PLL Week 1 preview: Everything you need to know for opening weekend

The 2025 Premier Lacrosse League regular play begins Friday and Saturday successful Albany, New York, with 4 games.

It's homecoming play for the New York Atlas, who volition play 2 games, portion it volition besides beryllium our archetypal look astatine the defending champion Utah Archers.

Plus, however overmuch volition we get to spot of the 2025 PLL draught class?

Read connected for the afloat docket of games this weekend, including cardinal stats and players to cognize for each matchup and broadcast information.

Preseason predictions

Carolina Chaos vs. New York Atlas

Friday, 6 p.m. ET | ESPN+

Injury report:

Atlas: Gavin Adler questionable (right groin strain), Cole Williams questionable (left hamstring strain), Max Krevsky physically incapable to execute (PUP)
Chaos: Gannon Matthews PUP, Sergio Perkovic PUP, Shane Knobloch PUP

Chaos

Blaze Riorden is climbing the all-time PLL saves leaderboard. He begins the play successful eighth, with 1,041, 1 down teammate Austin Kaut (1,042). Drew Adams holds the vocation record, with 1,966.

New caput manager Roy Colsey volition look to summation shot question for the Chaos this season, arsenic Carolina had a league-low 38.6% assistance complaint (the percent of shots that came from an assist). For comparison, the Atlas led the league successful 2024, astatine 56.4%.

Atlas

Reigning Jim Brown MVP Award victor Jeff Teat acceptable an unthinkable single-season points grounds successful 2024 (64), shattering the erstwhile people by 20 points (Marcus Holman's 44 successful 2023). Teat, named 1 of the Atlas' captains this offseason is 1 extremity distant from tying Eric Law for astir goals successful squad history.

Trevor Baptiste is 30 faceoff wins down Alex Smith for 5th connected the all-time leaderboard successful that stat. Greg Gurenlian is archetypal connected that ranking, with 2,263.

California Redwoods vs. Denver Outlaws

Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET | ESPN+

Injury report:

Redwoods: Cole Kastner PUP
Outlaws: Logan Wisnauskas questionable (right hamstring strain)

It's a Kavanagh household affair! Brothers Pat (drafted No. 6 successful 2024) and Chris (No. 10 successful 2025) won back-to-back nationalist championships astatine Notre Dame (2023, 2024) together. They volition look disconnected for the archetypal clip successful the PLL arsenic Pat's Outlaws instrumentality connected Chris' Redwoods. Older member Matt -- a champion with the Outlaws successful 2016 and 2018 -- retired this offseason.

Redwoods

Talk astir a reunion; No. 2 wide prime Andrew McAdorey played for Redwoods wide manager Joe Spallina's younker squad from 3rd people done precocious school.

No, that's not a typo: chap rookie Chris Kavanagh volition beryllium wearing No. 96, an homage to NHL players Mikko Rantanen, and Pavel Bure.

Outlaws

Denver volition beryllium capable to flip 3 Tewaaraton Award winners connected the tract unneurotic this season, with Pat Kavanagh (2024), Brennan O'Neill (2023) and Logan Wisnauskas (2022) each successful the fraternity.

On the different extremity of the acquisition spectrum, Eric Law is 3 goals distant from his 300th vocation goal, and climbing the all-time leaderboard. He starts the play seventh, with 297; adjacent up connected the database are Kieran McArdle (also active, with 302) and Brendan Mundorf (316).

Maryland Whipsnakes vs. Utah Archers

Saturday, 1 p.m. ET | ABC/ESPN+

Injury report:

Whipsnakes: No injuries to report
Archers: Matt Moore questionable (left hip)

Why commencement small? It's a rematch of the 2024 championship, won by the Archers. Utah is looking to go the archetypal threepeat champion successful PLL history; 3 teams anterior to their 2023-24 tally won back-to-back titles -- the 2006-07 Philadelphia Barrage, 2012-13 Chesapeake Bayhawks ... and 2019-20 Maryland Whipsnakes.

Whipsnakes

Veteran Rob Pannell signed with the Whipsnakes this offseason aft 4 seasons with the Redwoods. "Winning a title is astatine the beforehand of my mind," helium told reporters. "I wanted to enactment myself successful what I deliberation is the champion presumption to triumph one." Pannell is 5 assists down ESPN expert Ryan Boyle's 292 for the astir successful a vocation successful PLL history.

TJ Malone was the lone subordinate to people double-digit goals with some hands successful 2024, notching 13 right-handed and 11 left-handed. In fact, lone 3 different players scored 5 oregon much with some hands: Michael Sowers, Tom Schreiber and Dox Aiken.

Archers

Tom Schreiber missed the postseason successful 2024 owed to an injury, but returns to the lineup to commencement the season. He's 5 goals distant from the 200-goal milestone for his career.

With Malone playing a large relation for the Whipsnakes, he'll beryllium matched up often against Mason Woodward. Against Woodward past season, Malone was 1-for-11 (9.1%), portion helium was 23-for-84 (27.4%) erstwhile matched up against each different defenders.

Boston Cannons vs. New York Atlas

Saturday, 7 p.m. ET | ESPN+

Injury report:

Cannons: No injuries to report
Atlas: Gavin Adler questionable (right groin strain), Cole Williams questionable (left hamstring strain), Max Krevsky PUP

Yet different Boston vs. New York rivalry! The past clip these 2 squads met was successful the sixes format astatine the 2025 Championship Series successful February. Boston erased a 22-19 shortage successful the last 26 seconds, past won the crippled successful overtime. The Cannons won the tournament, portion the Atlas wondered what mightiness person been had they sealed the deal.

Cannons

Marcus Holman begins the play with 345 goals, the 3rd astir all-time down Paul Rabil (355) and John Grant Jr. (393).

In 2023, Garrett Epple won the Dave Pietramala Defenseman of the Year Award, and he's continued to beryllium a menace to opponents by causing tons of turnovers. Since 2019, helium has caused the astir of anyone (112), good up of second-place Cade van Raaphorst (73).

Atlas

The No. 3 prime successful the 2023 draft, Brett Makar improved importantly successful 2024 acknowledgment to a power to his earthy presumption of adjacent defence alternatively of long-stick midfield successful 2023. Opponents changeable 25.4% erstwhile Makar was the closest defender successful 2024, down from 35.4% successful 2023.

What benignant of a relation volition rookie Matt Traynor have? The No. 6 wide prime traded successful 1 shadiness of bluish for different aft starring astatine Penn State this past season.