CANNON FIRE: Coulter Mackesy heads to goal in a 2025 game during his senior season for the Princeton University men’s lacrosse team. This summer, in his second campaign with the Boston Cannons of the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL), attacker Mackesy has emerged as a go-to scorer. He is currently third in the PLL in scoring with 37 points, helping the Cannons go 7-5 in regular season action and clinch a spot in the upcoming league playoffs. (Photo by Steven Wojtowicz)
By Justin Feil
Coulter Mackesy has been an important part of the Boston Cannons’ success in his second season in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL).
The 2025 Princeton University graduate has elevated his game and his team after a promising rookie campaign last summer. He was selected to his first league all-star game in July, and Mackesy’s 37 points ranked third in the PLL in scoring heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
“The game just slowed down a little bit,” said star attackman Mackesy, a 5’10, 185-pound native of Bronxville, N.Y. “Like every rookie will tell you how fast the PLL is compared to the college game. And I think the more you play it, the more it slows down in a way and you get more comfortable with the shot clock and more comfortable with the face-off shot clock, which is a huge strategy in the PLL.”
Even more important to Mackesy is that his contributions have helped the Cannons secure a playoff berth. Boston was in position to make the playoffs in his rookie year too, but a late-season drought cost them a playoff spot.
“There’s always a feeling of thinking you could do more, but for sure as a team it was definitely a disappointing way to end the season,” said Mackesy. “We controlled our own destiny and fell short, and doing that at home definitely didn’t feel good just because of how amazing an environment Boston is. And I know a lot of people circle that one as one of the best atmospheres throughout the year. So just to have that opportunity again this year is super special and we’re really pumped about it.”
The Boston PLL homecoming weekend held at Harvard was far more successful this year as the Cannons earned a playoff berth with a thrilling 14-12 comeback win over the Maryland Whipsnakes on Friday before concluding its regular season schedule on Saturday with an 12-9 win over the California Redwoods. Last year’s disappointment served as some motivation for the returning Boston players.
“We definitely address it,” said Mackesy, who scored three points in Saturday’s win. “You just learn from what went wrong last year and, we’re in the same situation and I know a lot of other teams are in a similar situation. A lot of teams are .500 right now and everything kind of matters throughout the rest of these last two weeks of the regular season, how you prepare and how you show up on game day.”
Boston’s win over Maryland gave it an edge up on the two that both entered the game 5-5. Philadelphia leads the Eastern Division standings at 7-3 heading into the final weekend of the regular season in Philadelphia. Boston sits in second place in the Eastern Division at 7-5. Utah leads the Western Division at 7-5. Nobody has been hotter in the second half of the season than Boston, which has overcome a 1-4 start by winning six of their last seven games.
“We talked a lot about going through that early season struggle and how just going through that stretch of games helped us realize what we were struggling at and what we needed to improve on,” said Mackesy.
Mackesy has been a steady contributor for the Cannons from his first professional game. He had a lot of success in his first PLL season out of Princeton last year with 20 points in eight games. The transition reminds him of the move from high school to college, and many college athletes then find themselves a lot more comfortable in their second college season. Now in his second season in the PLL, he has adjusted well to some of the challenges.
“It’s also a similar physical step up,” said Mackesy, who has tallied 16 1-point goals, three 2-point goals, and 15 assists. “The league is, I’d say, a lot more demanding physically. Not as much from a cardio standpoint, but more just you’re playing some very big, very strong defenders. You can get away with a lot more in the league than I’d say in college, The refs aren’t as trigger happy with their penalties. So I think adjusting to that throughout the off season was helpful and just trying to put on a bit more muscle and just trying to get your body ready. But it’s a similar transition in college as well.”
Unlike last year when he was coming directly off Princeton’s season, Mackesy has had to maintain his own conditioning and preparedness for the PLL. It’s a change, but something that he has adjusted to quickly.
“I just picked up a similar training regimen that I’ve done my whole life and just stayed consistent,” said Mackesy. “It was definitely a longer offseason than I was used to, but luckily I was able to do some stuff with Team USA and go to Japan with the PLL and take a lacrosse trip to Hawaii actually. So I kept the stick in my hand a lot and got to play in some competitive environments because that’s almost the hardest thing, just getting to play a full game in offseason. So luckily I was able to find those opportunities and also just stay consistent with my training and diet and conditioning and all that.”
Mackesy came out of the gates fast this summer. Halfway through the PLL season, he was leading the league in scoring. He’s part of a Cannons offense that ranked second in the PLL following their playoff clinching win over Maryland. Mackesy has been happy to do his part for the Cannons, who are coached by Brian Holman and defensive coordinator Aaron Verardi and offensive coordinator Will Manny.
“I didn’t really have any expectations for the year,” said Mackesy.
