'It will be nice to come back here': Here's what PLL pros think of Utah as a lacrosse market

HERRIMAN — Blaze Riorden estimates he's spent about 40 days in Utah, from the Premier Lacrosse League's "bubble season" in 2020 through Saturday afternoon's match at Zions Bank Stadium.

None of the previous trips were quite like his Carolina Chaos' tilt against the Philadelphia Waterdogs, though.

Riorden made 15 saves with a 57% save percentage as the Chaos beat the Waterdogs for the first time in franchise history 15-14 in overtime.

"I've been a part of all seven of the (previous) losses to Waterdogs," Riorden said after the first OT game in the PLL's 2025 season. "To get one in that fashion is right on par with who we are and what we are. It was great timing for our first one."

In the Utah Archers' second homecoming weekend since the PLL geolocated each of its eight franchises, pro lacrosse players from across the country found positivity among the backdrop of the Wasatch mountains.

Waterdogs rookie CJ Kirst scored the first goal of his pro career Saturday in Philadelphia's overtime loss to the Chaos, when the former Tewaaraton Trophy winner from Cornell scored inside the far pipe with 10:49 left in the second quarter to keep the Waterdogs close.

But Jackson Eicher scored his fifth goal of the game in overtime to lift the Chaos to the win.

"It was pretty cool to play with those mountains in the background," said Eicher, the undrafted rookie out of Army. "The atmosphere here with those fans was a special thing. And it was pretty cool to get a win over the Waterdogs, as well.

"It will be nice to come back here."

The hometown Archers fell to 0-2 in their homecoming weekend at Zions Bank Stadium after a 15-10 loss to the Western Conference leaders Denver Outlaws.

Losing is bad enough, but losing in front of a packed home crowd makes it even worse, Archers midfielder Ryan Ambler noted.

"Not the weekend that I had pictured in my head. The fans were amazing, and it's a credit to both teams that we faced," said Ambler, whose squad lost to West foes Denver and the California Redwoods. "We went through some adversity this weekend, and I was pretty proud of the way that we responded, the resolve in our group.

"The outcome wasn't what we wanted. But I still think there were some positives in there."

Lacrosse proved it has found a foothold in Utah, where a sold-out stadium awaits the PLL's annual summer trip.

Of course, winning always gives a boost. That's what the New York Atlas did Friday night in becoming the first team to clinch a playoff berth with an 11-8 win over the Maryland Whipsnakes.

It was the Atlas' fifth consecutive win since falling to 1-2 with a 16-12 loss to the Whipsnakes in Pennsylvania back on June 14.

"We're thrilled to be 6-2, and thrilled to be the first team in with a couple of games to go," Atlas coach Mike Pressler said Friday night. "I'm thrilled for our guys. It's a great time to enjoy this one in Salt Lake City tonight."

In many ways, Salt Lake City accelerated the Premier Lacrosse League, which has expanded to eight teams based in eight "home" markets for the touring league for the past two seasons.

Professional lacrosse was rising before the 2020 season, but complications with television exposure and the COVID-19 pandemic had the league on less-than-ideal ground when much of pro sports shut down at the height of the pandemic.

Enter Utah, which offered to host the PLL at Zions Bank Stadium, patterned after the NWSL's "Challenge Cup" that played an entire season in a quarantine-like "bubble" that Riorden mentioned.

Thus, "PLL Island" was born and the league returned to the Beehive State a year later to host the playoff quarterfinals.

But that moment in 2020 proved to be a turning point for the league, which earned a lucrative broadcasting arrangement with ESPN — one that was recently extended five years.

Every match airs on one of ESPN's networks, or digitally through the company's ESPN+ platform, including Saturday night's "Saturday Night Lacrosse" between the Archers and Outlaws on ESPN2.

The league expanded from seven teams to eight via a full merger with Major League Lacrosse, and Utah became one of the PLL's first "host markets" — meaning the Salt Lake Valley would host a weekend every year.

Fans responded, selling out the 5,000-seat Zions Bank Stadium including all but 300 tickets for the Archers' opener Friday and a packed stadium Saturday afternoon in 90-plus degree weather.

"Utah's great. It's an emerging market and has been for the last decade," PLL president and co-founder Paul Rabil told KSL.com back in 2021. "The university has done a fantastic job of taking the program from MCLA to NCAA Division I, and we have a number of players who are based here, too."

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