STICKING TOGETHER: The quartet, from left, of midfielder Ryan Ambler, head coach Chris Bates, assistant coach Brian Kavanagh, and midfielder Tom Schreiber show off the trophy they earned after helping the Archers win the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) championship in late September. All four have ties to the Princeton University men’s lacrosse program as Ambler ’16, Schreiber ’14, and Kavanagh ’14 played for the Tigers while Bates served as the head coach of the team from 2010-16. (Photo provided courtesy of the PLL)

By Phil Shore

Down by one goal in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) championship game on September 24 with two seconds remaining, Waterdogs midfielder Jake Carraway unleashed a two-point shot that was deflected by Archers goalie Brett Dobson and went out of bounds with 0.6 seconds remaining. Waterdogs attackman Michael Sowers picked up the ball and tried to throw a desperation pass to the crease, but the horn blew signaling the end of the game and a 15-14 win for the Archers.

A relieved Archers assistant coach Brian Kavanagh turned and hugged head coach Chris Bates, the man who not only first brought him on staff as a 26-year-old but recruited him and coached him for the Princeton University men’s lax team. He then turned and hugged fellow assistant coach Tony Resch — who was Bates’s teammate with the Major Indoor Lacrosse League’s Philadelphia Wings in the early 1990s — when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Archers midfielder and team captain Tom Schreiber, his classmate at Princeton, dumping the cooler of Gatorade over Bates’ head.

Sprinting in from across the field was Archer midfielder Ryan Ambler, who was a sophomore on the Princeton men’s lacrosse team in 2014 when Kavanagh and Schreiber were seniors. He hugged Bates, then Kavanagh, and finally Schreiber.

“We did it!” Ambler screamed.

There they were, four former members of the Tigers lacrosse program, not only finally celebrating a title victory together, but once again there for each another during another pivotal life moment.

“It’s three dudes that mean the world to me,” said Bates, who coached at Princeton from 2010-16. “They work really hard at their craft. I know their families really well. There’s really nothing better.”

For Kavanagh, the title had a deep meaning as well.

“I have a ton of gratitude,” Kavanagh added. “I think that’s the appropriate word and what I come back to the most when I’m reflecting on these couple weeks since the championship is just gratitude for those guys and having the opportunity to share the success on the field. That’s what makes the championship so special is the off-the-field relationships and knowing those guys forever.”

Kavanagh and Schreiber had known each other since they were 12 years old. Schreiber’s father, Doug, was a two-time First Team All-America selection at Maryland, member of the 1973 NCAA championship team, and member of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame; he also was Kavanagh’s first club lacrosse coach.

The two developed a close friendship over the years. Schreiber said they have a similar mindset, similar sense of humor, and similar approach to the game of lacrosse. They became so close that Kavanagh was Schreiber’s best man at his wedding. That gives Kavanagh the unique perspective to shed light on Schreiber behind closed doors. He said Schreiber comes off as a “mystery within the lacrosse world” because of how conservative and polished he presents himself to the media and to the fans on social media. What he, Ambler, and Bates all agreed on, however, is behind closed doors and in team group chats, Schreiber lets loose and is incredibly funny.

“For me, it’s frustrating because I take pleasure in being the comedic relief and being the funny guy in the room for whatever shortcomings I had as a player athletically,” said Kavanagh, who studied at world-renowned comedy club Second City in Chicago. “And Tom, he probably is the funniest guy on the team, and it’s like, leave something for the rest of us. You’re the best player in the world. Be the boring robot.”

Schreiber said his comfort level with his former Princeton teammates probably lets him let his guard down more as well as sharing that the Archers team just enjoys being together and has a ton of fun.

For that, he gives Bates all the credit.

“He’s somebody that you really respect and somebody you want to be like,” Schreiber said. “All of our teams have been a reflection of coach Bates. This year, in particular, really has been. Guys are being themselves. We’ve had that across the board from guys that have been here, like Ryan and Kav and coach Bates, and the new guys, too. Guys are able to be themselves really quickly. Did that win us a championship? I don’t know, but it certainly helps.”

While the Archers started the season with a victory and stayed in first place throughout the season, the relationship between the four hasn’t only seen highlights; they’ve been with each other through dark times as well.

Kavanagh admitted the reason he chose to attend and play at Princeton was because Schreiber was going there, and they were going to win a national championship. In the four years at Princeton, however, Kavanagh and Schreiber only played in one NCAA Tournament game, and that was the season before Ambler arrived; they didn’t even play in the Ivy League Tournament their senior year in 2014.

Princeton didn’t finish with a winning record in Kavanagh and Schreiber’s freshman year in 2011, but that season still provided an everlasting memory away from the field.

“We’re in the middle of a workout in the football stadium at Princeton, and we closed the workout with coach [Bates] coming and telling us his wife passed I think an hour after it happened,” Kavanagh said. “Breaking down the huddle, being emotional, and sharing that with us and being so vulnerable, if we never got the opportunity to compete together again, I would always appreciate the things I shared with Coach Bates in his personal life, and I would always love him.”

