Local lacrosse stars will compete in Sunday’s PLL championship in Chester. Here are some names to know.
The Maryland Whipsnakes and Utah Archers, who are vying for Sunday's championship, feature about a dozen players who hail from or played on a college team from the Philadelphia area.
When the Premier Lacrosse League hosts its championship at Subaru Park, it will be a homecoming for about a dozen players who are from the area or attended local colleges.
Sunday’s nationally televised game will feature the Maryland Whipsnakes and the Utah Archers (3 p.m., 6abc) for all the marbles along the Chester waterfront.
The locals arguably are headlined by Maryland attack TJ Malone, the Haverford School and Penn State grad, who is tied for third-best in the PLL for points (37) and fourth in the league in assists with 18. This will be the second homecoming of sorts in less than two years for Malone, who led the Nittany Lions to the NCAA men’s lacrosse Final Four at Lincoln Financial Field in May 2023.
» READ MORE: TJ Malone walked hills and valleys to get Penn State back to the NCAA lacrosse semifinals
There’s a good deal at stake for both teams in this one. A win for Utah would make the Archers the only team in PLL history to capture back-to-back titles, while the Whipsnakes are going for their third championship, the most of any organization in the eight-team league.
With all of that on the line, here’s a look at a few of the top locals on both sides:
Utah Archers
Ryan Ambler, midfield
Ambler, an Abington native and current captain of the Archers, was a three-time all-Ivy League selection at Princeton. In the 2020 PLL Championship Series, he registered a career-high four goals (nine points).
Mac O’Keefe, attack
O’Keefe, who played at Penn State, still holds the record for most goals in Division I history with 213.
Matt Moore, attack
Moore, who attended Garnet Valley High School, is a two-time PLL All-Star (2022, 2023).
Grant Ament, midfield
Ament is a Doylestown native who attended the Haverford School and Penn State and was named a first-team All-Pro in the PLL in 2021.
Piper Bond, defensive midfield
Bond, a Penn graduate, was an All-Star this season.
Maryland Whipsnakes
Matt Rambo, attack
The Glenside, Pa., native who attended La Salle College High School is no stranger to PLL title games. In fact, this will be Rambo’s third after winning PLL championships in 2019 and 2020. He was named league MVP in 2019.
Levi Anderson, midfield
Anderson, who attended St. Joseph’s, is in a championship game his first season in the PLL. He’s fresh off of helping the Hawks qualify for the NCAA Tournament this past season.
Stephen Zupicich, long stick midfield
Another Big 5 graduate, this is Zupicich’s first year with the Whipsnakes after graduating from Villanova in May.