Eight former Virginia men’s lacrosse players make PLL Rosters

With lacrosse’s professional outdoor league the Premier Lacrosse League kicking off its fourth season this season, eight former Virginia Cavaliers have earned roster spots among the eight different squads with former league MVP Zed Williams set to make that number nine when he joins the Whipsnakes after his playoff run in the NLL (lacrosse’s indoor league).

The Archers boast the most amount of former Wahoos with four on their roster. Specifically, goalie Adam Ghitelman, long stick midfielder Jared Conners, short stick defensive midfielder Chris Merle, and attackman Matt Moore — who closed out his UVA career just over a week ago — will be wearing the Archers’ orange and blue colors this summer.

Interestingly enough, each of those four won national championships during their time in Charlottesville. Ghitelman won his in 2011 while Merle, Conners, and Moore were all teammates in 2019 and 2021 when UVA went back to back to repeat as champs.

Meanwhile, offensive midfielder Dox Aitken — another double national champion with the 2019 and 2021 squads — will play his second season with the Atlas. Additionally, Aitken’s teammate on the 2021 team Charlie Bertrand returns to the Redwoods for his second year after he broke onto the scene in his one year with Virginia after transferring from Merrimack.

One of the most impactful players in the 2019 run, two-way midfielder Ryan Conrad is all set to play for the Waterdogs this summer. And, finally, 2018 UVA graduate and captain Scott Hooper joins the Cannons defense.

Of course, the most notable former ‘Hoo in pro lacrosse Zed Williams will enter his fourth year with the Whipsnakes. After winning the PLL Championship the first two years of the league’s existence with Williams and his teammate Matt Rambo sweeping the first two MVP awards, Williams and company were upset last year by the Chaos in last season’s championship. For now, the former MVP is playing in the NLL finals with the Colorado Mammoth but will then switch over to hunting another title with the Whips.

The PLL has joined ESPN this year with a number of games broadcast on major ESPN networks and the remaining contests streaming on ESPN+.