With the large variety of goalie heads, goalie shafts, and goalie mesh on the market today, the possibilities for a goalie stick set-up are near endless.

When you factor in the varying tape jobs and shafts lengths, the amount of possible stick setups grows even further.

But what do the pros use?

Each pro team is surely sponsored by one of the major lacrosse equipment companies – Brine, STX, Warrior, and thus the goalies get their free pick of the gear offered by that manufacturer.

But even within manufacturers there are several great pieces of equipment and its not always the case that every goalie picks the same. A lacrosse goalie is as unique as his/her gear.

Let’s have a look at a bunch of different current and ex-MLL goalies and their goalie stick setup.

Adam Ghitelman – Atlanta Blaze

Edit: Updated 1/25/17. Updated Adam Ghitelman’s stick setup with his current. Kept the old setup below for those interested.

• Head: STX Eclipse
• Shaft: STX Shield Goalie Shaft
• Mesh: 12 Diamond Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Short shaft length

• Head: STX Shield
• Shaft: STX Shied 7075 Lacrosse Goalie Shaft
• Mesh: 12 Diamond JimaLax Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Just slightly longer than an attack shaft

Drew Adams – New York Lizards

• Head: Warrior Nemesis 2
• Shaft: Warrior Burn Goalie Shaft
• Mesh: 12 Diamond Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Medium length shaft

A funny note here is that Drew Adams actually helped Maverik lacrosse create the Maverik Base / Maverik Base 2 goalie head. I guess he’s not a fan of his own work since he uses the Warrior Nemesis 2 as his gamer.

Tyler Fiorito – Boston Cannons

Edit: 1/29/2017 Updated Tyler Fiorito’s stick to his latest setup. He switched to the Brine Eraser 2 strung up with 12D Hero Mesh. I kept old setup down below.

• Head: Brine Eraser 2
• Shaft: Brine Clutch Attack Shaft
• Mesh: 12D Hero Mesh
• Shaft Length: Just slightly longer than attack shaft

• Head: Brine Eraser
• Shaft: Brine Clutch Attack Shaft
• Mesh: 20 Diamond Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Just slightly longer than attack shaft

Johnny Rodriguez – Denver Outlaws

Edit: 5/6/2017 Updated JRod’s stick setup. Kept his old one in place. He’s on the Blaze now too.

• Head: Warrior Nemesis 2
• Shaft: Warrior Burn Pro
• Mesh: 12 Diamond Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Attack shaft length

• Head: Maverik Base 2
• Shaft: Maverik WonderBoy attack shaft
• Mesh: 12 Diamond Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Attack Shaft Length

Brian Phipps – Chesapeake Bayhawks

• Head: Warrior Nemesis 2
• Shaft: Warrior Kryptolyte 11 Goalie Shaft
• Mesh: 12 Diamond Hero Mesh
• Shaft Length: Medium Shaft Length

Jordan Burke – Boston Cannons

Edit: Jordan Burke retired from the MLL on January 29th, 2016.

• Head: Brine Eraser 2
• Shaft: Brine King Attack Shaft
• Mesh: 20 Diamond Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Attack length

John Galloway – Rochester Rattlers

• Head: STX Eclipse
• Shaft: STX Shield Goalie Shaft
• Mesh: 12 Diamond Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Medium shaft length

Brett Queener – Florida Launch

• Head: Warrior Nemesis 2
• Shaft: Warrior Burn Pro Goalie Shaft
• Mesh: 12 Diamond Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Just slightly longer than attack shaft

Pierce Bassett – Charlotte Hounds

• Head: STX Eclipse
• Shaft: STX Shield Goalie Shaft
• Mesh: 12 Diamond Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Medium shaft length

Jesse Schwartzman – Denver Outlaws

Edit: Jesse Schwartzman retired from the MLL late 2015.

• Head: Warrior Nemesis 2
• Shaft: Warrior Burn Pro Goalie Shaft
• Mesh: 20 Diamond Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Medium shaft length

Scott Rodgers – Ohio Machine

• Head: Warrior Nemesis 2
• Shaft: Warrior Kryptolite Pro
• Mesh: 20 Diamond Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Short shaft length

Austin Kaut – Florida Launch

• Head: Warrior Nemesis 2
• Shaft: Maverik A1 Goalie Shaft
• Mesh: 20 Diamond JimaLax Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Medium shaft length

Dillon Ward – Denver Outlaws

• Head: Warrior Nemesis 2
• Shaft: Warrior Burn Pro Attack Shaft
• Mesh: 20 Diamond JimaLax Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Short attack shaft length

Charlie Cipriano – Charlotte Hounds

• Head: Warrior Nemesis 2
• Shaft: Warrior Burn Pro Attack Shaft
• Mesh: 20 Diamond JimaLax Goalie Mesh / 12 Diamond Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Medium length shaft length

In the photos I have of Charlie Cipriano he’s using the setup I list above however Charlie’s cousin emailed me personally to let me know this is actually the current setup he uses:

• Head: STX Shield
• Shaft: STX Shied 7075 Lacrosse Goalie Shaft
• Mesh: 12 Diamond JimaLax Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Just slightly longer than an attack shaft

Jack Kelly – Denver Outlaws

• Head: STX Eclipse
• Shaft: STX Shield Goalie Shaft
• Mesh: 12 Diamond Goalie Mesh
• Shaft Length: Medium shaft length

Conclusion

As you can see with just 13 different MLL goalies, we have 13 unique stick combinations.

As it turns out most pros prefer a shorter shaft length which keeps the stick nice and light for making saves.

Just over half, 7 out of 13, of these goalies use the Warrior Nemesis 2 as their head of choice. Due to the high velocity shots in the MLL these goalies prefer the stiffness of that head vs. the flexibility of other models. When a ball strikes the top of the Warrior Nemesis 2 the ball won’t bend the head and still go into the goal.

The number of ways you can setup your stick are endless so what’s important is that you find what works for you.

And also what’s in your price range, since you’re paying for these items unlike the pro’s who are sponsored by the lacrosse equipment companies.

Until next time! Coach Damon

What stick setup do you use? Let me know in the comments.