A lacrosse hotbed once again has a men’s professional team to root for.

Before the 2024 Premier Lacrosse League season, co-founder and former Johns Hopkins player Paul Rabil announced that the eight teams in the league would finally have hometowns. The two-time champion Whipsnakes became the Maryland Whipsnakes, representing the state where USA Lacrosse is headquartered.

For its first five seasons, the league operated with a touring schedule, visiting a different city across the U.S. every week of the season. Although teams still tour the country in 2024, when in their home city, they play two games instead of one to give local fans more opportunities to watch. The eventual goal is for the league to own and operate venues in each city with a team, rather than continuing to tour.

The Whipsnakes play in Baltimore at Homewood Field on Aug. 3 and 4. Until then, here’s everything fans need to know about the Whipsnakes, their history and their start to the season.

The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.

How they started

Winners of the first two championships in league history, the Whipsnakes have failed to live up to their past success to begin the 2024 campaign. They’ve lost both of their games and have the lowest scoring differential in the league at minus-8.

They lost to the New York Atlas 17-13 in the first week of the season and 13-9 against the Boston Cannons in Week 2.

The good news is there are 10 games between now and the playoffs in early September. Maryland recently traded for rookie attackman Levi Anderson out of St. Joseph’s. The move came after the team struggled to find consistent offense in its loss to Boston.

Maryland will play another winless team, the Philadelphia Waterdogs, in its next game Sunday.

Key players

Matt Rambo, the first winner of the league’s Jim Brown Most Valuable Player Award, has been a constant force on the attack for the Whipsnakes. In 2019 and 2020, he led all players in points and assists. While Rambo has five points on the season, his ability to cut toward the net and feed his teammates makes him a formidable opponent.

The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.

The other crucial piece for the Whipsnakes offense is TJ Malone, who has eight points on five goals and three assists. The attacker is lethal when he can get shots on goal, converting 71.4% of the time.

After being subbed in for Kyle Bernlohr during the first quarter of the opening game of the season, Brendan Krebs has made a strong case for himself as the starting goalie. Krebs made nine saves in that game and 14 in his first start. He’s fifth in the league in total saves. If he can continue at this pace and the Whipsnakes pick up their offense, it won’t be long before they collect their first win.

The Terp connection

The local ties run deep for the Whipsnakes, with 10 players who played for Maryland on the roster. Most of these players won a national championship with the Terps, helping them remain one of the top programs in the country.

Team captain Jake Bernhardt played for the Terps from 2009-13 and returned in 2022 as an assistant coach.

Defensive midfielder Roman Puglise, defender Ajax Zappitello and midfielders Keegan Khan and Jack Koras were a part of Maryland’s most recent championship in 2022. Three more players, Rambo, Colin Heacock and Tim Muller, were a part of the 2017 championship team.

The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.

How to watch

While some games are available on ABC, all Premier Lacrosse League games are streamed on ESPN+. To attract fans, the PLL offers a free month of the subscription through the league website.

The Whipsnakes play the Philadelphia Waterdogs on Sunday at Villanova Stadium. The game starts at 3 p.m.

The Whipsnakes’ home games on Aug. 3 and 4 will be broadcast on ABC.