Park City's Beau Pederson loving chance to rep pro lacrosse in home state

HERRIMAN — Beau Pederson settled the pass in his short stick, stepped toward the goal from well beyond the 2-point arc, and fired away under the crossbar, drawing the loudest cheer of the evening from the faithful at a sold-out Zions Bank Stadium.

For the second time in his pro career, the hometown kid returned to a hero's welcome with the Utah Archers.

Pederson's goal was one of the highlights in the Archers' 9-8 loss Friday night to the California Redwoods in the Utah side's 2025 homecoming weekend.

"It's always great coming back here," said Pederson, who grew up in Park City. "Looking back at last year, it was such a great home crowd we had … and it was really kind of a turning point in our season. I think we're looking for the same thing this year, to ride that home crowd and home momentum."

Pederson scored his first 2-point goal of the season in the first quarter, a laser from the top of the arc to give the hometown Archers a 3-1 lead en route to a 4-2 lead early.

Utah (3-5) kept the lead until California's Charlie Bertrand scored with 30 seconds left in the third to tie the match 7-7. Chris Kavanagh scored with 3:40 left to help the Redwoods (3-5) hold on for the one-goal win in the first of two games on the Archers' homecoming weekend.

That makes Utah's home finale Saturday against the West-leading Denver Outlaws (7 p.m. MDT, ESPN2) a virtual must-win for the two-time defending champion Archers' playoff hopes.

"We've got the best fans in the league, and when you go out there and lay an egg like that, it's not good," said Utah goalie Brett Dobson, who made 17 saves with a 68% save percentage. "Losing a game like that hurts. I'm frustrated about it, but the good news is we get to play lacrosse tomorrow.

"We've got a good core group of guys who can figure this stuff out."

When the PLL announced locations for each of its eight franchises a year ago, some of the locales made sense.

New York was the birthplace of lacrosse, a game with indigenous roots from the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy in modern-day Onondaga County. Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston have become hotbeds of their own, as has Denver — thanks largely to six Final Four appearances and the 2015 NCAA national championship by the University of Denver.

But Utah? In a state where high-level professional sports were mostly NBA and MLS at the time, Salt Lake City was considered a risk for "the fastest game on two feet."

And yet ...

"I think it surpassed even my expectations and what I was telling people," said Pederson, the state MVP in 2017 and 2018 at Park City before an All-American career at Princeton and Michigan. "You look around a lot of the PLL, there are a lot of mixed jerseys in any home city. They'll all be represented here — but it's 80% or 90% lot of orange and blue in the crowd, which is awesome.

"They really get behind the guys tonight, and they're a super active fan base."

More than 1,000 youth play the sport sanctioned by the Utah High School Activities Association since 2021, with clubs from Logan to St. George and the state's first NCAA Division I program at the University of Utah since 2018.

Much of the growth comes from east-coast transplants, but a new generation of lacrosse players is beginning to grow the sport. And all of them — whether local or imported — have gotten behind the Archers.

"I think we realized very quickly that the fan base here was passionate, but also knowledgeable," said Archers head coach Chris Bates, who recruited Pederson to Princeton before drafting him with the No. 13 pick of the 2024 PLL draft.

"Our guys reacted to the fans, and the way the fans reacted to us was awesome," Bates added. "We want to bring the same energy, and give the fans something to root for."

The fans have also bought into Pederson, now in his second season with the franchise.

"He's as good as there is," Bates said. "From when we drafted him, he delivered in every way. He's a great teammate; I recruited him at Princeton, and have known Beau and his family for years.

"He's only getting more confidence in his second year. I think he recognizes he can be a big-timers. He's becoming a leader, as well, and it's fun to see his trajectory — and it's really cool to get him back in his hometown."

The sport is here to stay, too.

In June, the PLL announced a five-year extension with ESPN that would put the mostly summertime league on the Worldwide Leader in Sports through 2031.

As part of the agreement, ESPN also purchased a minority equity investment in the league, which recently launched the four-team (Women's Lacrosse League) centered around stars like two-time Tewaaraton Award winner Charlotte North.

And that's just fine for the kid from Park City, who is more than happy to represent his home state on the sport's biggest stage.

"Since I've been coming through high school and college, I've always had support from Park City and the whole Utah lacrosse community," Pederson said. "I'm excited to play here at the highest level in front of everyone, and hopefully represent the state really well."

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