By Kevin Brown
(Photo Courtesy PLL)
The Premier Lacrosse League announced the nominees for the 2025 End of Season awards on Monday morning, with reigning Most Valuable Player Jeff Teat among the most notable snubs.
Teat's linemate Connor Shellenberger finished as the leading points-getter for the regular season and headlines the candidates up for this year's MVP honors. Denver duo Brennan O'Neill and Pat Kavanagh plus Waterdogs star Michael Sowers round out the most prestigious category.
As is the case for every awards season, team "what about [insert name here]?!" emerges with some varying levels of rhyme or reason. Usually, the most important next thing needed after asking such a question is suggesting a name to replace them with, and that being so difficult this year provides further proof of the breadth of elite talent the league has to offer.
Those who would argue Teat could bring up that the fact that he has more points (40) than O'Neill (34) and Kavanagh (37), and was more consistent down the home stretch this season than Sowers (though Sowers had one more point than Teat overall, Teat had 17 points in his last four games to Sowers' four).
There were also incredible feel-good nominations announced with the introduction of the Comeback Player of the Year award, first-year head coach Anthony Kelly leading the California Redwoods from missing the playoffs in 2024 to finishing third this summer, and noted glue guy Austin Kaut up for this year's Teammate of the Year honor.
2025 PLL End of Season Award Nominations
Jim Brown Most Valuable Player/Eamon McEneaney Attackman of the Year Award
Connor Shellenberger, New York Atlas
Pat Kavanagh, Denver Outlaws
Brennan O'Neill, Denver Outlaws
Michael Sowers, Philadelphia Waterdogs
The Big Three from the 2024 PLL Draft entered the MVP conversation for the first time in their second seasons, while 2022 Finals MVP Michael Sowers was integral in getting the Waterdogs back to the postseason.
It is interesting to see the Outlaws get two nominations over New York, which feels like the right call considering the head-to-head win over Atlas in Week 10. Teat had a goal and two assists in that encounter, while O'Neill had 2G, and Kavanagh was shut out (thanks to the work of a Defensive Player of the Year nominee) for the first time this season. But while Denver completed the comeback and their duo showed up more in other wins, Shellenberger's tying goal with 15 seconds left to even send it to overtime perhaps surpassed his linemate in the MVP race. Shellenberger's fourth seven-point game in the finale vs. Philly sealed his place on the list.
The fact that the Attackman of the Year Award features the same four nominees will have fans of defense wishing to see guys like Chaos goalie and 2021 MVP Blaze Riorden on the list. Or even Denver rookie Logan McNaney who came in after the Outlaws dropped their first two games, won his first six pro games as the starter and goes into the playoffs 7-1. Similarly, middie Jared Bernhardt is 7-2 and his dynamic athleticism has made the Outlaws the most feared offense in the league.
Rookie of the Year
Aidan Caroll, Maryland Whipsnakes
Owen Hiltz, Carolina Chaos
Chris Kavanagh, California Redwoods
Logan McNaney, Denver Outlaws
After a double graduation class around the much hyped '24 rookies, the class of 2025 has surpassed expectations.
Kavanagh led all rookies in points (37), Hiltz led in points per game (3.86) and McNaney's outstanding 7-1 record as the Denver starting goalie. Carroll finished second in points (29) of all rookies and was vital to Maryland securing the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
While Jared Bernhardt wasn't eligible for rookie of the year honors, his debut campaign has been incredible — capped off by an overtime dagger the last time he took the field.
Andrew McAdorey could be the next player to pull off a Tyler Carpenter of winning their positional award honor, but unlike his former Blue Devil teammate, McAdorey wasn't nominated for the Rookie of the Year. Hiltz's linemate Jackson Eicher finished with more points (28), and Utah third-rounder Sam King became the No. 1 option down the home stretch and finished with 24 points.
Gait Brothers Midfielder of the Year
Jared Bernhardt, Denver Outlaws
Matt Campbell, Boston Cannons
Bryan Costabile, New York Atlas
Andrew McAdorey, California Redwoods
Bernhardt is considered the biggest free agency acquisition in PLL history, Campbell led all midfielders in points and McAdorey is interestingly not on the rookie of the year finalists list.
Finding a snub for midfielders doesn't get any more difficult than looking at the player who led all middies in goals scored: Maryland's Matt Brandau (22 goals on 58 shots).
Dave Pietramala Defensive Player of the Year
Gavin Adler, New York Atlas
JT Giles-Harris, Denver Outlaws
Graeme Hossack, Utah Archers
Jack Rowlett, Carolina Chaos
Hossack and Rowlett have both won the DPOY award before, while Adler and Giles-Harris are the top erasers for each conference's top-seeded teams.