“Any lefty and righty wing attackmen are on the field to score goals and have assists no matter what team you’re on. So luckily I’ve just been in a good position and Coach Manny’s done a wonderful job of organizing a great group of dudes to run his offense. He allows us to be creative and take risks when it’s necessary. We really try to play unselfishly and have incredible ball movement and great spacing. We had the same principles at Princeton and, that’s just a key part of our offense that I think allows us and myself to have success.”
The Cannons are a balanced offense led by Mackesy and veteran attackman Marcus Holman and a fleet of midfielders including Mic Kelly, Matt Campbell, Connor Kirst, and rookie Mikey Weisshaar. In the comeback win over Maryland, Kelly scored twice in the final 23 seconds of regulation before Holman’s overtime game-winner set off a celebration at Harvard Stadium. Their unselfish style has been a key. Mackesy had just one point, a season-low, one week after a career-high six points in an 11-7 win over the Utah Archers.
“They’re the best defense going into that weekend statistically and also have a really good goalie,” said Mackesy. “So we knew it was going to be physical and you had to take high percentage shots. You can’t just chuck it at the net and hope it goes in against such a good defense and a good goalie. So again, we just fell back on good ball movement, discipline, shot selection. And that was a really big win for us. It’s always good to get a win after a loss and really see the improvements we emphasize throughout the week.”
Boston’s turnaround has been a huge storyline for the PLL. There was no panic on the team after their early heartbreaking losses, including a one-goal loss to Maryland that their overtime win avenged.
“For most of us, coach says once your first game as a rookie is over, you’re not a rookie anymore,” said Mackesy. “And I think that shows in our rookie class this year, stepping up in a huge way this past stretch of games and throughout the whole season. And then I guess it just all starts with the leadership that comes from the top. We have a great group of veterans in Marcus, [Jack] Kielty, Zach Goodrich, the Kirst brothers, and Ethan Rall, and I think they just kind of carry the Cannons culture and just really instill that to all us young guys.”
Mackesy is one of 13 first- or second-year PLL players on the Cannons roster. They’ve gone from one of the more veteran teams a year ago to one of the younger groups. Fellow Princeton graduate Andrew McMeekin is a rookie for Boston, and leads the PLL in faceoff percentage.
“Meeks has just been playing at an unreal level,” said Mackesy.
“Having the ball that much just gives confidence to the offense and the defense, and it just trickles down from there. So it’s great suiting up with him again. He’s been a huge, huge part of our turnaround. And I mean, top to bottom, I think everyone’s playing better and playing harder.”
Mackesy was one of the Princeton alumni in the crowd in Charlottesville, Va., when McMeekin helped Princeton win its first national championship in 25 years as it topped Notre Dame 16-9 in the NCAA final. Mackesy was part of a large cheering section.
“I would never have missed that for the world,” said Mackesy, who scored a Princeton career-record 167 goals during his time with the Tigers. “I think my entire class was there along with I don’t know how many alumni. It was an absolutely insane number of supporters, friends, family, alumni that were down there and just to be able to watch that moment live and see all my best friends in such an insane accomplishment, I’m just so happy for them and this program. I know so many people worked really hard to get back and to see them do it, it’s just a good statement for Princeton to be back and I know it won’t be another 20 years till we get another one.”
Mackesy is one of the top players representing Princeton in the PLL. McMeekin, Chad Palumbo (Carolina Chaos), John Dunphey (Denver Outlaws) and Ryan Croddick (California Redwoods) are all rookies this year after the national title season. Zach Currier (Philadelphia Waterdogs), Michael Sowers (Philadelphia Waterdogs), Jake Stevens (New York Atlas), and Tom Schreiber (Utah Archers) are all PLL players who were Tiger standouts.
“It’s a ton of fun to play against those guys,” said Mackesy. “When the whistle blows, you have to kind of forget about that, but right when the whistle ends, we go back to being best friends and fellow alumni always support the black and orange.”
Sowers, Palumbo and Schreiber have all allowed Mackesy to market their signature pockets for his TigaStrings business that keeps him connected to the game in a different way, sharing his passion for stringing sticks that was a hobby since his teen years. He has maintained TigaStrings more as a side job now and he’s actually grateful that stringing requests have slowed some while balancing his PLL career and a new full-time job in finance in New York City.
“I’ve grown to enjoy it, just getting on a good schedule and sticking to it,” said Mackesy. “The travel is definitely a lot some weeks, but I just try to get a lot of sleep, get a lot of recovery and just stick to that same training schedule that we did in school. So I’ve loved it. It’s been a blast and I love staying busy, and I think it’s definitely busy right now so I’m having a good time.”
The good times will extend further than they ever have for Mackesy as PLL postseason action gets underway on August 29 in Minneapolis, Minn. His second-year development and contributions helped guarantee his first PLL playoff appearance, a reward for the growth of Coulter Mackesy and the Cannons.