A mild, wet and windy day wouldn’t be enough to slow down Junior A. Warriors Alumni Brett Dobson and Gramae Hossack and the Archers as they won the club’s first Premier Lacrosse League Championships Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia.
Dobson–who won the PLL Championship MVP–and Hossack were two of the big reasons why the Archers emerged victorious in The City of Brotherly Love.
The Archers came out storming against the Waterdogs in the first half.
Archers held a 5-2 goal at the end of the 1st quarter after a 2-point goal from Ryan Aughavin and a ‘scoop and shovel’ goal with 5 seconds left in the quarter by Tre Leclaire.
With star Midfielder/Attackman Connor Fields ruled out just hours before the opening faceoff, the Archers knew that their other players on offence would have to step up and help fill that role.
Reid Bowering was Fields’ replacement and he stepped up by expanding the Archers lease in the second quarter.
The Archers scored 3 straight goals to open up a 8-2 lead before the Waterdogs scored 3 straight of their own to close out the quarter and be down 10-7 at halftime.
The second half is where the Archers fell apart defensively.
The Archers let up a bit and the Waterdogs capitalized on their mistakes by scoring 2 goals at the end of the 3rd, including a 2-point goal before scoring 5 minutes into the 4th quarter.
Despite the Archers making defensive errors, they still found a way to come out on top.
Starting goalie Brett Dobson recorded a 58.1 SV% while making 18 saves in the contest.
Long Pole Graeme Hossack had 4 ground balls and 1 shot on goal that was stopped on an excellent save by Dillion Ward.
Tom Schreiber stepped up huge for the men in orange by putting up 4 points–2 goals and 2 assists- one of which was the game winner on a textbook ‘shoot around the defender’ shot.
Schreiber stung the top right corner and stunned Ward and the rest of the Waterdogs defence with 1:37 left in the 4th quarter. As the clock wind down and the Archers had to get off a shot to avoid a shot clock violation, the Archers threw it over the net and the Waterdogs were awarded possession with under 10 seconds left.
The Waterdogs got a great opportunity to tie up the game with 2 seconds left but Dobson made what lacrosse insiders are calling "The Greatest Save in PLL History”.
Dobson sprawled to the ground and stretched out his stick to make an unbelievable stop.
As the clock expired, helmets were ripped off, gloves and sticks were all to be seen as you looked up as the Archers Lacrosse Club were named 2023 PLL Champions.
Brett Dobson was named PLL Championship MVP for his goaltending heroics.
Congratulations to Brett and Graeme and the rest of the Archers Lacrosse Club on a well-deserved Championship.
Warriors would like to thank all our Fans, Sponsors and Supporters this season.