Zappitello led the league in caused turnovers (17) on a defensive unit that led the league in scores against per game, so he probably has the best claim to be considered a snub.
Oren Lyons Goalie of the Year
Liam Entenmann, New York Atlas
Logan McNaney, Denver Outlaws
Blaze Riorden, Carolina Chaos
Brett Dobson has the best claim to be included in this list, anchoring the most efficient defense in the league with the league's highest save percentage. His 59.1% is atop the league, his 146 total saves are behind only Riorden's 149, and his scores against per game (11.1) were behind Logan McNaney (10.6) and Emmet Carroll (10.7).
George Bioardi Hard Hat SSDM of the Year
Danny Logan, New York Atlas
Dylan Hess, Philadelphia Waterdogs
Ryan Terefenko, Denver Outlaws
Brian Tevlin, California Redwoods
No complaints here, unless you are Utah's Beau Pederson or Terefenko's teammate Zach Geddes.
Brodie Merrill LSM of the Year
Jake Piseno, Denver Outlaws
Troy Reh, Carolina Chaos
Mason Woodward, Utah Archers
Reh alternated between close and LSM against the likes of Denver and Boston, but his versatility cannot be understated this season. Woodward excelled bumping up after a solid rookie year at close and important contributions in the title game, but again, the Archers missing the postseason will be hard to overcome for voters.
PIseno is the clear favorite, while Atlas rookie Michael Grace primarily played LSM and showed his transition prowess too, joining Piseno as the third and fourth longpoles (and first since 2019) to produce 10 points in a single season in the league's seventh campaign, joining Michael Ehrhardt and Jarrod Neumann. Alongside Grace is perennial Whips snub Colin Squires, whose 35 groundballs were behind only Reh.
Paul Cantabene Face-Off Player of the Year
Trevor Baptiste, New York Atlas
Joe Nardella, Maryland Whipsnakes
TD Ierlan, California Redwoods
This year has been incredibly compelling at the face-off stripe when it comes to stretches of dominance.
Baptiste asserted himself in the early stages, Nardella peaked midseason and Ierlan closed out the year playing his best stretch of his pro career all the while Justin Inacio ended up leading the league in face-off percentage.
Dick Edell Coach of the Year
Anthony Kelly, California Redwoods
Mike Pressler, New York Atlas
Tim Soudan, Denver Outlaws
Roy Colsey's Chaos finished with the same record as Kelly's Redwoods at 5-5, but the argument could be made that he inherited a championship level defense while Kelly oversaw a more complete rebuild. With just two of the eight clubs having general managers, Joe Spallina's role in finalizing the deals that fueled the Redwoods revamp interestingly won't be up for an award this year, while Soudan and Pressler's dual roles and superior records makes this a fascinating category.
Comeback Player of the Year
Jack Kielty, Boston Cannons
Dylan Molloy, California Redwoods
Brad Smith, Maryland Whipsnakes
Kielty missed the entire 2024 season with a season-ending injury in preseason, which was heartbreaking as a defensive leader and co-captain for their defense last year. While Boston finishing last in scores against and missing the postseason aren't great for his chances, he was superb on some of the toughest matchups in the league, particularly big bodies like...
Dylan Molloy's story is incredible. From an important cog in the 2022 second-placed Chrome, to getting frozen out of the lineup the next season, going to the Atlas midyear and not having much more luck in 2024 either. Joe Spallina took a flier on him and he's repaid his and Anthony Kelly's confidence in him to have a more impactful role back at attack with the most goals in a single season of any Redwood ever.
Smith has had some really unfortunate injury luck, missing the last two seasons with some left knee setbacks that he spend over 500 days away from the pro game. This year he finished second in 2-pointers (4) and had 15 points.
CJ Kirst came back from a wrist injury that kept him sidelined for the first six games and had consecutive six-point games to close the season, but overall this is a really compelling first year to rollout the award.
Dave Huntley Sportsmanship Award
Ryan Ambler, Utah Archers
Joe Nardella, Maryland Whipsnakes
Mark Glicini, Carolina Chaos
Welles Crowther Humanitarian of the Year
Jake Piseno, Denver Outlaws
Romar Dennis, California Redwoods
Piper Bond, Utah Archers
Jimmy Regan Teammate of the Year
Trevor Baptiste, New York Atlas
Austin Kaut, Carolina Chaos
Brian Tevlin, California Redwoods
Brendan Looney Leadership Award
Matt Dunn, Maryland Whipsnakes
Mike Manley, Denver Outlaws
Blaze Riorden, Carolina Chaos