenberger’s case, the pressure comes from the otherworldly standard he holds himself to. He’s his own harshest critic.

“Shelly, great game!” Atlas offensive coordinator Steven Brooks told him after one of Shellenberger’s four seven-point performances this summer.

“Sorry, Coach,” Shellenberger responded. “I missed those two [shots] on the backside. I’ve got to finish those.”

“He beats himself up more than people think because of how much of a competitor he is,” Brooks explained. “He hates losing more than anything.”

Brooks and Shellenberger’s relationship has blossomed in 2025. The former Syracuse midfielder and longtime professional player first encountered Shellenberger when the Atlas attackman was in high school, playing for St. Anne’s-Belfield against Brooks’ Paul VI squad. Shellenberger and STAB blew past Brooks’ team, leaving an enduring first impression.

“If I can get that guy on my team, I’ll be a lot happier,” Brooks thought to himself.

Flash forward five years, and Brooks was banging his fist on the table to draft Shellenberger with New York’s No. 2 overall pick.

“He was my guy,” Brooks said.

Shellenberger played hurt for most of his rookie season with the Atlas. A grueling college season left him battered and bruised for the summer. He still scored 26 points in eight games and helped New York to first place in the league at the end of the regular season.

After the Atlas’ season ended in the semifinals in early September, he had core muscle surgery in October. That knocked him out of the 2025 Lexus Championship Series, but yielded a conversation with Brooks that would set the stage for his 2025 regular season.

Obsessed with getting the most out of Shellenberger, Brooks reached out to Kirwan – Shellenberger’s former OC at UVA – to figure out what makes him tick.

“Connor wants to be great,” Kirwan told him. “He wants to be coached. He wants to learn. He’s always looking for new ways to expand what he’s doing.”

Brooks took that to heart. In February, he called Shellenberger to empower the young attackman.

“If you want to be the best in this league, if you want to be the best player you possibly can be, then you need to add at least one or two more things to your game as the seasons go on,” Brooks told him.

“So, what do you need from me?” Shellenberger responded.

“You need to be selfish at times, and you need to take over,” Brooks told him. “You’re Connor Shellenberger, and you need to realize that you can put the ball in the back of the net just as good as anybody else in this league. Take your opportunities and strike.”

The Atlas OC proceeded to go through clip after clip of Shellenberger’s 2024 season where, instead of shooting or attacking for himself, he gave the ball up.

“I would say he was a feeder first, feeder second, shooter third, and that was just his game [in college],” Brooks said. “That was kind of his game last year.”

Brooks pressed Shellenberger to be more aggressive, especially as a goal-scorer, in his second season.

Slowly, that message started to sink in for Virginia’s all-time leader in points. He arrived at training camp excited to cut it loose, but also nervous about how his body would hold up after an offseason of rehab and preparation.

Shellenberger felt good throughout training camp. He was at his best physically and mentally. In his eyes, though, that didn’t translate to the first weekend of the regular season. He notched five points (3G, 2A) in New York’s two games in Albany. From the outside, he played fine. But those first two outings didn’t sit right with Shellenberger. Frustration started to seep in over the two weeks before the Atlas’ next game.

Trevor Baptiste knew something was up.

“I think he could feel the weight of the world on him, and I think that he’s had that pressure for a lot of his career,” Baptiste said. “He just needed to know that he’s that boy. He’s got it like that. He’s the truth.”

The 2022 MVP gave Shellenberger a call during New York’s bye week to check his pulse and reaffirm the confidence he and the entire Atlas team have in him.

“That meant the world,” Shellenberger said.

Similar to Brooks, Baptiste pushed Shellenberger to be himself, to be aggressive and, most importantly, to have fun and reignite the fire that he played with at UVA. Baptiste had seen how Shellenberger’s lofty expectations had weighed on him and how they had stripped away the joy of playing the game he loves.

“For him to be able to play free from that frustration, it’s a really powerful place for him to be,” Baptiste said.

