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The whistle blew. Andrew McMeekin won the draw, tracked down the loose ball and ripped a two-point shot that clanged off the pipe on his first faceoff as a Boston Cannon.
On the sideline, head coach Brian Holman watched something unfold that he had spent decades believing wasn’t all that important.
“You can ask anybody that’s ever played for me, or coached with me over the last so many years,” Holman said. “I just don’t worry too much about the faceoff game.”
For most of his coaching career, Holman believed games were won by what happened after the draw, not at the stripe.
Then McMeekin arrived.
The former Princeton Tiger has done more than win faceoffs for the Cannons. He’s changed the philosophy of a head coach who never put much emphasis on the position.
“My fear of faceoff guys was that you win the faceoff, but you can’t handle the ball and you throw the ball away,” Holman said. “So what’s the big deal about winning the faceoff? [McMeekin] has made me think otherwise. He has had such an impact on our team and me personally.”
In just three games, McMeekin has earned Holman’s trust.
Not simply because he’s winning matchups, but because of what Holman has witnessed outside of gameday.
“He comes up with a plan every week that is incredibly detailed, to the point where I just walk away when he’s basically giving the plan to the faceoff group,” Holman said with a laugh. “I’m like, ‘I gotta get out of here. Too much stuff for me.'”
The preparation has translated into production.
McMeekin has won 58% of faceoffs through his first three games with the Cannons, who haven’t posted a faceoff percentage above 50% since 2019. More importantly, those extra possessions have helped fuel an offense that has found its rhythm in recent weeks.
Here's how it happenedhttps://t.co/MISUnY4Fttpic.twitter.com/Lps4qf40qB
— Boston Cannons (@PLLCannons) June 28, 2026
For a coach who spent his career believing faceoffs were just one small piece of the game, McMeekin has become proof that the right specialist can transform the way a team plays.
Behind the national championship
His impact doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone who watched McMeekin at Princeton.
The undrafted rookie graduated as the program’s all-time leader in faceoff wins (698) and ground balls (446), but those numbers only tell part of the story.
“He had a ton of game-winning goals, assists and points that won us games,” Princeton assistant coach Casey Dowd said. “His career has not only been ground balls and faceoff wins, but it’s been points, which you don’t really see from other faceoff guys.”
His career culminated in helping Princeton capture its first national championship since 2001.
But even with an 11-3 halftime lead over Notre Dame in the title game, McMeekin wasn’t thinking about the celebration waiting for him at the final whistle.
“At halftime, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, if we lose, this is going to be the worst loss in championship history,'” McMeekin said. “After the game, it was obviously a ton of joy, but it was also a lot of relief that we didn’t blow the lead.”
For McMeekin, the championship meant more than what fans saw from the outside.
Behind the stars and the final score was a group of seniors who had arrived at Princeton together as freshmen and built toward that moment for four years. Unlike many college programs where rosters are constantly changing, the Tigers’ core stayed intact.
“It was kind of a homegrown, ground-up thing,” McMeekin said. “I think it’s a really unique aspect of our squad that people might not know.”
His team-first mentality is what Dowd believes separates McMeekin.
At a position often judged by individual statistics, McMeekin never viewed his performance in isolation. Instead, he focused on how each draw impacted the team.
“He can go 60%, and he’ll text me, ‘Man, I should’ve been 70,'” Dowd said. “‘If I won two more, I could’ve given our team a chance to win the game.'”
The accountability showed up in his preparation throughout the week as he rattled off what he needed to improve before Dowd could get a word in. Whether it was breaking down film, identifying tendencies or taking ownership of mistakes, McMeekin rarely waited for someone else to tell him what needed fixing.
It’s the same initiative he’s brought to the professional level.
Undrafted, but not overlooked
Playing professional lacrosse had always been the goal.
Growing up, McMeekin attended New York Lizards games and was coached in high school by current Utah Archers head coach Chris Bates. Long before he reached Princeton, he envisioned one day playing at the professional level.
But the opportunity to play in the PLL didn’t arrive by chance.
While at Princeton, McMeekin made it clear he wanted to continue his career after college, putting himself on the radar long before he lifted the national championship trophy in May.
