This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the inaugural Atlas Cup. I had multiple questions on what I would see in the Sixes game, the Olympic Style format. I attended this weekend with a pen and paper, taking notes on every game, particularly on strategies used by the different teams.
I'm curious to see how the Olympic Style format will take shape and what it will look like in action. Coaches are still in the process of learning and adapting, and this weekend likely won't provide all the answers. However, as the 2028 Olympics draw nearer, both coaches and players will start to refine strategies, evaluate personnel, and build valuable experience with this style of lacrosse.
Here are some questions that I will be on the lookout to answer this weekend:
Sixes isn’t non-stop transition, at least not most of the time. Teams this past weekend often slowed things down by dropping back quickly in the ride and subbing strategically to prevent transition chances. In fact, the majority of teams chose a slower tempo overall, setting up in settled possessions. The USA women's team was the main outlier here as they pushed the ball upfield nearly every single time they could, and transition accounted for a large amount of their scoring.
The 30-second shot clock is what truly drives the pace. Most teams worked to get their personnel on the field and the ball across midfield before the 20-second mark. With the shortened field, subs were immediately in dodging positions, so once everyone was on, offenses attacked with urgency. Possessions that stalled usually had one thing in common - the offense did not initiate until after the 20-second mark. The result is a fast game, not because it’s endless transition, but because every possession is under the pressure of time.
Transition opportunities still played a role, and teams were selective about when to push, primarily in these scenarios:
Early offense was about exploiting mismatches. Canada’s Ross Scott, for example, attacked the low wing when defenses weren’t set, taking advantage of poor support. Teams also targeted the non-box side in transition, where defenses struggled to slide to while subs were still coming on.
One final wrinkle: teams didn’t waste possessions when man-down. Instead of stalling to kill penalties, many went at the cage when 4v5. The message was clear - possessions are too valuable to give away, even shorthanded.
The most popular offense ran this weekend was an offset 2-3, with a 2-man game on the ball-side and a 3-man game on the back-side. There was a variety of high-level pick play being utilized on both the ball-side and back-side. Teams initiated with an on-ball pick, fly-by, or pick and pop while simultaneously running a 3-man game on the backside that included exchanges, screens, seals, and wheels.
Canada men's team put on a clinic with multiple set looks out of this formation, as well as their incredible cohesion playing together. The back-side action prevented defenses from being able to support the ball-side 2-man, leading to scoring opportunities out of the 2-man game. In addition to that, off-ball movement led to communication errors by the defense, leading to wide open crease feeds and easy finishes.
I was surprised by the usage of X this past weekend... I thought it would be used more. Most teams throughout the weekend did not have a consistent X presence. The extent of their usage of X was just as a way to flip the field or transfer the ball.
When players carried the ball to X, and the defense did not play them below GLE, they used it as an opportunity to "shop" the field. They looked for cutting players or skip passes that could lead to a scoring opportunity.
The USA women's team once again is the one outlier to this takeaway. They played primarily a 1-3-1 set and had a consistent X presence throughout all of their games. When the ball was above GLE, they worked hard to try and sneak the pipes, and utilized exchanges with the crease and X. They were able to capitalize multiple times with defense's seemingly forgetting about the X player. They used X to transfer the ball, and they "shopped" the field when not played below GLE. The USA initiated dodges up the hash and directly behind the cage where they drew slides and found open cutters. Having a strong X presence was a major part of their settled gameplan.
One strategy that I really liked was bringing the ball to X when man down. This is an ideal way to prevent transition by either electing to run the penalty clock out or turn over the ball as far as possible from your own goal.
Athleticism was off the charts for the top teams. Players do not have much time to rest or recover in Sixes. Offenses constantly attack in settled situations, players are running up and down the field every 30 seconds, and throw in the occasional transition opportunity, and it becomes apparent that Sixes requires and elevated level of conditioning.
With the field being smaller, Sixes favors players that are quick in small spaces. It favors quick change of direction and burst acceleration. Players like Ross Scott and Joshua Balcarcel were nearly unguardable and consistently put pressure on the defense to slide to the ball.
Whether a caused turnover, unforced error, or shot clock violation, turning the ball over in the middle of the field is even more costly in Sixes than field lacrosse. Often times, a turnover in the middle of the field lead to a 2v1 or 1v0 that often resulted in easy goals. Team's like Canada men's and women's thrived off pressuring the ball to the midline, even setting up a ride. They were able to generate multiple easy scoring opportunities, proving how important it is to prioritize ball security and stickwork in Sixes.