The next time Shellenberger stepped on the field, he did so with a newfound freedom that sparked a breakout sophomore season. In the eight games since Opening Weekend, he’s averaging 5.1 points per contest as he’s solidified himself as the MVP front-runner with a league-high 46 points on the season. He credits the conversation with Baptiste for unlocking his self-belief.

“Ever since then, I felt a lot more normal,” Shellenberger said. “I felt like I was getting better each week, which was exciting compared to last year. I felt like [2024] was just very stagnant, and I was kind of surviving.”

Shellenberger has drastically improved in 2025.

He’s been unlocked in his second season playing with Jeff Teat and Xander Dickson. Teat can diffuse some of the on-field pressure Shellenberger feels to be the initiator possession after possession, while also empowering him to be great in his own right. Dickson provides an unbelievable off-ball target with whom Shellenberger has unrivaled familiarity. That duo leads the league in goals as a feeder-shooter combo with nine.

Yet Shellenberger’s biggest delta has come as a scorer. His 23 goals were second in the league in the regular season. His 47.9% shooting percentage is first among players averaging at least three shots per game.

It’s not just the rate at which Shellenberger is scoring that’s impressive – it’s how he’s doing it.

In his rookie season, 54.6% of his shots were assisted, and his average shot distance was 6.8 yards.

This year, just 36.2% of Shellenberger’s shots have been assisted, with his average shot distance skyrocketing to 9.8 yards.

Bottom line: He’s creating his own shots much more often, shooting from much further out and still scoring on 12.6% more of his shots.

“I am seeing him be appropriately more aggressive and initiating for his own shot,” Tiffany said.

Shellenberger’s shot from distance has been a major calling card for him in 2025, and he’s scoring on step-down shots at a historically efficient rate.

He’s shooting 48% (12-for-25) on shots 10+ yards from the goal. That’s the best mark in a single PLL season among players who took at least 20 shots from that distance. Only four other players have been over 40% from 10 yards in a single season.

“The accuracy of his shooting has gotten even better,” Tiffany added. “That’s where I really think he’s playing better than anyone else in the PLL right now.”

Shellenberger’s shot chart tells the story of a player who’s expanded his game beyond being the facilitating X attackman initiating from behind the cage. This is a chart that looks a lot closer to Marcus Holman’s shot distribution than Rob Pannell’s.

There have been hints at Shellenberger’s potential to score all over the field throughout his career.

One of his biggest goals in college came off a dodge from the midfield. In double overtime against Johns Hopkins in the 2024 NCAA quarterfinals, Cassese drew up a play for Shellenberger to dodge across the middle of the field with a pick while a double mumbo occupied the defenders off-ball.

“It’s almost like putting a wide receiver in motion pre-snap,” Tiffany said of the double mumbo.

Seeing that the Blue Jay defenders stayed locked to their matchups despite the off-ball motion, Shellenberger knew he was one-on-one versus Scott Smith. So, when he planted hard at goal line extended and turned back upfield, Shellenberger was confident there would be no slide as he ripped a lefty game-winner past Chayse Ierlan.

That’s a play that the Utah Archers spam for five-time Midfielder of the Year Tom Schreiber. The Boston Cannons run it for Midfielder of the Year finalist Matt Campbell.

Shellenberger’s most memorable goal so far this season came on the road against the Denver Outlaws. With just over 30 seconds left in regulation and New York down by one, Brooks started to draw up a play in the Atlas huddle.

“Shelly, you’re going to pick it up and you’re going to carry down to your spot,” Brooks said. “Do you want to go from behind or do you want to go from the wing?”

“Can I go from right here?” Shellenberger responded, pointing at the top of the offense on Brooks’ green dry erase board.

“You just want to go from up top?”

“Is that cool?” No. 1 asked.

“Yeah, let’s do it. Just get him open, your job is to get him open,” Teat chimed in, speaking to Reid Bowering. “We’ll work off-ball to give Shelly some space. [Expletive] it, ball in your stick.”