Two years later, Schreiber and Kavanagh were a part of someone else’s big life moment, albeit it a much happier one. Ambler remembered Schreiber and Kavanagh being there and helping him move into his freshman dorm at Princeton.

While Bates met Schreiber and Kavanagh when they were 17 years old, he knew Ambler at a much younger age. His older brother, Colin, was a two-time captain at Drexel and was coached at the time by none other than Chris Bates. Ambler was 12 years old at the time and the ball boy for the Dragons; he remembers Bates being intense yet kind and supportive. He also remembers getting to know Coach’s father pretty well, a relationship that continues to this day.

“We were sitting in the stands every weekend together,” he said. “My dad is there watching my brother, his son. Coach Bates’s dad is there watching his son, and I’m there with those guys watching the game. I grew up doing that every single weekend. Add another layer of emotion to [the Archers championship win] that I got to see Mr. Bates walk on to the field after the game with tears in his eyes, and we get to hug each other and celebrate.”

Knowing him for so long, Bates said Ambler probably knows him as a coach too well, but he sees that as a positive.

“He will support my weaknesses in ways that ask me to explain further or dive deeper or challenge me to put myself in an area where I might be uncomfortable,” Bates said.  “You know he’s coming from a good place. He’s challenged me in some positive ways.”

On December 12, 2018, the Premier Lacrosse League announced the individuals that would be the first coaches in league history. The league’s press release called the coaches “some of the best leaders, strategists, and innovators that the game has known.” Bates — lauded for the success he had at Princeton and Drexel later in the release — was front and center of the photo to go along with the article.

While his coaching resume was clearly established, Kavanagh did not have the same level of experience, and he said he felt a very real sense of imposter syndrome because of it. Going into the first training camp, not only were some of the players older than he was, it also was the start of a new wrinkle to his relationship with Schreiber and Ambler as a teammate turned authority figure.

Of course, in the end, those two were there for him as they always had and made the transition much easier than he anticipated.

“Those guys, I can’t thank Ryan and Tom specifically, but then even the other older guys on the team Marcus Holman and Will Manny and Adam Ghitelman, all these guys I had preexisting relationships playing with and against just giving me even more respect than I deserved,” he said. “Those guys really set the tone for the rest of the team. Like yeah, Kav’s a younger guy, but he’s a coach and we’re going to respect him. I’m forever in debt to those guys. Obviously, those friendships and the respect I’ve gained off the field help in that regard.”

What drove Kavanagh were the failures they shared at Princeton, which caused him to feel like he let Bates, Schreiber, and Ambler down. It motivated him to work harder as a coach with the Archers. In 2023, an article on the PLL website by Zach Carey called Kavanagh a “mastermind” and praised him for making a difference in the substitution game. Additionally, Schreiber credited the former goalie with working with Dobson, a second-year pro who had played one game the year prior, and helping him develop and enjoy a 2023 season where he was an All-Star, Second Team All-Pro, and the championship game MVP.

“Kav was able to find that line of finding respect but also being able to relate to guys,” Schreiber said. “With Kav, it’s really unique. I don’t think many guys have that opportunity to play for their college coach but also play for your friend, at the end of the day. It’s very cool.”

Of the eight teams in the PLL, the Archers was the only one to finish with a .500 regular season record or better in all five seasons. Much like their time at Princeton, however, it hadn’t resulted in any championship success. Over the first four seasons, the team accumulated two losses in the first round of the playoffs and two losses in the semifinals; the two-time champion Chaos had eliminated them in each of the previous three playoff matchups.

It’s left them frustrated and devastated at the end of each year.

“This is everything I’ve been working for and wanted since I can remember,” Ambler said. “With each year, that feeling intensifies because you can’t get any time back. Every time you lose at the end of the season, you just go, ‘Man, eight more months until we can do this thing again,’ and who knows how many years of this thing you’ve got left.”

The Archers got a real taste of the transitory element of pro sports this past offseason. All-Stars Holman, Manny, and Ghitelman all left in free agency. Locker room leaders Scott Ratliff and Dominique Alexander retired. That left Schreiber, Ambler, Kavanagh and Bates as four of only six team members — joining Resch and defender Matt McMahon — remaining who were members of the original 2019 version of the Archers.

It was time for Bates to lean on the individuals who he’s spent decades building relationships with. Schreiber was named the sole team captain. Bates said he expected Ambler to assume a larger role in the locker room than ever before.

They, along with Kavanagh, delivered.

To finally break through and win their first championship at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa., about an hour away from where they began their collective lacrosse journey, was something they don’t think even the best Hollywood writers could have imagined.

“Tom pouring the Gatorade over me is so fitting and cool, but then you see Ryan beeline from the defensive end after the celebration with the goalie on that and beeline to come find me is just, holy (expletive),” Bates said. “You can’t make that up. That’s real and very cool. The emotions afterwards, my dad being on the field, being in utter tears hugging Tom’s mom, hugging the Amblers — we’ve all gone through a lot to get to this point and share a lot of emotion and experience. It’s just been nothing short of one of the more memorable things I’ll ever experience.”