The Archers’ offense is lined with players who at one point were No. 1s on their respective teams. Put together Tom Schreiber, Kevin Rice, Will Manny and Marcus Holman and it sounds more like an All-Star team than one you see each and every week.
Yet it was Ben McIntosh, a fresh face in field lacrosse circles, who canned the Archers’ final two goals on Saturday to lift the team to a 10-9 come-from-behind victory against the Redwoods at Red Bull Arena. Despite the more established names around him, he was given the opportunity to shine.
“It’s pretty cool,” McIntosh said. “We have All-Stars all over our team and they don’t feel like they need to take that last shot. They’ll set a pick or they’ll make that extra pass. They’ll do whatever they can to win, just like I will. It was me last game, but it’s going to be someone else the next game.”
Box fans shouldn’t be surprised. They’ve been watching McIntosh’s potent scoring ability with the Saskatchewan Rush the last five years. But it’s been a while since he’s gotten a consistent chance to play outdoors. His only experience since graduating from Drexel five years ago came while playing for Canada at the FIL World Lacrosse Championship in Israel last summer.
McIntosh was a late-round pick in the 2014 Major League Lacrosse Draft and bounced around on a few rosters, never getting a shot at the field. He said he reached out to teams leading up to Worlds to brush off the rust and prove he was worthy of a spot on the Canadian roster. He almost came to terms on a deal, but to no avail.
He made Team Canada anyway and showed he has something to offer in the field game, earning a spot on the All-World midfield. And after two games in the Premier Lacrosse League, it seems teams missed out.
He opened his PLL career with three goals, one off the team lead, in the Archers’ 13-12 overtime victory against Chrome at Gillette Stadium. A week later, he had his clutch pair in the closing minutes, scoring the game-winning tally with 1:37 left on the clock.
McIntosh said getting used to the outdoor game again takes some time, particularly when it comes to shooting. But even if some of his field attributes are rusty, the box skills translate well.
“When you have someone running at you with a six-foot pole that you haven’t seen in five years, it’s definitely a little different,” McIntosh said with a chuckle. “It takes a while to get used to, but at the end of the day, it’s still lacrosse. It’s the same skillset. It’s the same fundamentals. It’s just different strategy.”
McIntosh’s PLL coach, Chris Bates, said he’s among the least surprised with the British Columbia native’s success. Bates’ history with McIntosh goes back to the coach’s time as the coach at Drexel. He recruited McIntosh but didn’t get a chance to coach him then due to his move to Princeton.
“He’s a guy that just wins wherever he goes,” Bates said. “He’s very unselfish but obviously a guy that knows how to put the ball in the back of the net at the end of the game. He knows how to be successful. We’re thrilled.”
McIntosh said the relationship between the two has helped him get out to this hot start.
“Bates understands the way I play and I think he’s doing a good job of trying to get me the best opportunities to be successful,” he said. “Him having the confidence to put me out there at the end of the game is great.”
While McIntosh said the PLL is his focus this summer, he does plan to get a few box games in during the Western Lacrosse Association regular season to earn his eligibility for the playoffs. His Maple Ridge Burrards won the league last year but lost to the Peterborough Lakers in the Mann Cup, which pits the WLA champion against the Ontario-based Major Series Lacrosse champion.
In the more immediate future, McIntosh and the Archers are planning for a matchup this week in Chicago with the only other undefeated team in the league, the Whipsnakes. Like the Archers, the Whips have meshed well out of the great, a bond strengthened by the high number of Maryland alums on the team.
“I don’t really know what to expect,” McIntosh said. “I know they’re a very good team and they have that history of playing together. … I think the chemistry for them has come pretty natural. They’re going to be a tough team to beat.”