The Vancouver Warriors continued to make an impact on the floor, the field, and in the community in September. It was a busy month, which means the NLL season is just around the corner.
The Warriors celebrated PLL and Presidents Cup championships as well as Mann Cup and international appearances while the coaching staff continues to build the team for years to come.
They also connected with the community, supported local sports, and recognized important moments across the province.
The Warriors supported Vancouver FC at Langley Events Centre as Vancouver took on Hamilton, Ontario’s Forge FC.
The Warriors stood alongside First Nations across the country to observe National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The team paid homage to the roots of the game and is honoured to work and play on the traditional ancestral & unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish & Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.
The Vancouver Warriors made plenty of moves in September, bringing back key pieces while adding new faces through free agency, trades, the 2026 NLL Entry Draft, and the dispersal draft.
Re-signings included forwards Curtis Dickson, Adam Charalambides, Marcus Klarich, Keegan Bal, goaltender Christian Del Bianco, defencemen Matt Beers, Reid Bowering, Jeff Cornwall, Ryan Dilks, captain and defenceman Brett Mydske, and Nathan Miller.
Ahead of the dispersal draft, the Warriors made a trade with the Buffalo Bandits, Vancouver acquiring the 16th overall pick (1st round) in the 2026 NLL Entry Draft and the playing rights to former first-round pick (7th overall in the 2024 NLL Entry Draft) Luca Antongiovanni from Buffalo in exchange for the playing rights to Payton Cormier, plus Vancouver’s 11th and 23rd selections in the 2026 NLL Dispersal Draft.
The Warriors then selected forward Michael Sowers in the dispersal draft from the Philadelphia Wings. Sowers is coming off his rookie NLL season, tallying 27 points (14G, 13A) through eight games.
Vancouver signed defender Sean Kriwokon in free agency. The 24-year-old played two seasons for the Colorado Mammoth, recording eight points (2G, 6A), and collecting 65 loose balls and 15 caused turnovers through 20 games.
The Warriors had seven selections in the 2026 NLL Entry Draft, including two first-rounders, and it was a well-rounded draft class of three forwards, two defenders, one faceoff specialist, and one goaltender.
Check out the recap of the picks:
First Round
Forward Matt Collison (third overall) - the lefty forward, was a midfield at Johns Hopkins University, finishing his career with Blue Jays posting 100 goals and 47 assists. He also won an PLL championship with the Philadelphia Waterdogs and is representing Canada in Sixes Lacrosse for LA28.
Goaltender Marcus Khan (16th overall) - The Langley, B.C. netminder played Junior A ball for the Langley Thunder 2025-26 seasons and was acquired by the Coquitlam Adanacs during the 2026 season to help them down the stretch of the regular season and throughout the BCJALL playoffs. Khan posted an .859 save percentage through 17 regular-season games and a 7-1-0-1 record. Through the BCJALL playoffs, Khan had a 5-3-0-1 record in nine games, and a .799 save percentage.
Second Round
Forward Jeremy Wudrick (27th overall) - Wudrick played 58 games at Ladner University in South Carolina, collecting 91 points (53G, 38A), scoring three game-winning goals for the Bearcats. This past summer for the Nanaimo Timbermen, Wudrick had 28 points (13G, 15A) in 17 games, including two game-winning goals, helping the Timbermen to the WLA playoffs.
Defenceman Blake Young (28th overall) - spent the 2026 summer with the Delta Islanders and Port Coquitlam Saints. The Ridge Meadows product was over a point-per-game player, recording 15 points (6G, 9A) through 14 games.
Third Round
Defenceman Joel Mullen (32nd overall) - The Vancouver native picked up 17 ground balls and had seven caused turnovers in addition to two goals and four assists in his senior season at the University of Utah. Mullen suited up for the WLA’s Nanaimo Timbermen last summer and earned the team’s Defensive Player of the Year award. In addition to his defensive talents, he recorded nine points (2G, 7A) through 16 games with Nanaimo.
Fifth Round
Faceoff specialist Henry Dodge (61st overall) - Dodge completed his senior season at the University of Maryland with the second-best faceoff percentage in the NCAA (.679) and first in the Big Ten Conference. He is back at Maryland this fall for his graduate year.
Sixth Round
Forward Joel McCormick (66th overall) - The Maple Ridge native played three years of his collegiate career at Robert Morris University, and his freshman season at Stony Brook University. At Robert Morris, McCormick amassed 58 points (31G, 27A) through 48 games and earned 2026 NEC Second Team All-Conference and 2026 NEC All-Tournament Team selections. McCormick also suited up for the Burnaby Lakers for the 2025-26 seasons, putting up eight points (5G, 3A) through two games in 2026.
The Six Nations Chiefs swept the Coquitlam Adanacs in the Mann Cup in the seven-game series. Christian Del Bianco, Remo Schenato, Sean Kriwokon and Reid Bowering represented for the Adanacs against the Chiefs.
Schenato had two goals, Kriwokon netted one goal, and Bowering had an assist, with Del Bianco seeing most of the playing time in net for Coquitlam.
Ryan Dilks is a Presidents Cup champion for Senior B Lacrosse with the Edmonton Miners knocking off the Snake Island Muskies 12-4 in the final. The Miners went undefeated through the round robin and tournament play.
The Warriors had several players make their mark on the field in September, including three who helped the Philadelphia Waterdogs capture the PLL championship.
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Alec Stathakis, Michael Sowers, and Matt Collison were all part of the Waterdogs’ championship run.
In the championship game, Stathakis went 11-for-20 at the stripe, scored one goal, and picked up five ground balls.
Sowers put up eight points (4G, 4A) and Collison scored two goals in the postseason.
Michael Sowers represented Team USA and Matt Collison represented Team Canada in the Pan-American Sixes Championship in Oshawa. Team USA finished took home gold over the first weekend in October, besting Canada 12-11.
Sowers made the men’s All-Tournament Team, recording 21 points through four games. The 29-year-old had seven points (4G, 3A) in each of the games against Chile and Puerto Rico, five points (1G, 4A) against Jamaica, and two goals in the gold-medal game.
The teams that finished in the top five at the Pan-American Sixes qualified for the 2027 World Lacrosse Sixes Championship in Colorado Springs next October. The World Championship will be the final qualification for the LA28 Summer Olympics.
The wait for the 2026-27 season is almost over, with the Warriors set to open the campaign on the road before returning to Rogers Arena for their home opener.
The Warriors’ season starts on December 5th when Vancouver takes on the Saskatchewan Rush at SaskTel Centre. The Warriors will host the Georgia Swarm for their home opener on Friday, December 18th at 7:00 p.m. PT.
Tickets for the home opener and all Warriors home games are available here.
For the full 2026-27 regular-season schedule visit here.