Over the course of the weekend, defensive pressure emerged as the most promising defensive strategy. Teams that picked up the ball around the midline, played the ball at X, and implemented a ride had the most success.
Teams that picked up the ball around the midline were able to put pressure on opposing offenses. Teams like Canada men's and women's, and USA women's were able to cause turnovers in the middle of the field, leading to easy scoring opportunities in transition.
Some teams elected to stay above GLE while some elected to play the ball at X, but it seemed that teams had more success when they played the ball behind.
Teams that were able to protect the middle of the field, whether from a sweep across the top or speed dodge underneath, saw success.
One key strategy that aided teams ability to pressure the ball was keeping 2 SSDM's on the field at all times. Teams like the USA and Haudenosaunee men's teams used their SSDM's as stretch shooters in the offense and utilized them as pickers in the two-man game. This allowed for these teams to drop back quickly, preventing transition, and then provided a base for a ride to be set up defensively. But then again, Canada men's was the exception to that rule as they brought only one "true" defensive player.
I did see some zone defense being played, but it seemed to not be effective as a game-long winning strategy. It was most impactful when strategically used out of a timeout or as a way to try and slow the pace of the game down momentarily.
Across the weekend, it seemed that coaches were trying multiple different subbing strategies. The best subbing strategies seemed to be the following:
Some other strategies that I noticed related to subbing:
I have always heard the phrase that "defense wins championships." With the inherent pace of play in Sixes, the high scores seen throughout the PLL championship series, and now the Atlas cup, it begs the question: is defense or offense more important in Sixes? Is running up the score a winning strategy, or must there be more balance between offense and defense?
My take: defense is more important.
It seemed that most teams were able to score with relative ease, but not every team played the same level of defense. Whether it be preventing transition, navigating the two-man games, or pressuring the ball, the teams that had the most success played great defense.
As stated earlier, teams that pressured the ball were able to create more 2v1s or 1v0s in transition. They were able to cause teams to settle for difficult shots, leading to easy saves and quick outlets by the goalies. We even saw defensive personnel contributing on the offensive end. Jake Piseno (Haudenosaunee), Ryan Terefenko (USA) and Zach Geddes (USA) all had multi-goal outings across the weekend while being defensive anchors for their teams as well.
With the level of offensive talent brought to the Atlas cup by every team, defensive ability was the differentiator.
Across the weekend, players who played box lacrosse seemed to excel, and make their mark. Canada Men's team was the most dominant team on the men's side and brought the most players with NLL or Jr. A/Sr. A experience. On the women's side, USA and Canada brought the most players with box experience. All of these skills, cultivated by playing box, are important in Sixes:
I believe we will see more coaches looking to build rosters with players that have box experience due to the similarities between the two.
In this tournament, strategies used in both men's and women's were largely the same. The main difference was the type of shots you can take in women's (can't shoot through the defense). The USA women's team strategies seemed to be reflected on Day 2 and 3 by the men's teams. USA women were the first team to utilize the 1-3-1 over the weekend, and after their game on Day 1, this offensive set started to be utilized by the men's teams as well.
The offset 2-3 was also utilized by both men's and women's teams across the weekend. The emphasis on two-man games was apparent in both women's and men's teams. Sixes closes the gap between the strategic side of men's and women's lacrosse, with many of the same concepts being used by every team.
#21 Coulter Mackesy
#34 Ryan Terefenko
#41 Matt Brandau
#7 Jeff Teat
#9 Ty English
#14 Willem Firth
#15 Ross Scott
#22 Isaac Cruz
#31 Russell Melendez
#34 Joshua Balcarcel
#88 Will Mark (G)
#22 Koleton Marquis
#42 Stone Jacobs
#88 Jake Piseno
#1 Chloe Humphrey
#4 Marie McCool
#8 Charlotte North
#30 Ally Kennedy
#88 Shea Dolce (G)
#99 Ellie Masera
#7 Brooklyn Walker-Welch
#11 Erica Evans
#37 Lauren Spence (G)
#88 Nicole Perroni
#99 Jordan Dean
#15 Jo Torres (G)
#22 Paige Crandall (G)
#43 Sierra Cockerille
The Atlas Cup delivered in more ways than I expected. The event set an attendance record for USA Lacrosse on Saturday (Day 2), bringing in more than 2,000 fans. Music was playing the entire time and the energy in the air was electric. The level of effort and compete set forth by the players was inspiring to watch. This event was a slam dunk. As we draw closer to the 2028 Olympics, there is still a lot of time for coaches and players to experiment with strategies and personnel. One thing is for sure though, the 2028 Olympic Style of lacrosse, Sixes, is going to be extremely exciting to watch.
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