Malone, Rookies Forging Whipsnakes' New Identity

Leading up to the 2024 Premier Lacrosse League College Draft, TJ Malone talked with former Penn State teammate and friend Grant Ament. Malone calls the current Utah Archers All-Star a big brother.

He asked what team Ament thought the best fit for him would be.

“‘I want you to be on the Archers, but we don’t really have a position for you at the moment, as our offense is pretty much set in stone,’” Malone recalled Ament saying. “‘I think the Whipsnakes would be the best fit for you. They’re looking for a quarterback.’”

Malone waited until the third round to hear his name called, and it was the Maryland Whipsnakes that selected him. Thanks to a young, emerging core that includes Malone, a traditionally veteran-laden Maryland roster received the shot in the arm it needed and is now the hottest team in the league.

“We have these guys together for so long, and all of us were getting older, and sometimes, it’s kind of hard to make those changes when you have so many people set in their ways,” Whips captain Matt Dunn said. “I think there’s a little bit of a painful transition process where it’s always hard losing guys, but right now, there’s a really good energy in our locker room.”

The roster, particularly its core, had gone largely unchanged in the first five seasons of the PLL, and for good reason.

Maryland set the standard for the rest of the league. It won the first two championships and appeared in a third in 2021. In 2022, the Whipsnakes finished as the top seed in the regular season but lost in the semifinals to the Waterdogs, the eventual league champions.

It wasn’t until 2023 that Maryland fell back, going 4-6 (the first time with a sub-.500 record) and losing, once again, to the Waterdogs, this time in the quarterfinals, for their earliest postseason exit.

Coming into 2024, head coach Jim Stagnitta stressed that change was coming.

“This is going to be the first training camp since year one,” Stagnitta said, “where guys are going to come in and there will be competition for spots all over the field.”

The first change to the core didn’t come from Stagnitta. Michael Ehrhardt, the only player to ever win the PLL’s LSM of the Year, retired. Goalie Brian Phipps and defensive midfielder Tyler Warner retired, too.

Then Stagnitta traded defender Bryce Young and midfielder Connor Kirst to the Boston Cannons. The biggest surprise came during training camp when All-Star attackman Will Manny, a marquee free-agent signing the previous offseason, was released.

Between the results the previous year and the league as a whole skewing younger, Dunn knew the team would look different in 2024. There was something invigorating about that idea.

“There was always a consistent veteran presence to lean on,” Dunn said. “A lot of those guys weren’t there anymore. Our roster was as young as it’s ever been. You don’t have a long time to be a rookie on this team. Everybody on the 19-man roster is expected to be a contributor. It was exciting because it kind of felt like a fresh slate to move forward.”

For the rookies, entering a team coming off a down year — even if it is the team with the most championships in the PLL’s young history — reduced the pressure because expectations were low.

They were thankful for that. Early on, they had a lot to learn transitioning to the professional level, and key mistakes were made.

Malone recalled a scrimmage against the Archers in training camp. He scored a couple goals early and was feeling overconfident. Over the course of the game, he tried — several times — to split a double team only to turn the ball over.

He remembered Stagnitta pulling him aside and offering him the wake-up call he needed.

“This isn’t college anymore,” he recalled Stagnitta telling him. “You can’t be doing stupid things like that.”

Ajax Zappitello, the team’s first-round pick, didn’t even arrive at training camp until Thursday because he was playing in the NCAA national championship game with Maryland.

Going into the team’s first game of the season against the New York Atlas, he thought he was going to cover fellow rookie Connor Shellenberger, who he knew very well. Maryland had just knocked off Virginia in the NCAA semifinals.

Instead, Zappitello was assigned to cover Dylan Molloy, an eight-year veteran known for a very physical style of play.

“I’m used to covering the smaller, shiftier guys,” he said. “In the first quarter, he takes me to the rack twice.”

Since those early failings, the rookie class on the Whipsnakes has played at a high level, and the veterans are taking notice.

“They’ve been doing better than I expected,” Matt Rambo said on the One on Ones podcast, hosted by PLL co-founders Paul and Mike Rabil. “I’m getting older. I’m not the guy that’s going to take the ball and go score 100 times anymore, which is great, but I’ve got to cut off ball now. I’ve got to still go to the rack. I’ve got to feed, so my game’s evolving. We have guys that can do other things now.”

