All Asher Nolting Needed was Confidence to Blossom into MVP Candidate

The Cannons and Whipsnakes were tied at 5 with under 7:30 remaining in the third quarter. Asher Nolting received a pass at bottom-right goal line extended, took a step up the field and rolled inside, getting a step ahead of Colin Squires, crashing to the crease.

Right as Nolting got in front of the goal, Squires got a stick on him. Nolting tiptoed the crease before leaping across it. Up in the air, he flicked the ball behind him. The ball crossed the goal line into the net before Nolting fell to the ground.

The goal earned the No. 6 spot on that night’s “SportsCenter” top plays.

“Pretty good for a big fella, huh?” Nolting said after the game with a big smile.

Nolting has broad shoulders that, in recent years, have tried to carry too much. The result was lost confidence and uneven play. The 2023 season — complete with a new head coach and new teammates — was a fresh start, and with a change in mindset, the Premier Lacrosse League sophomore enjoyed a year filled with individual and team success.

In the years prior to the 2022 PLL season, Nolting put together an impressive resume. At Cherry Creek (Colo.) High School, he was a four-year varsity lacrosse player who won two state championships. He was an All-Conference and All-State selection three times, an All-American two times and the Colorado Player of the Year and Adrenaline All-American MVP in 2017.

On a recent Inside Lacrosse podcast episode in Terry Foy’s “How Recruiting Works” series, High Point head coach Jon Torpey discussed what he saw in Nolting, who had previously committed to Air Force prior to even playing a high school game.

“Asher was one of those guys I got a chance to see play, and it was like, ‘Damn, this guy could be our quarterback,’” Torpey said. “This guy rides like no one I’ve ever seen before. … You give him the ball, and you let him run the offense.”

At High Point, Nolting was the Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year three times, including in 2018, when he became the first player in conference history to be selected as both the Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in the same season.

He went into the 2022 PLL Draft thinking he could be a top-five pick. But Nolting wasn’t even drafted in the first round. He fell to the Cannons with the second pick of the second round (10th overall).

One criticism of Nolting’s game at the time was the turnovers he committed in college. While he was the team’s quarterback, and the ball was in his stick much of the time, he still had three seasons with 50 or more turnovers, including 72 as a sophomore.

Nolting understood the critiques. He said he tried to do too much and too often went for the home run play instead of taking what the defense gave him. By his graduate season, he cut his turnovers down to 29.

While he was excited to play for the Cannons, he admitted he was frustrated and felt bitter.

“I carry a lot of the stuff I dealt with through my lacrosse career with me,” he said. “Underrecruited, played at High Point where people didn’t really respect us — or me — as much. It drove me in college, and I carry it with me now with the draft pick stuff and seeing my name fall to 10 and maybe thinking I could go a little bit higher, and thinking I deserved that.”

He quickly learned that lacrosse didn’t owe him anything.

Despite a solid individual rookie campaign, finishing second on the team in points (23) and assists (9), Nolting never felt like himself. Instead, trying to adjust to the pro game, he felt like he was flying by the seat of his pants. The lack of team success was also frustrating. The Cannons went 1-9 last season and didn’t qualify for the playoffs.

“I felt like I had some imposter syndrome last year,” he said. “Am I supposed to be here? Do I deserve to be here?”

Then, Nolting was one of 50 players invited to participate with the U.S. Men’s National Team training team in the program’s preparation for the 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship. Training with the team was a great experience, but in the end, he wasn’t selected for the final roster, and Nolting was hurt by his own shortcomings.

“I felt like I probably could have played better in those chances, and if I had played better, I probably would have earned a spot on that team,” he said. “It came down to me coming home and sitting there, reflecting with my dad and talking about how I wish I could do it again.”

Nolting’s father noticed his son’s self-belief had dwindled since college. When Nolting thought about it, he believed the issue started while he was still at High Point, saying he got caught up in what he wanted to accomplish instead of “playing free.”

And that’s when the mindset shift occurred.

While he didn’t make the national team, he did get to meet and spend time with some of the top veterans on the team like Marcus Holman, Tom Schreiber, Blaze Riorden and Trevor Baptiste. What he saw from them was a belief in their abilities. He felt he didn’t have that at the time and wanted to change that.

