The third annual Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) Championship Series took place in Springfield, Virginia, this week. The top four teams from the 2024 PLL regular season — New York Atlas, Boston Cannons, Utah Archers, and the Maryland Whipsnakes — played in a round-robin style tournament for the PLL Championship.

Two former Penn State men’s lacrosse players competed in the tournament this year, showing off their skills.

Mac O’Keefe, the all-time leading goal-scorer for Penn State, was picked up by the Utah Archers during free agency. Playing with former Penn State teammate Grant Ament, O’Keefe helped reshape the offense for the Archers. Since joining the team, O’Keefe has recorded 72 points in just 24 games (not including the PLL Championship Series). He helped lead the team to the Cash App Championship, where he played against his former team, the Carolina Chaos.

In his first PLL Championship Series tournament with the Archers, O’Keefe had a strong performance. He played four games and tallied 20 points on 13 one-point goals, two two-point goals, along with three assists. In the opening game, O’Keefe scored seven points, but his best game came against the Whipsnakes, where he scored seven one-point goals, one two-point goal, and an assist while shooting an impressive 61.5%. The Archers played the Boston Cannons in the championship game earlier Tuesday, but O’Keefe had a quiet outing, scoring just one goal on two shots. The Cannons dominated, securing a 21-14 victory, and the back-to-back PLL Championship Series.

It truly just hits DIFFERENT coming from @MacOKeefe3 https://t.co/T0YWx6WLi1 pic.twitter.com/ZjcGv22yHK

— Utah Archers (@PLLArchers) February 17, 2025

Ament, the first overall pick in the 2020 PLL College draft, joined the Archers after a record-breaking career at Penn State. He became the Big Ten’s all-time leader in points and assists. However, it was announced on February 8 that a right calf injury would keep Ament out of the 2025 PLL Championship Series.

Penn State graduate and PLL Rookie of the Year TJ Malone put on a show this year at the tournament. Malone, a Nittany Lion standout, played in three games during the PLL Championship Series for the Maryland Whipsnakes, where he scored an impressive nine goals and added six assists to his stat line.

Malone had a slow start, scoring one goal on seven shots during the first game versus the NY Atlas. However, just two days later, he put up a dominant performance with six goals and four assists against the Boston Cannons. Malone was unstoppable in the first quarter, shooting a perfect 3-3 to help give the Whipsnakes an early 8-5 lead. He then assisted on back-to-back goals early into the second quarter and weaved his way through defenders and beat the goalie to hold onto an 11-8 lead. His efforts were not enough, as the Whispnakes fell to the Cannons 34-21. During his final game on Saturday, Malone scored two more goals and two more assists to bring his tournament total to 15 points. He recorded the second most points throughout the tournament (15) for his squad, but it wasn’t enough to help the Whipsnakes to victory as they went 0-3 during the week-long event.

TJ MALONE PUTS 'EM IN THE SPIN CYCLE

The Rookie of the Year is adjusting nicely to this format. pic.twitter.com/7LdOmVEBJY

— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) February 12, 2025