SPL Crowns Barrel Lites, Rightful Winners Snubbed of Championship Moment

The Championship Game for the 2024 SPL Summer Series began in search of a second goalie. Barrel Heavy needed an emergency keeper or the final game would become the first ever game of half-court 6s. Barrel Heavy captain slash face-off man Tony Peluso “couldn’t let that happen,” so he stepped into the cage with his mint condition chest protector that he bought from Dick’s Sporting Goods moments before the championship face-off.

Peluso didn’t just fill in. He stood out, standing on his head for his team in a big moment. After finishing the game with 21 saves and marking the second-highest save percentage in the league this season at 39.6%, Peluso’s effort was, in fact, great enough to secure an SPL title for his team.

Additionally, the night was made bigger because an active National Lacrosse League, pro-roster player took his first Sixes Prize League reps. Colorado Mammoth’s Brett Craig got his runs in with the Barrel Lites and played well, scoring nine points in his SPL debut. Craig playing in the SPL hopefully foreshadows greater involvement from other lacrosse luminaries who want more game reps and might also use the league as an Olympic training ground for LA 2028.

Although the legendary performances will go down in Sixes Prize League history, they are being overshadowed today by the fact that the league crowned the wrong champion. On the broadcast stream, the Barrel Lites won a 36-35 nailbiter in an entertaining fashion. Caught up operating a sports league and producing a TV show when they needed to pay attention to the game, SPL commissioner Alex Young lost track of the score. Scorekeeping has always been loose, leaning on the film to score games after the fact in this new, exciting league. However, that cannot continue; the rightful winner of SPL Season 002 was Barrel Heavy, who won the championship in dominating fashion 43-34.

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The situation marks a turning point that the SPL will improve upon. All leagues go through growing pains and controversy, and they emerge better equipped to deal with the next decade of developments and scenarios. The Sixes Prize League remains devoted to growing lacrosse sixes and improving the business and logistics of our league and gameplay production.

Thank you to everyone who played in or watched the Summer Series of the Sixes Prize League! We will be back better than ever in Pittsburgh and Maryland this December, so stay tuned for registration dates.