PLL Week 5 Preview: All Eyes on Atlas in New York Homecoming
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© 2026 USA Lacrosse. All Rights Reserved.
© 2026 USA Lacrosse. All Rights Reserved.
The Premier Lacrosse League heads to Long Island for its fifth week of the regular season. Only five teams are in action for the league’s first three-game regular season weekend since 2019.
The PLL will also host the four newest members of the Professional Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Brodie Merrill, Drew Adams and Greg Gurenlian will become the latest players inducted, and Joe Tsai rounds out the group as the first contributor to join the Hall of Fame.
Friday 6 p.m. EST | Watch: ESPN+ | Betting Lines: Atlas -1.5 vs. Cannons, O/U 25.5
Key storylines: The Atlas and Cannons both enter desperate for a win. Both sit at 1-3 and last in the standings, and a loss would put them further back behind their Eastern Conference counterparts. There’s a lot on the line for New York in particular. The Atlas can get back to .500 by winning both games of their doubleheader, but they could also fall to 1-5 and dead last with a pair of losses.
There will be some notable absences for each team. New York will be without faceoff specialist Trevor Baptiste, who sustained a knee injury at the U.S. Men’s National Team training camp. Boston’s Matt Campbell also sustained an injury at the camp and will miss Friday’s game.
Another notable absence is Boston attackman Asher Nolting, who was left off the Cannons roster for the third-straight week. Following this weekend, he can be claimed by any of the other seven teams.
Players to watch: Connor Shellenberger took ownership of a floundering Atlas offense following the team’s third-straight loss. The 2025 PLL MVP has just nine points through four games, and New York’s offense is averaging the second-lowest output at 10.5 goals per game.
Yet Shellenberger has still been effective in setting his teammates up; they’ve just been unable to finish many of his feeds. Shellenberger has just five assists but is second in the league in assist opportunities with 23. Only Philadelphia’s Michael Sowers has more (31). If the Atlas can start scoring on Shellenberger’s passes, we should see an offensive resurgence for New York.
Another player to watch is former Tufts attackman Jack Regnery, who will make his PLL debut. Regnery recorded 385 points during his time at Tufts and should be an asset for the Cannons in Campbell’s absence.
Faceoff specialists Andrew McMeekin and Nathan Laliberte are two more to watch. McMeekin won 66.7 percent of his faceoffs in his Cannons debut last game. and Laliberte won 52 percent across two games this season. The battle at the stripe could be the difference-maker in who comes out on top on Friday.
Bold prediction: Shellenberger has his most productive game of the season, accounting for more than half of New York’s points in a close contest between the Eastern Conference foes.
Best Bet: Connor Shellenberger Over 3.5 Points (-108 on FanDuel)
Friday 8:30 p.m. EST | Watch: ESPN+ | Betting Lines: Redwoods -1.5 vs. Archers, O/U 21.5
Key storylines: California and Utah square off for the second time this season. The Redwoods defeated the Archers 9-5 in the opening weekend. This time around, California will be without defenders Chris Fake and Cole Kastner. Kastner has been out with an injury since California’s first win, and Fake suffered an injury in the Redwoods’ win in week four. Kastner is on the PUP list, while Fake was placed on injured reserve.
Players to watch: With Fake and Kastner both out, rookie Matt Wright will make his PLL debut. The defenseman spent time at both North Carolina and Syracuse during his college career and joins a Redwoods defense that also features rookie Cullen Brown.
Connor Fields could be the biggest beneficiary of California’s injuries. The Redwoods held Fields to just one point in week one, but he could have a greater impact with Fake out.
Bold prediction: Fields has a multi-goal game and leads Utah to a win over its Western Conference rival.
Best Bets: Utah Archers ML (+120 on BetMGM, Caesars or DraftKings), Connor Fields Over 1.5 Goals (+102 on FanDuel)
Saturday 9 p.m. EST | Watch: ESPN2 | Betting Lines: Whipsnakes -1.5 vs. Atlas, O/U 23.5
Key storylines: Long Island natives Rob Pannell and Joey Spallina return to James H. Shuart Stadium, the former home of the New York Lizards. Pannell was a member of the Lizards for seven seasons, and Spallina grew up around the Lizards locker room while his father, Joe Spallina, was the head coach of the team. Both will now go up against New York’s current professional lacrosse team in their hometown.
On the other end, Matt Rambo will face his former team for the first time. Rambo spent seven full seasons with the Whipsnakes before being claimed by the Atlas ahead of week four. He had a pair of points in his New York debut and should have plenty of chances to add to that total against his former teammates.
Players to watch: In addition to Spallina and Pannell, TJ Malone is another member of the Whipsnakes attack to watch. Malone has had some of his best games against New York, recording a hat trick in four of six meetings. Recently, though, he’s been held to just one point in back-to-back games against New York. With Spallina now in the mix, expect Malone to have a greater impact than he’s had in recent games against the Atlas.
Bold prediction: The duo of Spallina and Malone contribute on more than half of Maryland’s goals as the Whipsnakes roll past the Atlas for the second time this season.
Best Bets: Maryland Whipsnakes -1.5 (+114 on DraftKings), Joey Spallina Over 1.5 Assists (+125 on DraftKings), TJ Malone Over 2.5 Points (+108 on FanDuel)
Hutton Jackson is a Northern Virginia native who played lacrosse at DeSales University. He started contributing to USA Lacrosse in 2022 and began covering the PLL and NLL on his podcast, Pro Lacrosse Talk, in 2019. When he’s not writing about lacrosse, he can be found diving around the crease in local men’s leagues and ranting about Baltimore and D.C. sports.
