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Rob Pannell has played in every type of lacrosse game imaginable. Yet, he’s never been more nervous than he was last Friday night in Fairfield.
Pannell entered the Maryland Whipsnakes’ matchup with the California Redwoods four points shy of breaking Paul Rabil’s all-time points record. Since training camp, it felt like that was all anybody talked about. Cameras followed his every move. People on social media posted about “the chase.” Distant friends Pannell hadn’t talked to in years texted him. Pannell hated saying it because he sounded ungrateful, but he wanted the noise to end.
His wife, Maggie Bill Pannell, sensed the anxiety pregame, asking him how he could settle in. “I got to get going early,” Pannell responded. A goal on the Whipsnakes’ first possession did so. Another score in the second quarter and an assist to Colin Heacock brought Pannell level with Rabil.
Soon after halftime, TJ Malone fed Pannell for a quick-stick finish for his 658th career point. After a fist pump and scream to the heavens in celebration, Pannell was mobbed by his teammates.
“It’s just a lot of relief,” Pannell said postgame. “[The] PLL does a great job with media, almost too good in this case. But I play the game to win. I train and prepare the way I do, so that I can perform on game day for my teammates because that’s their expectation. I’m glad I don’t have to think about it anymore because I do think it was a little bit of a distraction.”
Pannell’s honesty was admirable and also understandable. He’s already regarded as one of the best lacrosse players ever, and the record just adds to his impressive résumé. Ever since his professional debut for the New York Lizards in 2013, he’s been a model of consistency. The attackman gave defenders headaches with his slick moves at 5-and-5 — mostly due to his patented question mark shot — along with his sharp vision and feeding ability.
He might not be the dominant force he was during the Lizards’ 2015 championship season, or in 2018 when he won MVP and set the single-season points record, but Pannell remains a consistent force. Even at 36, Pannell’s 25 points rank fifth in the PLL.
“Honestly, it sounds funny, but if [Pannell] was a better shooter, this wouldn’t even be close,” Whipsnakes head coach Jim Stagnitta said. “He would’ve blown this record away a long time ago.”
Joe Spallina drafted Pannell first overall out of Cornell in the 2012 MLL Draft, but after breaking his foot early that year, Pannell played one more collegiate season. The anticipation was palpable due to Pannell’s success at Cornell, where he went from being an underrecruited and undersized attackman to the NCAA’s all-time points leader.
It only took a few games for Lizards faceoff man Greg Gurenlian to confirm Pannell would be “exactly who [they] thought he’d be.” There wasn’t anything complex about Pannell’s game. He wasn’t gifted with physical tools, but Pannell gained an edge because he was smarter than everyone.
“Rob is so skilled and so technical that he’s literally like watching a how-to video all the time,” Gurenlian said.
Pannell was the full package as an X attackman. He enjoyed being the point guard on offense and dictating games at his own pace, and depending on how teams defended him, Pannell always had an answer. Leave him on an island one-on-one, and he was scoring with ease. Send a quick slide to him, and he’d find Tommy Palasek or Matt Gibson at the back post for an easy feed.
There was an inevitability around Pannell, and the formula was simple: get him the ball and good things would happen.
“He was just consistent, but also he just wore you down in such a methodical way that it was demoralizing,” Gibson said. “His method of offense was literally a consistent war of attrition.”
Pannell’s go-to weapon was his trusty question mark dodge. He first discovered it watching Mark Millon’s “Offensive Wizardry” VHS tape as a kid. Pannell practiced it constantly and put his own spin on it by adding a jump shot, which gave opponents nightmares.
Since defenders waited for it, Pannell developed counters like wraparound shots and inside rolls. Former Lizards long-stick midfielder Kyle Hartzell joked that when Pannell goes into the Hall of Fame, his highlight reel will be 85 to 90% question mark dodges up the hash.
“Anytime you saw him going to the island, you’re like, ‘S—, here it comes,’” former Lizards attackman Will Manny said. “That’s pretty much his signature, because people can know it’s coming, just like a Steph Curry 3-pointer off of a screen, but you still can’t stop it, because they’re so good at what they do.”
Ever since college coaches overlooked Pannell, he’s played with a chip on his shoulder. It started during his postgrad year at Deerfield Academy, when then-Cornell head coach Jeff Tambroni eventually offered him a scholarship, preventing him from going to Hofstra.
Once in Ithaca, Pannell spent extensive time getting stronger with strength and conditioning coach Tom Howley. The added muscle, combined with his incessant time spent mastering his stickwork, was the precursor for Pannell’s mentality as a professional.