“If anyone’s interested, tell them I’m all for it,” McMeekin recalled telling his coaches. “I wanted it to be made known that I wanted to play. I did a lot of advocating on behalf of myself.”
Even with that confidence, draft night still stung.
Specialists are rarely selected, so McMeekin understood the odds. But understanding the reality didn’t make not hearing his name any easier.
As Princeton’s season unfolded, Holman kept an eye on the Tigers.
“I just watched a lot of their lacrosse,” Holman said. “Just seeing the way Andrew maneuvers with the ball and his ability to get some tough ground balls stood out.”
Film only told part of the story.
Holman reached out to Princeton coaches, including offensive coordinator Jim Mitchell, who spent two seasons coaching alongside Holman with the Cannons in 2023 and 2024.
He also spoke with current Cannons and former Tigers, Coulter Mackesy and Marquez White. Every conversation pointed in the same direction.
“I couldn’t hear enough good things about him,” Holman said. “Really strong work ethic, a wonderful teammate and really diligent at his craft. Those are the guys we all want.”
Though his name wasn’t called on draft night, McMeekin never felt like his professional dream had slipped away. Conversations with Holman throughout April gave him confidence that Boston was where he’d land, long before he officially signed with the Cannons on May 26.
“He was on cloud nine,” Dowd said. “Seeing how stoked he was, and then seeing how well he came out and showed what he could do, it’s the coolest thing in the world as a coach.”
Once a Tiger…
Joining the Cannons also meant reuniting with a familiar face.
For a rookie arriving after the season had already begun, that connection was invaluable.
After three years as teammates at Princeton, McMeekin didn’t have to walk into an established locker room without knowing anyone; Mackesy was already there.
“It would be really tough coming in with absolutely no ties to a team,” McMeekin said. “Everyone already has a connection, and it’s a little intimidating.”
Having Mackesy there gave McMeekin immediate comfort. He had someone he trusted to lean on, ask questions to and help him find his footing as he adjusted to the professional game.
Mackesy was just as thrilled when he learned his former teammate was headed to Boston.
“I was super excited when I got that text,” Mackesy said. “He jumped into our lineup right away, and I think the first faceoff he took set the tone.”
For both, the reunion has felt seamless.
In a league where first-year players have limited time to acclimate, having an established connection becomes a major advantage.
“Anytime I can team up with a Tiger, it’s so much fun,” Mackesy said. “We had all those battles together, and from a chemistry standpoint, he knows my game; I know his game. You can see that paying off on gameday.”
Should he be doing this?
The title “faceoff specialist” only tells part of McMeekin’s story.
Winning the draw is only the beginning. Once the ball is in his stick, McMeekin becomes another weapon for the Cannons.
“He’s made some plays in practice where some question if he might be playing the wrong position,” Mackesy said with a laugh. “Because of how good his stick work is and how athletic he is.”
Those were the same traits that intrigued Dowd at Princeton.
On a visit to the school during his interview process, Dowd first encountered McMeekin in the weight room.
“He looks like an NFL player,” Dowd said. “I was like, ‘Who the hell is that?’ And they were like, ‘Hey, that’s the faceoff guy. He’s a sophomore.’ And I think that was the quickest yes to a job interview I’ve ever had.”
As impressive as McMeekin looked, it wasn’t just his size that set him apart.
To categorize McMeekin as a faceoff specialist, “you’d be missing the whole game,” Dowd said.
At 6-foot-1, 225 pounds, his size and athleticism combined make him a great matchup against strong clamp guys like Mike Sisselberger and Trevor Baptiste, while also having the speed that makes him a dual threat.
“The 32-second shot clock favors Andrew McMeekin,” Dowd said. “He can stay and take a shot and stress out the defense. He’s a great pick setter. He works on things that other faceoff guys don’t overemphasize. That makes him a great lacrosse player before a great faceoff guy.”
It’s the same versatility that first caught Holman’s attention and now has exceeded every expectation he had about the rookie.
“He’s been everything that I had been told he was and he’s been more,” Holman said.
For a coach who once believed winning at the stripe meant little in the grand scheme of things, McMeekin has become the exception that changed his mind.
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