Pederson grew up as an offensive threat, but switched to defensive midfield after fall ball his sophomore year at Princeton.
“Mads (head coach Matt Madalon), Coach (Jeremy) Hirsh and Coach Mitch (Jim Mitchell), in probably the greatest thing that’s ever happened for my lacrosse career, decided I was a good athlete and probably better off on the defensive end,” Pederson said.
He would have to wait to see the how the switch really took hold when the 2020 spring season was cut short due to COVID and then Princeton did not play a 2021 season.
Finally on the field in 2022, he earned second team All-Ivy League honors at his new position. He earned All-Ivy League recognition again in 2023 and third team All-America honors from USA Lacrosse.
“I think I showed flashes of really good, but also some bad,” Pederson said. “My senior year I kind of settled into what I was comfortable doing and kind of figured out my style.”
With an extra year of eligibility, he went home in a manner of speaking to play as a grad student at Michigan. His father, Chip, and grandfather, Ben, both played football for the Wolverines. The rugged 6-foot-4, 210-pound force was a consensus first team All-American after helping Michigan win the Big Ten championship.
“Being a fifth year at Michigan, that was the first time I felt really comfortable just playing on that side of the ball,” Pederson said. “I felt myself get comfortable not just worrying about my guy, but I started to help off-ball and be comfortable with the team defense.”
Chris Bates, the coach who originally recruited him to Princeton, was happy to finally get the chance to coach him when the Utah Archers drafted him in the second round of the PLL draft. Pederson helped the Archers win the 2024 PLL championship and then got his first taste of sixes with the PLL Championship Series this past February.
One of his other coaches with the Archers is Tony Resch, who is also an assistant coach for the U.S. sixes national team.
“He’s been an outstanding d-middie for us,” Resch said. “I really think he checks just about every box. He's got good size, he's extremely athletic, he's tough, he’s got a good stick and he's good in transition.”
When Pederson made the switch to defensive midfield, he said the three players he most watched tape of to model his game after were Zach Goodrich, Danny Logan and Ryan Terefenko. Logan and Terefenko, both won medals with the U.S. field team in 2023 and the U.S. box team in 2024. Pederson will now join up the duo for the Atlas Cup.
It will create some interesting dynamics with three of the top defensive midfielders in the sport on the same roster. Two weeks later when the U.S. goes to Canada for the Super Sixes event, it will take a more offense-heavy roster. That creates some good learnings for the U.S. coaching staff as everyone tries to expand their knowledge on what works and doesn’t in a discipline of the sport that’s existed less than a decade.
For Pederson, it’s just an opportunity he’s happy to embrace.
“I didn’t think [pro lacrosse] was an option for me until my senior year,” Pederson said. “When I got drafted, I was super grateful for the opportunity. The next progression, logically, is can I make Team USA? But when you look at the list of names, it’s such a tough group to be a part of. More than anything, I just grateful to be a part of it. But now that’s it’s happened, you start to picture how special that moment’s going to be.”