Upon entering the MLL, he was one of a few players who pursued lacrosse full-time. Rather than getting a second job, Pannell moved to New York City, where he trained, traveled and ran camps and clinics.
“Rob was at the front of it,” Palasek said. “One, because of his work ethic, but he did get a lot of opportunities that showed, ‘Hey, you want to just be a professional lacrosse player, you want to train, here’s the blueprint, you can try and do it.’”
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Manny knew he was “in for a ride” whenever he trained with Pannell. The extensive workouts were a look into why Pannell was so consistent every year. He finished with at least 40 points during his first seven seasons and totaled more than 60 four times.
“If you’re doing the same things over and over again, that helps, but the athletes around the game change,” Pannell said. “So you have to continue to take your game to the next level.”
However, Pannell’s style wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Palasek mentioned most MLL players didn’t have time to work out all week, while Hartzell added the lack of compensation contributed in some cases to a lack of motivation. Pannell’s ambition never wavered. He approached everything head-on, with Hartzell calling him the ultimate competitor.
Over time, Pannell developed a reputation as a ball-dominant player. It’s something Hartzell, Manny and Gibson heard before entering the Lizards’ locker room, but they quickly realized that Pannell prioritized the team’s success over everything.
“There were people who felt certain ways,” Gibson said. “But it’s just his style. Everyone has a different style of playing the sport. That’s why it’s a cool sport. And it either works or it doesn’t, and obviously it worked for him.”
The easiest way for Pannell to shut people up was to win. Three Memorial Day Weekend losses in four years and a defeat in the 2014 World Lacrosse Championship with Team USA didn’t help, but his fortunes changed in 2015. Rabil was traded to the Lizards in a blockbuster deal, and a talented New York roster became loaded.
It would have been easy for two alphas like Pannell and Rabil to butt heads, but they gelled perfectly, as Pannell finished with 68 points and Rabil added 52.
As the No. 1 seed following a 10-4 regular season, the Lizards survived in overtime against the Boston Cannons in the semifinals and even trailed the Rochester Rattlers 6-2 in the championship. Gurenlian remembered that in the gold medal game the previous summer with Team USA, players started pointing fingers at each other. This time, Lizards players who experienced that loss held steady and led a comeback.
Pannell scored four goals in a 15-12 victory to capture New York’s first title in 12 years.
“We were a very close unit and spent a lot of time together outside of just the field, and that’s why we had the success on the field,” Pannell said. “We had talent, made plays that needed to be made at the end of the year, and it’s always a team I look back on and smile and have great memories with.”
Even though that’s Pannell’s only MLL or PLL championship to date, he continued his personal dominance. From 2016-2019, Pannell averaged 66 points per season. In 2018, he tallied the most points ever in a single season (78). Soon after, Rabil formed the PLL and 150 players switched allegiances. Meanwhile, Pannell’s contractual obligations kept him in the MLL.
“All my friends were elsewhere, so it was probably one of my toughest years in my career,” Pannell said. “But it was definitely a motivating year and one that I look back on and I think allowed me to grow.”
Pannell was taken third overall by Atlas LC in the 2020 Entry Draft, but lasted just one bubble-shortened season with them before getting traded to the Redwoods. He totaled 131 points in four seasons with the Woods, but California made the playoffs just once, leading him to sign with the Maryland Whipsnakes in 2025.
Like any player his age, Pannell is past his best. That doesn’t mean he’s not still capable of being elite. Flanked by Joey Spallina and Malone at attack, Pannell has added an off-ball element to his game, as shown by his record-breaking goal. He’s also become a mentor to young Whipsnakes, especially Spallina, who grew up watching Pannell from the sidelines. Sometimes it feels weird, but the mentorship is a testament to Pannell’s longevity.
Pannell doesn’t know how much time he has left. Injuries linger longer. Getting his body prepared for a weekend is more strenuous. At this point, he’s just trying to enjoy the twilight of his career. It’s why he was a little frustrated with the fanfare surrounding the record. Despite the offhanded comments, the milestone still means plenty to Pannell.
Once he drew level with Rabil, the ESPN cameras showed Pannell taking a couple of deep breaths and absorbing his surroundings. Postgame, Pannell revealed he got emotional on the field. It acted as a reflective moment for Pannell, who’s been in the spotlight and played at the top of his game for nearly two decades.
As a result, Pannell has plenty of accolades to show for it, but his latest might top them all.
“He’ll be remembered as a Mount Rushmore guy,” Manny said. “[He’s] one of the best, if not the best X attackmen of a generation or all time, and when you’re the all-time leading point scorer in pro lacrosse history, you’re going to be remembered for that.”
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