By: Scott Eddy, Assistant Athletics Director for Strategic Communications
PHILADELPHIA – Sunday's Premiere League Championship Game was guaranteed to be a special moment for Brett Dobson, considering the second-year pro was making his first title contest appearance for the top-seeded Archers Lacrosse Club.
It held extra meaning given that the goalie was facing off against his childhood idol, Dillon Ward who was standing across the field in net for the opposing Waterdogs.
The storybook setting ended up having a Hollywood ending as Dobson made two saves in the final seconds to secure the championship for his Archers, capturing Most Valuable Player honors in the process.
He finished with 18 saves and a 58 percent save percentage in the title game as the Archers held off the Waterdogs, 15-14, in a thriller on a rainy day in Philadelphia.
Included in his performance Sunday – a kick save on a two-point shot that would have given the Waterdogs the title with just over a second to play.
For fans of St. Bonaventure men's lacrosse, it should come as no surprise.
Dobson proved his ability from the Bonnies' very first Division I game back in 2019 when he made 23 saves at High Point, earning MAAC Rookie of the Week honors.
Bona's first recruit, he was MAAC Defensive Player of the Year and a consensus All-American his senior year while leading the nation in save percentage (.665) and ranking second in the country in saves per game (16.8) as the Bonnies won 11 games and came one goal from an NCAA Tournament berth.
Following his senior year, he became the second-highest goalie ever selected in the PLL Draft, taken 12th overall by the Archers.
He was an All-Star this season, leading the Archers to an 8-2 regular season record and the top seed in the PLL Playoffs. In the Archers' 14-6 win over Redwoods in the semifinals, Dobson saved 78.3 percent of shots after finishing with 18 saves.
And on Sunday, when facing his childhood idol and fellow Canadian Dillon Ward, it was Dobson who stood as the best goalie on the field as he locked down his position as one of the top netminders in the world.
The two played together for Team Canada at the World Lacrosse Games in San Diego this summer when Dobson served as Ward's backup.
"It's surreal. He kind of paved the way for me to come up and I owe a lot of gratitude to him," Dobson said from the podium after accepting his PLL Championship MVP award. "It's always come down to the wire between these two teams. For us, we believed in ourselves in a unit and that's what pushed us to the end."
For Dobson, it comes as the culmination of an incredible year – he was the runner-up for Rookie of the Year in the National Lacrosse League, taking All-Rookie Team honors in the box game while playing for the Georgia Swarm.
"He carries himself like a 10-year vet despite him being a young guy," said Tom Schreiber, the league's MVP who scored the game-winning goal for Archers with 1:37 left. "To see him get rewarded with the MVP of this game, it's awesome."
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