Five Players who Should be Roster Adds for the PLL Championship Series

The Championship Series is going to be here before you know it. Once again it will be played during an overlap with the NLL season, meaning two league pros who are in season indoors won’t have the chance to join their outdoor club for some Sixes…indoors. 

The Championship Series has served as a tryout for fringe players in the past. Cracking a PLL roster, particularly for the undrafted, is incredibly difficult. There aren’t many practices that they can attend; it’s a once a week walk through for game day. The opportunities to learn a team’s systems and get comfortable are extremely limited, to say nothing of the fact that the talent makes taking someone else’s spot difficult. Still, the one week event has produced 19 man roster players in each year of its existence. Brendan Krebs was excellent in net for the Archers a few years ago, now he’s the Whipsnakes starting goalie. Ronan Jacoby was productive and explosive for the Archers last year, and he made the Atlas roster out of training camp, appearing in several regular season games. The Championship Series is good to find maybe one of these diamonds in the rough each year. The four teams participating (Archers, Atlas, Cannons, and Whipsnakes) each have several players committed to the NLL season, so there should be ample spots to fill for the event. In fact, between the 25 man rosters of these clubs, there are over 30 players who also play indoors.

A few players could fit the bill this year if they get a shot at some Sixes. The criteria I gave myself in coming up with these players is that they can’t have played at the event before, and they obviously have to be available meaning no NLL guys. I also tried to keep to players who have, at most, only PLL training camp experience. True "tryout" types. I am sure there’s a version of this exercise that’s just names like Nate Solomon, Christian Mazzone, and Josh Stout (all of whom would be great additions and could definitely be picked up), but I want to dig a little deeper.

Jack Boyden, Attack/Midfield

Boyden was at training camp with the Knighthawks but released in late November, making him, at least for now, available. The Toronto native’s numbers at Tufts look like typos. 290 points in two seasons? Can’t be real. And yet it is. Boyden had 310 points in four years at Tufts, but two of those years were 2020 and 2021, cut short by COVID. His two full years with the Jumbos saw him score those 290 points in 45 games, shooting well over 40% in that time. In 2022, he had 86 goals and 47 assists, and then he flipped things with 69 goals and 88 assists the following year, despite routinely being face guarded. He took a grad year at UVA and played both attack and midfield, putting up 37 points there. Boyden is the mix of creative and aggressive that is built for Sixes. 

Will Mark, Goalie

The Championship Series is crucible for netminders. It’s a ton of shots, no poles in front of you to slow down the offense, a lot of the shots are from close quarters. It takes some getting used to. As a viewer, you can feel like you’re watching a goalie play a spectacular game and when it’s over, see they saved 40% or so. Will Mark is prepared for it. He played for Team Puerto Rico at the USA Lacrosse Experience and made 33 saves in three games, including 11 against Team USA. Finding a goal who is ready for pro level shots, let alone experienced in Sixes, is tough to do, but Mark checks both boxes. He was a popular pick to be taken in the PLL draft last year (I rated him second only to Liam Entenmann in the class), but ended up as a training camp add who was later part of final cuts by the Whipsnakes. I am confident he’ll be playing for somebody this February. 

(Note: At the time of Publication, the Whipsnakes have added Will Mark for the Championship Series)

JP Ward, Attack

Ward is my personal pick for the annual “player who crushes it and gets a 19 man spot the following summer”. At 6’2, 205, Ward has the build of a PLL pro, before you start really getting into his style. He played with some great attackmen at Delaware, including PLL pros Mike Robinson and Tye Kurtz. His three full seasons with the Hens saw him score point totals of 72, 85, and 59, and his scoring is balanced. The biggest disparity between his goal and assist totals in a year was eight, when he had 40 goals and 32 assists as a sophomore. Ward has shared the field with pros, and was recently released by the Albany Firewolves. If no one indoors adds him, someone outdoors should. 

Christian Mule, Attack

Mule had a productive year as a grad student at Syracuse in 2024. His 44 points were third on the team, not bad for an offense that includes Joey Spallina, Owen Hiltz, Finn Thomson, Jake Stevens, Sam English, Michael Leo, and plenty more weapons who all need touches. His senior season at Lehigh saw him score 73 points, he’s an exceptionally good shooter, and the turnover numbers aren’t scary at all. As I look at players for Sixes, I look at shooting percentage, shots on goal percentage, and turnover numbers. Sixes is a game where poor shooting equals high turnovers, because you can’t back shots up. Mule can fit into an offense that’s stacked with weapons and be comfortable right away, that’s what he showed you at Syracuse. He was at Whipsnakes camp and didn’t make the 25 man, but he’s the type of player who should get a Sixes look.

Willie Grieco, Attack

I am going to make a sign that says “watch more DII lacrosse” just so I can tap it when I suggest guys like Grieco are pro caliber. He racked up over 400 points at Wingate, including first team All American seasons and seasons where he led the nation in assists and points. He was at training camp with the Desert Dogs in the NLL, but was part of the final cuts, so assuming nobody else picks him up, he’ll be available. Grieco is an outstanding passer, and has a very explosive first step. In the close quarters of Sixes, with no poles, he should have success freeing his hands. He shot just over 34% for his career, with over 64% of his shot being on cage. In his 4 years and change at Wingate, he missed exactly three games, and started every other game; durability isn’t an issue for him. The concern to adding him would his getting stuck on defense. Grieco is a solid riding attackman, but riding against DII clearing vs playing defense against PLL dodgers are not the same.