ALLSTON — As the only Massachusetts native on the Boston Cannons’ roster, Friday night’s Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) game as part of Cannons’ Homecoming weekend at Harvard Stadium was extra special for Jeff Trainor.
The former UMass lacrosse star not only got to play in front of family, friends and former teammates, but the Billerica product nabbed a goal on a dart from just inside the two-point line in Boston’s nail-biting 18-17 loss to the California Redwoods.
Leading into Friday’s return to the Bay State, Trainor revealed this was an experience he had been looking forward to since the 2025 season began back in late May.
“Once I found out we were going to cities, I knew Harvard Stadium was going to be home for us,” Trainor said. “I got memories of coming here when I was a kid so full-circle moment for me, for sure.”
The PLL follows a tour-based scheduling plan where all eight teams travel to a neutral site or host locations over the course of the 10-week regular season and four games are played each weekend. Host squads play twice in a weekend to get to an even number of games played as the PLL made pit stops in 10 cities this regular season.
Boston’s host weekend just so happened to fall on the final week of the regular season for the PLL, therefore both the Cannons and Redwoods were battling for a playoff spot. The PLL invites the top three teams from each conference (Eastern and Western) into a single-elimination postseason format. The top seed in each conference also gets a bye.
The Cannons dropped out of postseason positioning after falling to the Maryland Whipsnakes on Saturday, 15-8. Although Trainor provided Boston some secondary scoring punch all year long as a short-stick defensive midfielder, Friday’s tally, which clocked in at 101 miles-per-hour, counted as the 2021 UMass graduate’s fifth of the year.
“A lot of it is just trusting in my teammates,” Trainor said on his goalscoring capabilities. “They’re putting me in really good positions to capitalize on opportunities that they’re giving me, so it’s all on them. It starts on our backend with [goalie] Colin Kirst and our backline and getting the ball up the field quickly and being able to get those looks in transition.”
Trainor matched his single-season career high in goals (six) when the 27-year-old pocketed another in the defeat on Saturday.
Being the homegrown talent doesn’t always lead to success for professional athletes, however Trainor has thrived since joining the Cannons during the 2023 season. Trainor has amassed 19 points in 29 career games with Boston, plus is just as reliable defensively as he has averaged just 3.6 turnovers in the three years he’s suited up for the Navy Blue and Silver.
“I think it’s our leadership and it starts at the top with Coach [Brian] Holman and our coaching staff,” Trainor said. “He’s a guy that’s believed in me ever since he brought me on and I signed with the Cannons. The culture that we have here is something I want to uphold as a member of this organization. I really strive to get that message across to my teammates and try to be a leader myself for the younger guys.”
Trainor’s first two years in the PLL came with the Archers Lacrosse Club (now named the Utah Archers), but he only appeared in eight games.
In Amherst, the 6-foot, 195-pounder was such a scoring machine that he became the Minutemen’s highest-ever scoring midfielder when he reached the 143-point mark during his final season at UMass.
The points haven’t followed at quite the same pace once Trainor made the leap to the pro level, yet that hasn’t stopped other areas of his game from growing.
“When I transitioned from college lacrosse to professional lacrosse, I no longer [had] the ability to do the things I was doing in college because the skill level around me is so incredible,” Trainor said. “So just honing in on my role and trying to be the best that I can at that.”
During Friday’s postgame press conference, Holman touched on just how vital of a player and person Trainor is to the Cannons.
“He’s an emotional energy guy for us,” Holman said. “He’s kind of the heart and soul of the Cannons and the fact that he can score here, I know that makes him feel great.
“But he’s the guy in the locker room right now saying ‘that ain’t good enough, we got to get better’, so I adore the kid, he’s a warrior,” Holman added. “He’s a really, really great teammate, great teammate.”
With Trainor’s contract with the Cannons set to take him through the end of the 2026 season, the Mass. kid will be sticking around — except in the event of a trade — for another season, at least.
While Trainor loves representing the team he grew up cheering for, the fact that he’s playing in the PLL to begin with is something he has not and will not take for granted.
“As a kid, looking at where I’d be at now, having the ability to tell people that I can travel the country, meet some really incredible guys that are all like-minded and we all share the same goals, it’s a special tribute,” Trainor said. “I’m so grateful for this game and for the PLL.”