Dunn emphasized that not only are the rookies talented, but they are versatile and play with very little ego.

“They all play very fast,” Dunn said. “To surround them with younger guys that can play up and down the field, can play more positions. TJ can play behind the cage, above the cage, he can pick, he can slip, he can cut, he can feed. You pair that up with a Levi Anderson, who is slick and can attack and approach and handle a pass.

“Adam Poitras, same deal. You get Jack Koras, who can take wings and score goals and play some defense. You’re getting all these guys that are very skilled and pretty much willing to do whatever is asked of them.”

Through the first nine games, Malone leads the Whipsnakes in points (31) and assists (16). He’s second one-point goals. He is third in the league in points and assists. He has at least four points in five of the team’s nine games.

Zappitello is tied with Dunn for the team lead with 11 caused turnovers, which is also tied for fourth-best in the league. The PLL’s Joe Keegan —  who is known for his statistical deep dives — shared that Waterdogs attackman Michael Sowers shot 39.5 percent against the Whipsnakes through his career entering the 2024 season. This year, though, when Zappitello is the closest defender to Sowers, he’s shooting 22.2 percent.

It isn’t just the team’s two top draft picks from the 2024 class that are making an impact. Poitras — drafted in the fourth round — and Anderson — acquired in a midseason trade with the California Redwoods — are converted attackmen playing midfield. They’re tied for second among the team’s midfielders with 11 points each.

While Koras, another midfielder, has only played five games, he has caused three turnovers and picked up 15 ground balls, which is the most among midfielders and sixth on the team.

Malone and Zappitello credited the veterans for taking them under their wings.

“When you’re playing starting attack, you have to take on a lot of responsibility with your play and point production and try to limit turnovers and get everyone involved,” he said. “I felt super lucky to be given that responsibility as a rookie. I have [Matt] Rambo and Zed [Williams], and the whole offense, Coach Stagnitta, Coach [Drew] Snider, giving me so much confidence to take on that responsibility.”

“These guys have a lot of faith in me,” Zappitello said. “When a team like that has a lot of faith in you to come in and not have a whole lot of expectations other than to be yourself and play how you’ve been playing for the last four years, it makes the nerves go away, and you’re able to play lacrosse for enjoyment.”

Not only have they performed on the field. They’re growing chemistry in the locker room, too. Malone said they bond on road trips because they are living shared life experiences. Zappitello added they all played against each other in college, so it’s fun to finally get to play together.

Zappitello said the rookies are super competitive, and they all have the same goal of helping the Whipsnakes get back to and win the championship game. Maryland is one step closer now thanks to three consecutive victories, including back-to-back wins during the team’s Homecoming Weekend, clinching a spot in the playoffs.

While they might be rookies, Zappitello, Koras and Malone, in particular, have plenty of experience making deep playoff runs with their respective college teams. Zappitello said one thing he and Koras talked about at Maryland was maximizing their time together. Being on a team with veterans they respect is acting as an even bigger driving force.

“When you’ve got a team that wants to be with each other all week, but you can’t because everybody has their own lives, when you’re able to come together for those 48 hours, it makes it that much more special,” he said. “Some of those guys that have been around the league for so long, you start to see their time kind of coming to an end. It just really hits home in in the sense of you want to maximize your time together. I think that’s awesome about this group is such a selfless group.”

Before the All-Star Game, Maryland couldn’t string together any winning streaks, but going into the final two weeks of the regular season, the Whipsnakes have the third-best record in the league.

They also are quietly sitting at or near the top of several key statistics. The Whipsnakes are second in the league in scores per game (13.2), first in faceoff winning percentage (62.1 percent), and first in penalty kill percentage (100 percent).

While the Whipsnakes look a little different than they did when they won the first two championships in PLL history, a new core of talent is taking shape, and it’s helping the team feel optimistic about winning its first title since 2020.

“It’s been awesome to see the development of the college guys being ready to come in and kill it at the pro game,” Zappitello said. “It’s an awesome group. It’s something that we’re all really bought into, and I think the older guys really recognize how much we care.”