Archers return to Utah with No. 1 seed, top defense, home-field advantage in PLL playoffs

HERRIMAN — The Utah Archers have the best defense in the Premier Lacrosse League and the No. 1 seed in the 2026 PLL Playoffs heading into Monday's semifinals.

What more could the two-time league champions ask for in the postseason?

Home-field advantage wouldn't hurt.

The Archers, who won the western conference with a 7-5 record in the regular season, will open the the first of two Labor Day semifinals Monday against Rocky Mountain rival Denver Outlaws at Zions Bank Stadium (1 p.m. MT, ESPN2) with a spot in the league's championship game at stake.

Utah can score goals as it looks to clinch a spot in its third championship final in four years, with 126 goals and eight two-point goals on 142 shots that ranks fifth in the eight-team league.

But where the Archers excel is on the other end of the field, with the best save percentage (59.5%), shots-against average (9.4) and third-best faceoff percentage (56.3%) in the seven-year league.

"I think we've just gotten comfortable with our rotation in terms of our short-stick defensive middies," said Archers head coach Chris Bates, who is also the club's general manager. "That takes a while for us to get in a comfort zone, and now those guys are fresher and more comfortable with the new system. And then, our back stop is as good as he gets and the other three in front of him have played great while our poles have played solid.

"We don't get too high or too low. Consistently we've been just that: consistent."

Led by fifth-year defenseman Warren Jeffrey and a cadre of big bodies in the back like PLL defensive player of the year finalist Brendan Lavelle, Mason Woodward and Mitchell Dunham. That's a sterm defense — before you get to Brett Dobson, the 26-year-old goalie who set a league record with 7.86 goals-against average and an .847 for the Georgia Swarm in the indoor National Lacrosse League and currently leads the PLL with 131 saves on a 59% save percentage.

Since early July, that defense has also included Nikko DiPonio, the former University of Utah standout who was traded to the Archers after initially being drafted by the New York Atlas.

"They're probably one of if not the best defenses in the league," Diponio admitted when he was first traded to Utah in midsummer.

DiPonio, the former ASUN Defensive Player of the Year and two-time All-ASUN first team with the Utes, was reunited on the Archers with former teammate Ryan Stines, who has put together an offensive rookie of the year campaign with 18 goals and 12 assists in his first season.

"We both live in Salt Lake still, so we see each other every now and then," DiPonio said of Stines. "But it's super cool to be able to have those jerseys hanging in the Utah lacrosse locker room. It's pretty cool to get to reconnect with him (on the field), no doubt."

Monday will be the second time both DiPonio and Stines will play at Zions Bank Stadium. Stines, the 2025 ASUN Offensive Player of the Year and 2023 ASUN Freshman of the Year, scored his first professional goal in his adopted hometown when the Cary, North Carolina, native notched a goal and an assist in a 9-5 loss to California in May.

DiPonio made his own debut in the Salt Lake suburb, coming on for the Atlas in a 16-12 win over the Carolina Chaos in front of a sold-out stadium that included dozens of his college teammates and classmates making the short drive to Herriman.

"That was probably one of the coolest nights of my life," DiPonio said. "Getting to play in front of all the guys after we had just finished up a week before was pretty incredible. It's definitely a night that I'll never forget — and we also got to watch Stines play right before us.

"It's a pretty unique experience, getting to play in that league."

How to watch: PLL Playoff semifinals

• Western Conference: No. 1 Utah Archers vs. No. 3 Denver Outlaws, 1 p.m. MT (ESPN2)
• Eastern Conference: No. 1 Philadelphia Waterdogs vs. No. 2 Boston Cannons, 3:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
• Limited tickets are still available at premierlacrosseleague.com

Related topics