We need him to be aggressive: Why Aidan Carrolls dodging presence is crucial for Whipsnakes
Everyone associated with Georgetowns lacrosse program during Aidan Carrolls graduate season knew pretty much every offensive set was designed for him. And they didnt have a problem with it. Carroll was coming off a breakout 60-point season and was considered one of the premier players in the country.Yet, early that year, Carroll had a request for the Hoyas offensive coordinator, John Hogan: Do you think we can install some of these for Fulton Bayman, as well?Puzzled but impressed by Carrolls inquiry, Hogan simply told his attackman to keep up his performances and theyd talk later.Rarely are you going to have your teams best player, who everythings set up for, who everyone on our team wants it to be set up for, come over and ask to share the wealth, Hogan said.The moment proved Carrolls unselfish nature, though hes at his best when hes taking over games. He had a knack for doing that at Georgetown, and its continued with the Whipsnakes, with Carroll recording a team-high 46 goals over the past two seasons. However, with a limited number of dynamic dodgers on Marylands roster, theres extra pressure on Carroll to deliver. With his size and speed, along with precision shooting on the run, Carroll can often create something out of nothing.Its why Whips head coach Jim Stagnitta challenged his star man after a June 27 loss to the Denver Outlaws. Carroll had just seven points in the previous four games and two goals in his last two outings.Its not what we need to do, its what he needs to do, Stagnitta said frankly. We put the ball in his stick a lot, we gave him space, we gave him the opportunities to do it. Hes got to execute it better, and today he didnt.Since then, Carrolls had at least four points in three of the Whips last five games and nine over their last two. His recent success has coincided with a slight change in his pregame routine. Rather than meditating which Carroll did throughout college he turned to reading.Books have made Carroll less anxious on gamedays, along with staying off social media. He reads anything, from Sir Roger Bannisters memoir The Four-Minute Mile, about how Bannister became the first person ever to run a mile under that time. Carroll also read The Wager, a tale of survival after an 18th-century British warship was wrecked.Anytime you pick up a book or youre meditating, all that sort of stuff, you just have to stay concentrated on one thing for a little while, Carroll said. And whether youre on your computer doing work or on social media, you dont always have to do that. So forcing yourself to do that for a long period of time is helpful.HOW DID HE DO THAT???Aidan Carroll sneaks this one in while on his back pic.twitter.com/JwZgb7aw8D Maryland Whipsnakes (@PLLWhipsnakes) August 1, 2026Reading has also helped with Carrolls concentration throughout games, which he admitted needed to improve. Although the Whipsnakes losses to Denver and Boston in back-to-back weeks can be boiled down to a lack of focus, Carroll will be crucial to how the Whipsnakes can change their fortunes ahead of the playoffs.Since challenging Carroll, Stagnittas been satisfied with the midfielders performances. Stagnitta knows its not Carrolls personality to take over games, but they need him to do what the top guys in the league do.At points, Carroll has shown he can be a one-man wrecking crew. In the 2025 Big East Championship, he exploded for eight goals against Villanova, then followed it up with six more in an upset over Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament. However, his final collegiate game, an 8-6 loss to Maryland, is still ingrained in his head.I wasnt the player that I should have been, and it was because I wasnt as assertive as I should be, Carroll said of his three-point performance. In the PLL, especially this season, Ive been a little bit better at it, but Im still working on it.Carrolls rise to stardom seemed unlikely. Georgetown head coach Kevin Warne only discovered him when he saw Carroll pull off an impressive split dodge while walking to another field during a recruiting event at UMass.Once Carroll was with the Hoyas, he struggled with injuries in his first two years, but during his time on the scout team, he held his own against Will Bowen, the 2022 Schmeisser Award winner. Carroll was a second-line midfielder as a junior, recording 14 points, before Warne and Hogan decided to bump him up to attack.Hogan always saw Carroll working on the fundamentals before and after practice. The offensive coordinator watched Carroll do a wide range of shooting drills and ask Hogan about his technique. Hed break everything down into parts, inquiring about each step, including his hand and foot placement, along with his follow-through.If you had to write a book and a plan on how to be a good player, youd follow what Aidan Carroll did, Warne said.After Carroll refined his shooting technique enough, he started asking about his approach as a dodger. He and Hogan talked about the angles Carroll should take, whether itd be down the alley or in the middle of the field. He even watched film on his now-teammate TJ Malone whom Hogan coached at Penn State to refine his moves around the crease.He started to really focus on a little bit more variety in his moves, but keeping it simple, Hogan said. He started to continue to progress on those things, and then going into his fifth year for us, he just took it to a whole other level in terms of his deception.Eventually, Carroll realized the fewer moves in his arsenal, the better. As a former basketball player, he was enamored with Kobe Bryants proficiency at the elbow, where he leaned on one or two moves to be dominant.Carrolls speed dodges became his forte, while his quick change of direction made him a threat on rollbacks when the defense overcommitted. Warne was always impressed by Carrolls ability to play through contact and not get knocked off his path when releasing shots.His relentlessness stands out, Warne said. Hes kind of like a boxer. You might get a couple shots in early on, and then he just keeps coming and coming and coming, and kind of wears you down.It still took some time for Carroll to find comfort in being a go-to option for the Hoyas. During a preseason scrimmage versus Virginia, Carroll had the ball on the end line toward the end of the shot clock and immediately passed it off. In the ensuing film session, Hogan singled out Carroll, telling him that they needed him to take advantage of those opportunities.Its almost like youre thinking of yourself first because you dont want to appear selfish, so youre taking a back seat, Carroll said. But being unselfish is doing what the team needs, so I think thats kind of how Ive flipped the mindset a little bit.Eventually the results started to show. Carroll had 60 points as Georgetowns first option in 2024. Once he was awarded a fifth year of eligibility, the pressure on him to deliver only increased. That included having to dodge on essentially 85-90% of Georgetowns possessions, according to Warne.Carroll wound up tallying at least three points in 14 out of Georgetowns 17 games, with Hogan saying the back half of the season was as impressive a stretch as hes seen from anyone.That success carried over to the PLL, where he was a finalist for Rookie of the Year. Carrolls second season has been a little uneven, as highlighted by Stagnittas early-season comments, but Carroll still leads all PLL midfielders in goals (25).With the Whipsnakes struggles in late-game scenarios over the past two weeks, theyre still working out who needs to have the ball in crucial moments. With Carrolls track record, he might solve their problems.Hes our best dodger, Stagnitta said. I dont care if he initiates on every single play because he makes things happen. He draws the defense [and] poles struggle to cover him. So we need him to be aggressive all the time.
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