The New York Atlas have, in their fledgling Premier Lacrosse League existence, accumulated a couple nicknames. The first and most ubiquitous, “the Bulls,” traces back to the franchise’s inception, referencing the large, cuddly-looking bovine whose flaring cartoon nostrils dominate the team’s logo. But now there is a second set of nicknames, a pair of monikers born just moments apart — “Virginia Atlas” and “New York Cavaliers.”
Their shared origin is simple — five former Virginia Cavaliers populate the team’s roster. Two feature in what Virginia Coach Lars Tiffany calls “a ludicrous trio at attack” that has propelled the Atlas to its present status as the PLL’s premier team.
The only thing divergent about the Atlas is the color. The team wears powder-blue jerseys — Carolina blue, in another parlance — which is a problem. However, it may help that Virginia has beaten North Carolina six times in a row in men’s lacrosse.
The Atlas are similarly blazing their way through their schedule. They opened the season in June with a four-game win streak, led in large part by three former Cavaliers. Class of 2023 alumnus Xander Dickson and Class of 2024 alumnus Connor Shellenberger, two of the league’s most potent players, have reunited at attack.
Class of 2021 alumnus Dox Aitken is a pivotal mainstay in a deep midfield. In addition to this impactful trio, Class of 2024 alumnus Payton Cormier has lately carved out room in the attack, while Class of 2024 alumnus Chase Yager has played sparingly as a short-stick defensive midfielder.
These former Cavaliers have accounted for 78 of the 234 points the Atlas have produced this season. They are having fun doing it, too, just as they anticipated.
“I am so freaking pumped,” Dickson said in May after learning of his forthcoming reunion with Shellenberger. “I cannot wait.”
Certain college programs funnel players to the next level, factories producing elite professional fodder. Kentucky basketball, Alabama football — and now Virginia lacrosse. The PLL contains 14 former Virginia players — five with the Atlas, four with the California Redwoods and the other five spread out more thinly across the eight-team league. Videos of Virginia players doing astonishing things in the PLL now flood the program’s social media account. Most feature guys running around in those powder-blue jerseys, but not all.
“I try not to make too many analogies between myself and Nick Saban, the all-time great of college coaches,” Tiffany said, after laughing off a reporter’s comparison. “But it is fun. It is fun to have a little bit of that. Like, hey, there’s my guys that are pros.”
But the ties between the college program and the professional team run deeper than personnel. The breakneck style characteristic of Tiffany’s teams has emerged, unmistakably, in the Atlas.
“The Atlas are doing it by playing feed-first lacrosse, sharing the ball so well, and it’s a validation of how we play the game here,” Tiffany said in an interview with The Cavalier Daily. “We’re unselfish. We play fast.”
It has gotten easier recently for Tiffany to admire his guys that are in the big leagues. The PLL, within the lacrosse world and the greater American sports consciousness, is becoming more prominent.
The entire men’s lacrosse program assembled to watch the league’s most recent draft in May. Rows of plastic folding chairs lined the indoor football practice facility. Shellenberger’s father even hired the Kona Ice truck to make an appearance.
It was a whole event. The men’s lacrosse draft is becoming part of the calendar, like in professional football. Shellenberger was drafted second overall, then everyone sat around for a while, watching and waiting, perhaps returning to the Kona Ice truck for seconds. Their patience eventually proved justified — the California Redwoods snapped up Class of 2024 alumnus Cole Kastner with the draft’s final pick.
Tiffany sounds, talking about the players he is sending to the professional ranks, like a parent talking about sending a kid to college, or into the real world. He is unsure how much to talk to them, which way to communicate. He sounds fatherly.
“These are men that spent four or five years, because of COVID, in the trenches with our coaching staff and with our team,” Tiffany said. “I love these guys. But I also want to give them their space. I feel like they’re taking the next step in their lives.”
Tiffany has not attended any games this season. He did have a chance. The league offered him an opportunity to do color commentary during its Minneapolis stop. But he declined.
“Sounded so cool,” Tiffany said, somewhat ruefully. “And then I talked to my staff, and the decision was made that, no, we gotta be recruiting.”
Such is the life of a college coach. He will at least, presumably, get to watch some of the league’s playoffs. The Atlas, regular-season conference champions and the overall No. 1 seed, scooted through on a bye to the semifinals. They will play their semifinal matchup Saturday in Long Island, N.Y., their ostensible home state.
If the Atlas win, though, they will travel to Philadelphia, the same city as last year’s college Championship Weekend. The Virginia Cavaliers recently failed to win a title there. The Virginia Atlas, with four of the same players, may just succeed.
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