Five Terps selected in 2026 PLL College Draft

John Gugs
22 hours ago
3 min read

Despite a 2026 season that was cut short, Maryland men's lacrosse saw five players hear their names called in the 2026 PLL college draft, tying Syracuse for the most in the country.

Close defender Will Schaller was the first Terp off the board with the 17th pick to the Utah Archers. Chris Bates, the head coach of the Utah Archers confirmed after the selection of Schaller confirmed that Schaller will not try to attain a medical waiver for this season after tearing his ACL against Virginia at the end of the first overtime period. Schaller is coming off a season in which he earned Big Ten Defensive player of the year honors as well as first team All-American honors across several media outlets. Schaller was looking to repeat that this season and was on track to do so until he got injured and forced to miss the rest of this season. Schaller will be unavailable for the Archers this summer while he rehabs and will be available for them in 2027.

The next Terp off the board was Eric Spanos at pick 22 to the Carolina Chaos. Spanos, who earned the honor of wearing the #1 jersey for the Terps this season, was linked as a top ten pick in many mock drafts but fell a bit due to some injury concerns with his knee that he banged up earlier this season. Spanos finished third on the team in points with 24 off of 19 goals and five assists while missing three games due to injury. Spanos will bring flexibility to the Chaos roster as he can play both attack or midfield at the next level like he has in his time at Maryland which is something that will be big for the Chaos as they have players that can miss time at both spots.

After Spanos, Leo Johnson was selected by the Archers at pick 25 where he will join Schaller. Johnson, who is a lefty wing attackman, fills a need for the Archers who did not get much production from that spot last season. Johnson leads the team in points with 41 off of 22 goals and 19 assists averaging 4.1 points per game this season. The Yale transfer has shown why he was brought to College Park this season and will look to continue to do so at the next level on an offense that is looking to vastly improve from its struggles last season.

Eric Kolar was the fourth Terp selected in the draft. Kolar will join the plethora of Terp alums on the Maryland Whipsnakes who selected him with the 28th pick in the draft. Kolar has been the top short stick defensive midfielder for the Terps for three years now and has been a leader on and off the field for the defense. While he does not show up in the box score as much, he still has a massive impact every week for the Terps defense and will look to continue to do so in the Maryland flag colors at the next level.

Braden Erksa was the final Terp selected in the draft when he was picked by the Whipsnakes at pick 32. The Whipsnakes got the 32nd pick when they traded away Levi Anderson right before the draft. Erksa leads the team in scoring since he stepped on to campus and is second on the team this season with 25 points off of 12 goals and 13 assists. Like Spanos, Erksa adds flexibility to the Whips offense due to him being able to play midfield or attack. However, with TJ Malone and now Joey Spallina in the mix on the Whipsnakes attack line, it looks like Erksa will be coming out of the box which was a big need for the Whipsnakes after their midfield was the weakness of the offense last season.

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