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Archers midfielder Ryan Stines had just scored to give Utah a three-goal lead over the Redwoods in the third quarter. California needed to make some plays in order to claw back, and it started on the ensuing faceoff.
While TD Ierlan and Mike Sisselberger were tied up, Redwoods midfielder Sam English swooped between them, goosed the ball out and picked up the ground ball.
As the offensive possession started, English — at the top right of the two-point arc — looked to his left at Chris Kavanagh. Instead of passing to the star attackman, English saw a teammate pop open on the bottom left and threw the ball there. That player was Ierlan, who fired a shot past Archers goalie Brett Dobson; it was the faceoff specialist’s first goal of the season.
“Immediately after, when we were going off the field, he was like, ‘I thought you were an attackman,’” Ierlan said. “‘As soon as I threw it, I second-guessed if I should have thrown the ball.’ It was a little humbling.”
“I definitely still would have passed it to TD,” English insisted. “As I was passing it, I was like, ‘Oh crap, that’s TD,’ but still, he’s a guy that we can trust anywhere. He’s been unbelievable for us this year.”
English is having fun on the field, and that assist was a stroke of good fortune in his stellar 2026 season, which has been a welcome development after how unfortunate his rookie campaign was.
The Redwoods drafted English with the third pick in the 2025 College Draft and had high expectations for the do-it-all midfielder. Unfortunately for California, English’s season was cut short prematurely when he suffered an injury in his fourth game against the Carolina Chaos.
While he tried to travel and stick around with the team, he felt distant from the team and like he “disappeared.”
“I think confidence was definitely low at the end of last year,” English said. “Just with having gotten hurt and not really contributing when I did get out there.”
“I kind of felt away from the Redwoods a little bit,” he added. “It was definitely a tough thing to do at the end of the year.”
Just as much as English missed being a part of the Redwoods, the team missed having him. Ierlan was a volunteer coach with Syracuse while English was there, and he said English was so versatile and excelled at so many areas of the game that it was “tough to compare him to really anyone else.” The team didn’t get to utilize him to the fullest extent before his injury.
While he was disappointed in how his first professional season played out, English still believed he could get back to the player he wanted to be – the player the Redwoods envisioned when they drafted him. He focused on injury recovery, then spent time on the field working on his shot and in the gym to get bigger and faster.
Coming into this season, head coach Anthony Kelly talked to Ierlan about utilizing English on the wings for faceoffs and as part of the 32-second offense. It had been an area of weakness for the team in the past, with the Redwoods unable to fully capitalize on Ierlan’s dominance at the stripe. In 2024, the team finished seventh in the league in 32-second possession scoring efficiency; they improved in 2025, but still finished in the bottom half of the league.
English missed the first two games of the 2026 season, but now, California’s rope unit – which typically includes Ierlan, English, Brian Tevlin, Jared Conners and BJ Farrare – leads the league in 32-second possession scoring efficiency.
Ierlan said English plays a big role in that success.
“He’s just so good in those scramble situations and unsettled,” Ierlan said. “He has a nose for the ball, and I don’t think he ever gets tired.”
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There are a few reasons why English believes he has excelled in those situations.
“A, with the [ground balls], that’s the biggest skill of my game, being able to pick up the ball off the ground and having a good sense of TD and that faceoff unit,” English said. “B, not having to change, and the mindset of everyone around, when [Chris Kavanagh], [Dylan] Molloy or [Ryder] Garnsey see me out there, it’s like, ‘OK, that’s an O-middie. We’re just in our offensive set.’ We’re going, and we’re playing offense instead of changing all three guys and having to start the offense with 18 seconds left.
“I’ve got the ball in my stick, and we’re starting the offense with 27 or 28 seconds on the shot clock, and [Andrew McAdorey], [Michael] Leo or [Aidan] Danenza is running off the bench, and they’re just flowing into our offense. A lot of the time, we’re playing four-on-five or four-on-six, while these guys are getting on the field, so we’ve moved the defense, and we’ve put their head on a swivel before we’ve even got our guys out.”
While English’s offensive abilities help the team score in shortened shot clock situations, the coaching staff trusts his defensive capabilities in the rare occasions Ierlan loses a faceoff. English played both sides of the ball growing up in Canada and has a box lacrosse background, so he’s more than comfortable covering opposing midfielders.
With the Redwoods, English has been all over the field – on offense, on defense, on faceoff wings and in transition – and he likes being able to factor in all facets of the game.
“It’s become my thing,” English said. “If I’m not amazing at scoring the ball or not amazing at just playing lockdown defense, I can be pretty good and put a real effort out there that allows me to succeed on both ends of the field. I don’t think a lot of players get this privilege, but when I’m not shooting the ball well, or if I have a bad couple offensive possessions in a row, I focus in on the defense, and I make sure I pick up that next GB or play really good defense on that next shift. It allows me to get my mind back into it and get the confidence up.”
English is fourth on the team in ground balls, behind only Ierlan, Conners and Tevlin (though all three have played two more games than English). He’s also fifth on the team in points (nine), and in California’s 14-13 overtime victory over Carolina in San Diego, English scored his first career hat trick.
His impact goes beyond the box score, as well. For example, against the Cannons in San Diego, Boston was about to be called for a shot clock violation, so an attackman threw the ball in the air toward the corner to attempt to sub defensive personnel on the field. English was waiting in the corner, and as soon as he caught the ball, the referee blew the whistle and California was in transition while Boston was still subbing.
On that same offensive possession, Molloy’s shot pinged off the crossbar, and English was there to pick up the rebound and put it into the back of the net.
Redwoods general manager Joe Spallina said English brings a lot to the table and has been “all over the place” on the field.
“He’s dynamic,” Spallina said. “The player that people have seen so far this season is the player we drafted.”
Ierlan is extremely happy to finally have the opportunity to play alongside English this season.
“Sam makes my life easier,” Ierlan said. “I couldn’t be happier for Sam. He’s a great kid who works incredibly hard. You always know he’s gonna come ready to play.”
When English is on the field, he’s looking for small wins, like a ground ball here or heads-up play on defense there. He hopes those small wins add up and lead to a team victory.
He’s enjoying his current success, but he also knows the work isn’t finished yet with half of the regular season remaining. He’s not looking long-term. His focus is on being present in the moment and doing what he can to make himself – and his team – better for the next game.
“I think I’m one of the best lacrosse players in the world,” English said. “I think I can be one of the best players in this league. I put a lot of effort into lacrosse. I put a lot of time and training and work into this sport.
“To see it and be successful is definitely validating, but at the same time, it can go away at any moment. It’s just kind of head down and just maintaining the process and staying on top of it, staying disciplined, and staying excited to go out there and just be the best that I can be on any given day, and I believe the best I can be is really impactful in this league.”
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