The rain was spraying, the wind was whipping and the fans were screaming. The stage was set for the 2023 Premier Lacrosse League Championship. And, once again, Tom Schreiber answered the call as the hero as the 2023 MVP scored the game winning goal, breaking a 14-14 tie with 1:37 left to play, to give Archers LC the trophy with a 15-14 win against the defending champion Waterdogs in Philadelphia. The weather appeared to be a factor early in the game. Both sides had guys slipping and sliding their way onto the ground. The rain cleared up; and guys began planting and turning better. Although the rain appeared to impact the field players, the goalies appeared to not even notice the rain.Dillon Ward uncharacteristically struggled for the Waterdogs before an injury sent him to the sidelines. He ended up watching his team on the sideline. He hobbled off the field on crutches with a 35% save percentage. Lacrosse fans are wondering what this means for the NLL season. Matt DeLuca came in and played solidly by saving the first shot he faced. He ended with a 75% save percentage.The real star between the pipes was for the Archers; a man who was quite familiar to Ward because they played together this summer for Team Canada at the World Championship. Brett Dobson calmly stopped 18 shots to walk away with his first PLL championship and the MVP trophy. It looked like Jake Carraway was going to snag the MVP trophy and guide the Waterdogs to their second straight championship as he dazzled the crowd after his 2-point goal with his hat trick late in the game to tie the game. Tom Schreiber thought otherwise. He picked up the ground ball far from the cage and out to the side. Despite several men on him and near him, he let it fly – right past DeLuca and into the net. Humble as always, he reflected on that goal at the end of the game.
“I just saw the ball on the ground,” Schreiber said. “I saw the shot clock trickling down. I kinda threw a prayer. I got a little more on it than I thought I did… but I’ll take it every time. But what an effort by everybody. You could go around and watch, play by play. Brett Dobson, what a game.”Ultimately, the deciding factors were Schreiber’s last goal and the strong performance by the Archers in the first quarter by going up 5-2. Point leaders were Carraway and Mike Sowers with four each for the Waterdogs. Archers had three players with four points including Mac O’Keefe, Tre Leclaire and Matt Moore. For the Archers, their leader, Schreiber’s perfect shot was the arrow they needed to secure the win.
The Archers are the fourth different league champion in the PLL’s five seasons of existence.