The change started with how he prepared for the summer. Nolting went out shooting more and spent more time running and getting in better shape. He realized that being invited to try out for the national team meant he was there for a reason, and he had the potential to be one of the best players in the world.

The Cannons’ 1-9 season wasn’t without value, either. Nolting learned an important lesson from teammate Lyle Thompson.

“He really just enjoys playing the game of lacrosse just to play the game,” he said. “None of the other stuff really matters.”

Heading into Cannons training camp, former head coach Sean Quirk stepped down. The new man leading the team’s sideline was Brian Holman. Holman had never met Nolting. His only knowledge of him was watching him play at High Point.

“His willingness this year to be coached and taught and wanting to learn is probably the biggest thing I’ve seen,” Holman said. “I thought I could help him understand what it was going to take from a physical and a mental standpoint to take it to the next level. Those were the conversations we started having together. ‘Do you want to be great?’ And it wasn’t just a, ‘Yes.’ It was an emphatic, ‘Yeah, I want to be one of the best players in the league.’”

Nolting was very receptive to Holman’s honest and direct approach in regards to watching more film, training harder and taking care of his body. He appreciated how Holman treated him like a pro, and he said he took it to heart, understanding everything was only to make him better.

It wasn’t just the arrival of Holman that helped Nolting elevate his game. The Cannons underwent a roster overhaul, adding the likes of Marcus Holman, Matt Kavanagh, Adam Ghitelman, Matt Rees, Kyle Hartzell and Finn Sullivan. That group has been at the top of the game, combining for 21 All-Star appearances and seven professional championships.

“Getting to see guys like Marcus, Kav, Hartzy, and Matt Rees — who was a great addition for us — those guys came in and brought a new identity to the team,” Nolting said. “They have this winning pedigree that follows them wherever they go.”

“That was the plan,” Holman said. “Watching Marcus work during the week, talking to Marcus about the film he’s watching, Asher’s like, ‘If I want to be great, I have to be great. I can’t take a day off.’ Rising tides lift all boats, and that’s what we tried to do with those guys: bring in professional, hard-working guys, blue-collar guys, winners in their own right and really good people.”

The difference in the way Nolting played and carried himself was immediately noticeable. His legs felt good. He built chemistry quickly with his attack linemates of Holman and Kavanagh. He unleashed a more innovative style, learning when he could go off script, much like his diving goal against the Whipsnakes.

In game, the camera caught his high fives to his teammates, his “too small” goal celebrations and the big smile under his helmet. He’s still playing with a chip on his shoulder, but now he’s enjoying every time he steps on the field to compete.

Compared to how unsure he was of himself as a rookie, Nolting finally believes he belongs. Brian Holman said he lights up a room when he walks in.

“You don’t magically get confidence,” Holman said. “You get confidence from preparation. You get confidence through doing the work. You get confidence through trying things and failing. Learning, ‘Alright, we tried that, and it didn’t work, but here’s what we gained out of it.’ He has that level of confidence because he also knows he has support, and here’s the magic word in all that, ‘trust’ of his teammates and coaching staff. He trusts us, and we trust him.”

Nolting said in his second PLL season, the game has slowed down. Nolting scored a goal in all 10 games of the 2023 regular season and added an assist in every game but the final one. He had at least four points in eight games and became the first player in PLL history to score 20 goals and contribute 20 assists in a single season. He earned his second All-Star selection. His improvement was a big reason why the Cannons went from 1-9 to 7-3.

His efforts earned him a nomination for the league MVP award alongside his Cannons teammate Marcus Holman as well as Schreiber, Baptiste and Riorden.

He was honored to be nominated and said it was a culmination of all the hard work he’s put in. While he hopes his season ends with a championship in Philadelphia, his goal this season was just to be better. Mission accomplished.

“I just want to be the best at this sport because that’s what I owe it,” Nolting said. “I owe the game to do whatever I can to be the best version of myself. I want to spread this sport and grow it to a point we never thought was possible. I want to be one of the guys to help do that.”