Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — During the Utah Archers' homestand of the Premier Lacrosse League regular season Aug. 16-17 in Herriman, the Archers hung a championship banner in celebration of the club's 2023 league title after being geolocated to represent the Wasatch Front among the league's eight teams.
Seeing the banner go up pushed Utah toward another one.
"I think that weekend, in general, was really cool for our rookies to see that flag and that ceremony, to be able to put a year and a banner up," said Archers midfielder Grant Ament leading up to 2024 championship weekend. "Not to mention after that, I said the two moments when they called back that goal and Beau Pederson's pick six, it still gives me goosebumps to this day.
"Hearing the crowd and the Utah body for the Utah kid was unbelievable. And it's unbelievable to have Utah across our chest, and winning another championship would be something special."
It's time to hang another 'special' banner at Zions Bank Stadium.
Mac O'Keefe had a hat trick, and Matt Moore added two goals and an assist as the Utah Archers repeated as back-to-back Premier Lacrosse League champions with a 12-8 win Sunday over the Maryland Whipsnakes at Subaru Park in Philadelphia.
Brett Dobson made 17 saves for a 68% save percentage in goal for the Archers en route back-to-back championship game MVP honors, and Park City native Beau Pederson added a team-high four ground ball pickups at short stick defensive midfielder for Utah.
Our second PLL Championship trophy, but this time we're bringing it home to Utah 🧡🏹 pic.twitter.com/6KhuFZxpe6
— Utah Archers (@PLLArchers) September 15, 2024
"It's the culmination of a ton of work," Archers coach Chris Bates said. "It wasn't always pretty. But it feels great to be champions again ... and we're going to enjoy it."
Utah, the No. 2 seed in the league and Western Conference champions, are the first back-to-back champions since 2020 and received $50,000 in prize money in a check ceremony presented by Utah paralympian Hunter Woodhall and his wife, Olympic gold-medal long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall from league sponsors Cash App and Visa.
And the magic run through the playoffs culminated with a championship without Tom Schreiber, the Archers' captain and considered one of the best midfielders in the world.
Schreiber, who suffered a broken collarbone during Utah's homestand weekend in August, was never far from the title-winning team, though. The league's Gait Brothers Midfielder of the Year handed down the captain's armband with ease to teammate Ryan Ambler, the 31-year-old left-handed midfielder who won league teammate of the year.
"Ambler was made a captain once Tom went down, and he didn't miss a beat," Ament said. "Ryan Ambler is the reason why, when Tom went down, we didn't miss a beat. He's a leader I've looked at as a captain without the title since I came to this organization. It starts with Tom, and has a contagious effect on the rest of us."
Maryland jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter before Matt Moore opened the scoring for Utah. Mason Woodward's 2-point goal in transition that was clocked at 110 miles per hour in the second helped the Archers pull even at halftime, 5-5 as Utah goalie Brett Dobson made 10 first-half saves.
Utah then outscored the Whipsnakes 3-1 in the third quarter, capped by Ryan Ambler's feed to Dyson Williams with one second left in the frame en route to an 8-6 advantage.
PLL Championship hat trick for Mac O'Keefe 🎩 pic.twitter.com/drTG9OWu4F
— ESPN (@espn) September 15, 2024
O'Keefe continued pouring it on, scoring his second goal with a double-fake shot inside the pipe to lift the Archers to a 10-6 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining to cap a 9-2 run.
Zed Williams pulled one back for the Whipsnakes with 6:01 on the clock, cutting the deficit to 10-7.
But Connor Fields bounced off a defender in transition before tagging the far post with a goal just over 30 seconds later, and O'Keefe secured his hat trick with 49 seconds, securing the Archers' first championship with "Utah" emblazoned across their jerseys as the Archers become the fourth repeat champions in North American professional outdoor lacrosse history.
"I genuinely believe that Utah was a difference maker in the season," Bates said. "That last weekend led to us getting the bye to the conference championship. And that crowd, that city, it made the difference for us. .... We're excited to be back and raise the banner — and for them to share in it. They've got another championship for another year."
Or as his goalie and championship game MVP Dobson said: "Let's raise another (expletive) banner."
