UVA Lacrosse: Eight Former Cavaliers Listed on Premier Lacrosse League Rosters

See which former UVA men's lacrosse players will take the field this weekend when the 2022 Premier Lacrosse League season begins

Author:
Matt Newton
Updated:
Jun 1, 2022 3:01 PM EDT
Original:
Jun 1, 2022

The fourth season of the Premier Lacrosse League is set to begin this weekend in Albany, New York. Each of the league's eight teams released their 25-man rosters on Wednesday and Virginia was represented with eight former Cavaliers across the league.

Half of those UVA alums are concentrated on one team, the Archers, which is even better considering the club's blue and orange color scheme. Goalkeeper Adam Ghitelman, who won the 2011 National Championship at Virginia, is joined by long-stick defensive midfielder Jared Conners, short-stick defensive midfielder Chris Merle, and attackman Matt Moore, all of whom were pivotal members of both of Virginia's national title teams in 2019 and 2021.

Moore, who ended his five-year UVA career as the program's all-time leader in points (277), was selected by the Archers with the 4th overall pick in the first round of the PLL College Draft on May 10th. The Archers selected Jared Conners, who was the Midfielder of the Year in college lacrosse in 2021, with the fifth overall pick in the 2021 PLL College Draft.

Dox Aitken, who also a key player in the 2019 and 2021 national title runs, will begin his second season with the Atlas after the club drafted him eighth overall in 2021. Another former national champion, Ryan Conrad returns to the Waterdogs as one of the league's best two-way midfielders. Conrad was the second overall pick of the Atlas in the 2019 PLL Draft and was then taken by the Waterdogs with the 16th pick in the league's expansion draft in 2020.

Defenseman Scott Hooper, who appeared in 62 games for the Cavaliers from 2015-2018, is set to begin his second season with the Cannons in the PLL. Hooper previously played for the Boston Cannons for two seasons when the franchise was a part of the Major Lacrosse League. Finally, midfielder Charlie Bertrand returns to the Redwoods for his second season of professional lacrosse after being selected in the third round of the 2021 draft. Bertrand transferred to UVA from Merrimack College for the 2021 season and scored 26 goals to help the Cavaliers capture their second-consecutive national title.

A ninth UVA alum is expected to rejoin the ranks of the Premier Lacrosse League as former league MVP Zed Williams is currently unavailable as he looks to lead his National Lacrosse League (indoor box lacrosse) team, the Colorado Mammoth, to the NLL Championship. The NLL Finals are set to begin on June 4th and could potentially run through June 18th, if the series goes to three games. Williams, who played at Virginia from 2014 to 2017, will likely rejoin the two-time PLL Champion Whipsnakes whenever his run with the Mammoth concludes.

Additionally, three former UVA lacrosse players have been released by their teams to the player pool: Mark Cockerton (Atlas), Alex Rode (Atlas), and Pat Harbeson (Redwoods). All three of those players are available to be picked up by other teams.

The 2022 Premier Lacrosse League season begins this weekend with games being played at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium in Albany, New York:

Saturday, June 4th at 2:15pm: Whipsnakes vs. Chaos (ESPN+)
Saturday, June 4th at 5pm: Redwoods vs. Atlas (ESPN)
Sunday, June 5th at 1pm: Waterdogs vs. Cannons (ESPN+)
Sunday, June 5th at 3:45pm: Chrome vs. Archers (ESPN+)

See the full 2022 Premier Lacrosse League schedule here.

See more Virginia men's lacrosse news and content: Virginia Men's Lacrosse on Sports Illustrated

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