OT thriller: Utah Archers clinch PLL postseason bid in front of capacity home crowd

HERRIMAN — The moment wasn't too big for Utah Archers rookie Jack VanOverbeke, not with a capacity crowd at Zions Bank Stadium on his side in his first match of the 2024 Premier Lacrosse League season.

The rookie attackman out of High Point scored the game-winning goal in overtime as the Utah Archers beat the California Redwoods 13-12 Friday night, clinching a spot in the 2024 PLL playoffs on home stand weekend at Zions Bank Stadium.

With team leader Tom Schreiber, the league leader in points by a midfielder, on the bench with a shoulder injury and watching with a sling and an ice pack, VanOverbeke took a pass from Ryan Ambler behind the cage, dived just outside the edge of the crease, and slipped in the game-winning goal past Redwoods goalie Jack Kelly to send the reigning PLL champions back to the playoffs.

"How about the kid?" Archers head coach Chris Bates quipped of VanOverbeke after the match. "At the end, making that play. He had two goals and an assist in his first pro game ever. That kind of game-winner was exciting. A memorable game."

Grant Ament had two goals and three assists to lead Utah (5-4), who raised a banner from the 2023 season over Zions Bank Stadium prior to the match before outscoring the Redwoods 5-1 in the third quarter before the nail-biting finish.

"At the end, I think we did enough. We rallied around our guys, especially with Tom going down, and then this guy came up pretty freaking clutch for us down the stretch," Ament said after the game while sitting next to VanOverbeke. "I'm glad coach gave him the call this week."

With the win, Utah — which was the last of the league's eight teams to play a homestand weekend as part of the PLL's 10-city tour-style regular season — moved ahead of the Denver Outlaws for first place in the four-team Western Conference with a plus-5 scoring differential.

The two Rocky Mountain rivals will face off Saturday at 7 p.m. MDT in Herriman with the No. 1 seed from the West and a first-round bye in the postseason going to the winner, as well as the final spot in next year's PLL Championship Series sixes tournament. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Related topics