‘We need ground balls’: Whipsnakes counting on Nathan Kapp in playoff showdown vs. Cannons

With the PLL regular season coming to a close, Nathan Kapp wasn’t necessarily focused on playing in the league this year. Until he got a text from Jim Stagnitta. On a call shortly afterward, Stagnitta asked Kapp if he wanted to join the Maryland Whipsnakes that week in Philadelphia.

Kapp immediately texted faceoff specialists he knew in the Ontario area, asking if they could help him prepare. He’d been doing live reps occasionally but needed to ramp up his work to get back in a groove. Local faceoff guys like Becker Lippert, Koichi Nakamura and Max Nieman all answered in no time, offering their support.

“We just kind of scrambled to find a little grass patch with a line on it, and took as many reps as we could leading up, and they were all extremely helpful,” Kapp said. “I didn’t even have to ask twice. I said, ‘Hey, I got this opportunity coming up. Are you guys available?’ And they made it work.”

The Whipsnakes had already clinched the playoffs when they signed Kapp, but a three-game losing streak and Petey LaSalla not being fully healthy forced a last-second change. The Jacksonville University product had an encouraging debut, going 13-for-23 against Alec Stathakis in an 11-9 defeat for the Whips.

Kapp’s next challenge is slowing down rookie sensation Andrew McMeekin, who went 20-for-28  against Maryland a few weeks ago to spearhead a Boston Cannons comeback. Keeping McMeekin in check in the quarterfinals will be easier said than done, but it’s crucial if the Whips want to win their first playoff game since 2024.

“Nathan’s a scrapper,” Stagnitta said. “He’s a guy who’s not necessarily a clamper, like Petey, but he’s a guy that mixes it up. We need ground balls, and we need to be able to have an opportunity to fight and pick up ground balls.”

Since graduating from Jacksonville in 2024, Kapp’s only in-game reps were during his seven appearances for the Rochester Knighthawks in the NLL, in which he won 58% of his faceoffs. He was invited to the Utah Archers’ training camp in May, but with veteran Mike Sisselberger ahead of him, he wasn’t signed.

In the meantime, Kapp stayed in shape with conditioning workouts and lifts at the gym before heading to an elementary school in Brampton to play wall ball. Weather permitting, he did faceoffs once a week with Nakamura, a local box lacrosse player; Lippert, a Penn State commit; and Nieman.

Kapp is used to being an unknown commodity. He was an unranked recruit coming out of Middleton, Wis., which is not exactly a lacrosse hotbed. At JU, Kapp said he had to “swallow his pride” when he realized he wasn’t going to win every clamp.

Because he didn’t have the fastest hands, Kapp spent his freshman and sophomore seasons working on counters and making faceoffs into ground-ball battles. As college went on, he perfected his clamp, and during his five years — four of them as a starter — Kapp won 55% of his attempts. He won58% in 2024, earning him a first-team All-Atlantic Sun selection.

“I came to believe that the faceoff is not a one-on-one; it’s more of a three-on-three, as long as you know what you’re doing and I have all the faith in my wings,” Kapp said. “And at this level, everyone’s skilled. So as long as I can make it a fight, if I’m not winning that clamp, at least I can still give us that chance to get the ball and make the most out of a 32-second shot clock.”

Kapp said he relies on being unpredictable and often makes in-game adjustments to counter his opponent.

Against McMeekin, the challenge will be preventing him from winning the ball out in front uncontested. That’s where Kapp’s ability to muck things up comes into play. After the loss to the Philadelphia Waterdogs, Stagnitta said he added Kapp because the Whipsnakes needed someone who could make the faceoff a ground ball and utilize Adam Poitras and Blake Eiland on the wings more.

Whipsnakes defensive coordinator Brian Voelker said McMeekin times the whistle really well, which leads to early offense. In the Cannons’ 14-12 overtime win over the Whipsnakes, McMeekin scored and assisted, while his late faceoff wins allowed Boston to erase a two-goal deficit in the final minute.

“A lot of it depends on how the actual faceoff matchup happens,” Voelker said. “The problem with [McMeekin] is he wants to win so clean that if we try to take away the fast break, he’s athletic enough to get down there that we just couldn’t get down there fast enough.”

Stagnitta pointed to multiple mistakes the Whipsnakes made in the Boston loss that ended up costing them. Still, they were on the power play with 1:06 left and needed to win just one of two remaining faceoffs to ice the game. LaSalla didn’t come up with either, and the Whipsnakes collapsed.

The late-season change at the stripe was the latest in Maryland’s search for a replacement for Joe Nardella, who’s missed the entire season with an injury. The burden now falls on Kapp. He didn’t want to reveal his cards when asked about his strategy for McMeekin, but said he has a lot of respect for him and needs to come prepared.

Kapp didn’t shy away from being nervous about his newest opportunity, but that’s normal for him. Kapp said he was always anxious growing up, yet he learned to play through the nerves. When the pressure’s on, Kapp has fun, and if he’s not worrying about how he’ll perform, something’s wrong.

So when Kapp steps on the TCO Stadium turf in Minneapolis on Aug. 29, he’ll be right at home when he feels the butterflies in his stomach.

“Being nervous gives me confidence because I know if I’m nervous, I know that I’m going to be dialed in,” Kapp said. “I know that I’m going to be putting it all out there and playing in a whole other gear.

“So for me, it’s just looking at the positive of ‘Hey, you’re nervous, this is a good thing.’ Use it to your advantage. It means you’re ready, and as long as the preparation work is there, there’s no need for the nervousness to be uncertain.”