PLL Preview: New-Look Defense Could Push Cannons to New Heights

The 2024 Premier Lacrosse League season begins June 1 in Albany, N.Y. USA Lacrosse Magazine contributor Phil Shore is going team-by-team in the days leading up to the opener, previewing each club as we enter the home cities era of the PLL.

Boston Cannons

2023 Record: 7-3
Head Coach: Brian Holman
Assistants: Jim Mitchell, Kyle Hartzell

Key Additions: Garrett Epple, D; Pat Kavanagh, A; Connor Kirst, M; Zac Tucci, FO; Alex Vardaro, M; Bryce Young, D
Key departures: Kyle Hartzell (retired); Stephen Kelly (retired); Matt Rees (Whipsnakes)

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What will Boston do at the faceoff position?

In 2023, the Cannons finished last in the league in faceoff winning percentage (16.3 percent). But that was by design. Without a dominant faceoff athlete and the new rule that the shot clock would be reduced to 32 seconds for the team that won the faceoff, long-stick midfielder Ethan Rall took the majority of faceoffs and pushed the opposition backwards to make them feel the strain of the shortened shot clock even more.

This year, the league adjusted the rule; players are not allowed to take a faceoff with a defensive pole. Rall was the team leader in faceoffs attempts in 2023, so what will the team do in 2024?

“It’s still unclear, in my mind, what’s the best way to attack it,” Holman said. “What we’re going to do in camp is explore all the avenues.”

Holman joked that anybody that wants to try taking faceoffs will get an opportunity in training camp. With a short stick, Rall did take all the team’s faceoffs in the Championship Series, going 8-for-20. The team also signed Zac Tucci in the offseason. Tucci played four games with the Waterdogs as a rookie in 2022 and won 43 percent of his faceoffs.

From there, a few players come to mind as potentials at the position. Connor Kirst has taken some faceoffs in the National Lacrosse League with the Las Vegas Desert Dogs. Zach Goodrich had shoulder issues in 2023, but now that he’s healthy, Holman said he is a potential candidate.

Other candidates include Bubba Fairman — “He’ll try anything we ask him to,” Holman said — and Jeff Trainor, who Holman said has been working on faceoffs during the offseason. 

The emergence of Connor Kirst

Part of the reason the Cannons were so successful in 2023 was the production they got from players who took their game to new levels, particularly Colin Kirst and Asher Nolting; the former wasn’t the starting goalie the first couple weeks of the season, and the latter became an MVP candidate after an up-and-down rookie season.

While there are a few players Holman believes only scratched the surface of their potential in 2023, Connor Kirst is one that Holman believes is prime for a breakout season.

Kirst was a first-round pick in 2021 for the Whipsnakes, and he was utilized more on the defensive end. Holman anticipates using him in a different role.

“He can play offense. He can play defense. He can dodge. He can play attack,” Holman said. “I told him we traded for him to be an offensive midfielder. We know, at the end of the day, he can play defense, but we want him to focus on offense.”

How do the Cannons handle increased expectations?

After 2023, a turnaround season during which the Cannons went from one win and the only team not in the playoffs to seven wins and a trip to the semifinals, Holman went back and looked at the past decade of champions in the Premier Lacrosse League and Major League Lacrosse. In comparison to those champions, he believed Boston’s defense lacked athleticism and depth, so Holman made some big changes.

First, the team traded Matt Rees — coming off knee surgery that ended his 2023 season early — and third-round picks in the 2024 and 2025 drafts for Bryce Young and Connor Kirst. Then, the team signed Garrett Epple, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, in free agency.

When both Young and Epple became available, Holman called it a no-brainer to go after them. They will combine with Cade van Raaphorst, Jack Kielty and Ethan Rall, the 2023 Rookie of the Year, as a potentially dominant group of long poles in front of Goalie of the Year candidate Colin Kirst.

Add in incoming first-round rookie Pat Kavanagh and second-round selection Alex Vardaro, and this is a loaded Cannons roster that could make another deep postseason push.

Still, Holman said the expectations haven’t changed from last year.

“Everybody is 0-0, and everybody believes they can win a championship,” he said. “Our mentality is the same as last year. We have to be the best team we can be. We’ve got to execute at the highest levels at both sides of the ball, and we’ve got to enjoy the process. We can’t focus on the scoreboard. We can’t focus on expectations and what people are saying. We have to stay true to being a Cannon.”