Baptiste, New York Atlas ready for new PLL season, homecoming

Time flies when you’re having fun.

“It’s kind of crazy. I think it’s already year seven,” said Trevor Baptiste, a faceoff specialist for the New York Atlas. “But it’s exciting. We got a really good group of guys.”

Or in the case of Baptiste, winning faceoffs.

“With faceoffs, you’re trying to get possessions for your team, trying to get the offense the ball,” he said. “I think that’s always been my goal. And I think that’s going to continue to be the goal this year.”

No player in the Premiere Lacrosse League has had more success at the X than the five-time all-star. In 2023, Baptiste won a whopping 77% of his faceoffs, with a league leading 168 groundballs.

“I think it’s such a quick, short part of the game, but I think there’s a lot of nuances to it,” Baptiste said. “And I think that all great faceoff guys take pride in perfecting all the little things.”

It’s a craft he has been perfecting since the sixth grade when he first started playing lacrosse. But it wasn’t until high school when he discovered his knack for winning possessions.

“I like the one-on-one head-to-head competition of it. I like the physicality of it,” he said. “So I just kind of got thrown into it because we needed somebody to take faceoffs on our team, and I just kind of stuck with it ever since.”

He went on to play college lacrosse at Denver, where Baptiste was a four time All-American. He later played a season in the Major League Lacrosse, before joining the Premiere Lacrosse League and the Atlas.

“He’s the king. He’s the best in the world today,” said Mike Pressler, head coach of the New York Atlas. “The great news about the new rule – no poles at the X at least. So that’s going to kind of change things a little bit.”

“We got a good game plan going in, and I think we’ll adjust, and we’ll keep getting better at it as the year goes on,” Baptiste said.

Whatever challenges year seven in the pros may bring, Baptiste is ready to fight for it, just like possessions at his faceoffs.

The Atlas are kicking off a new season with a homecoming at UAlbany this weekend.