Utah's pro lacrosse team will 'raise another ... banner' in PLL's return to Utah

HERRIMAN — Brett Dobson called his shot, and now he's ready to make good on his promise.

The reigning Premier Lacrosse League championship game MVP, who helped guide the Utah Archers to back-to-back PLL titles last fall, embraced the moment — and probably endured himself to lacrosse lovers in the franchise's new home — when he released an expletive-filled quip during a postgame press conference that echoed all the way to Zions Bank Stadium.

"Let's raise another (expletive) banner," Dobson proclaimed, leaning into a microphone for emphasis.

On Friday, they'll do just that.

The club formerly known as Archers Lacrosse Club will raise another banner to commentate a second consecutive championship when the PLL returns to Herriman for the club's second homecoming weekend Friday and Saturday.

During the team's homecoming weekend, the Archers (3-4) will play two games beginning Friday against the California Redwoods (6 p.m. MDT, ESPN+) and Saturday against Rocky Mountain rival Denver Outlaws (7 p.m. MDT, ESPN2) on the ninth stop of the touring league's seventh season.

The homestand couldn't come at a better time: a week after Mason Woodward scored a pair of 2-point goals to help Utah stop a three-game slide with an 11-10 win over Carolina Chaos.

"We take it, and we'll go to Utah where we want to be: at home for a doubleheader," Bates told ESPN after the win in Fairfield, Connecticut. "We control our destiny. We don't want to just get in the playoffs. ... We're a world championship team; we're going to keep fighting here."

The champs were named Utah's Team of the Year by the 2025 Governor's State of Sport Awards, when Bates reflected on the sold-out 5,000-seat stadium that spurred the Archers to a consecutive home wins — and a playoff run that ended in a second title.

"That's when we truly became the Utah Archers," the former Princeton coach, who also coaches at St. Andrews in Delaware during the PLL offseason, recalled.

The team has already made history as the only professional team in Utah to win back-to-back championships, noted Jeff Robbins, president and CEO of the Utah Sports Commission that sponsors a jersey patch on the Archers' uniforms.

"Homecoming weekend is a great chance for fans to rally behind the team, celebrate their legacy, and experience world-class lacrosse in the state of sport," he added."

In addition to league-known stars like Connor Fields, Grant Ament and captain Tom Schreiber, the Archers boast one of the breakout rookie standouts of the 2025 PLL season in Sam King.

The former Harvard attackman and No. 20 overall pick in last summer's PLL draft was named a PLL All-Star while totaling 18 points on nine goals and eight assists in seven games of his inaugural professional campaign.

Then there's Dobson, the 25-year-old native of Oshawa, Ontario, and former MAAC Defensive Player of the Year at St. Bonaventure in 2022 in his third year in the league (and the indoor Georgia Swarm of the National Lacrosse League).

"Utah's going to be excited," he said last week. "Winning this game was huge for us, and I know our fans were passionate. I'm excited to be at home. ... That's our home for a reason, and it's a tough place to play. I'm looking forward to playing there."

The win keeps some confidence in a Utah squad that is two games back of Denver for first place in the Western Conference with four games remaining before six of the league's eight teams qualify for the postseason.

Anything can happen — and the defending champs are still the defending champs.

On Friday, they'll raise another banner to prove it.

"That's our home market, and we know it; we feel it," Bates said. "And we've got two huge games, two league games, with a lot on the line.

"Everybody is scrapping and clawing here," he added. "We're now starting to talk about playoffs, what you need to do to clinch or to get a bye. What more can you ask for? We're in Utah, and we've got two league games. So let's go."

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