Out of the timeout, Shellenberger dodged at JT Giles-Harris, rolling across the middle of the field into a perfectly timed pick from Bowering, earning a switch onto short stick Ryan Terefenko as a result. For seven seconds, he probed, shuffling Terefenko where he wanted him before exploding to his left and crow-hopping into a 10-yard rip with his off-hand.

“I think the big thing about him is how extremely patient he is,” Brooks said. “When it’s his opportunity to strike, he strikes with vengeance.”

“He was getting closer while he was probing, and he was getting a little closer, a little closer, and then bang,” Tiffany said.

“When the moment comes, he always steps up to the plate,” Dickson said.

“You could see his celebration,” Brooks added. “He let all his emotions out, which was awesome to see.”

Shellenberger’s triumphant roar after blitzing the ball past Logan McNaney was reminiscent of his fiery celebrations at Virginia. The moment represented a year’s worth of work to recapture his competitive edge and rediscover his passion.

He came up clutch in that moment, and he did it in a noticeably different fashion than his stereotypical playing style would indicate.

Brooks suggested that he dodge from the wing or behind, where X attackmen like Shellenberger typically operate. He countered that by asking if he could go from up top because he’s grown comfortable dodging from just about anywhere on the field.

Shellenberger knew Giles-Harris was sagging off of him on picks, so he suspected he would be more likely to get a switch if he was in an area of the field where not switching would allow an immediate shot. He also liked the freedom and space up top that would allow him to re-dodge.

Shellenberger is bucking the trend of the traditional X attackman. While he’s one of the best feeders in the game (T-2nd in the league in assists), he’s at the forefront of rewriting the code for what a quarterbacking X attackman looks like.

“I don’t do a lot of the question marks and inside rolls and the traditional attackman things [at five-and-five],” he said. “Sometimes, during games, I’m more comfortable above [the goal].”

“As much of an X attackman that he is, he is unbelievable all over the field,” Brooks said.

Shellenberger has been a Swiss Army knife for much of his career. He dominated as a dodger on the righty wing in high school. He started his college career playing out of the box, before then transitioning to being the quarterbacking X attackman in his later years at UVA.

Now, in his second professional season, he’s putting all the pieces together.

“Connor is great out in space,” Kirwan said. “He does a lot of damage when he’s in the corner of the field and then gets that full head of steam.”

Unlike the Kavanagh brothers or Michael Sowers or even Pannell, Shellenberger wins because of how explosive he is with one strong move. He dances around less than those players do and typically relies on the momentum he carries in one direction to create separation and get a shot off.

That’s exactly what he did to score the game-deciding goal in New York’s regular-season finale against the Philadelphia Waterdogs.

Starting with a dodge from the low corner, he launched up the field, using a Jake Stevens pick and a slight hesitation to force a switch. He circled the top of the defense, blowing past Connor Kelly before turning the corner against a sliding Dylan Hess and tickling the twine on the run.

Shellenberger’s straight-line speed, his comfort above the goal and the power he can generate on his shot from distance all culminated in a goal that all but sealed the Jim Brown MVP award for the second-year attackman.

The possession prior, Shellenberger had missed Teat on a fast-break feed. He dropped his head in his hands for a moment. But he didn’t let that frustration fester – he bounced back and put the onus on himself to go make the next play.

“You don’t rise to the occasion,” Kirwan said. “You fall back on your training and your habits, and that is him to a T. He’s able to shine in those moments because he has worked his tail off to put himself in those moments.”

Shellenberger is still his own toughest critic. He still chastises himself when he (rarely) coughs the ball up or misses a shot in tight. He’s still consumed by the race to improve.

But he’s found the balance between being a self-critic and keeping his head up, just like he’s learned to equally weigh creating offense for others with tucking and going hard to the cage.

Ahead of Monday’s semifinal against the Waterdogs, Shellenberger will once again remind himself to get better every week. He’ll be where his feet are when New York needs him to step up. And, like he has throughout 2025, he’ll play free.