Atlas Secure First-Ever Trip to PLL Championship Game

PHILADELPHIA — When we last saw the Philadelphia Waterdogs and the New York Atlas, they battled to a 20-19 shootout in Boston in the final weekend of the Premier Lacrosse League regular season.

New York also beat Philadelphia 17-9 in Baltimore earlier this year. Beating a team three times in the same season is notoriously difficult. New York used an early six-goal run and a massive 18-save game from Liam Entenmann to pull it off and secure its first trip to the PLL championship game with a 13-11 win Monday at Subaru Park.

“It’s amazing,” Atlas faceoff specialist Trevor Baptiste said. “It’s been such a great journey being on this team. We’ve been through a lot. … I think we’ve always been so close, and it feels phenomenal to finally break through that ceiling.”

MVP finalist Michael Sowers registered eight points for the Waterdogs in that shootout back in Boston. Sowers is just one third of a triple threat on attack. The other two, veteran Kieran McArdle and first-overall pick CJ Kirst, have found chemistry late in the season to form a deadly unit. The Waterdogs won their quarterfinal matchup 14-12, and all 14 goals came from the trio.

The Atlas have the odds-on MVP favorite Connor Shellenberger at attack, arguably the best faceoff specialist ever in Baptiste, along with close defender Gavin Adler, SSDM Danny Logan, and goalie Entenmann, all finalists for their respective positional awards.

Their personnel allowed them to be malleable this year, attacking and defending in different ways.

A pair of early miscues allowed New York on the board first. Alec Stathakis won the opening draw for the Waterdogs, but a pass by Marcus Hudgins sailed out of bounds and the Atlas took over. A good defensive stand by the Waterdogs put the ball on the ground, but the Atlas were able to win the loose ball and get it to Matt Traynor for the game’s first goal.

The Waterdogs found some transition opportunities as the first quarter went on but struggled to solve Entenmann. New York added their second courtesy of Xander Dickson on the power play and got a third from Reid Bowering to extend the lead to 3-0 midway through the first quarter.

Jeff Teat hit the post on another power play, and after New York retained possession, Shellenberger fed Dickson to make it 4-0 after getting his man hung up in front of the net. New York pushed the lead to 6-0 with goals, turning the game into a possible runaway.

“Give credit to the Atlas, they got off to a great start and their guys played great,” Waterdogs head coach Bill Tierney said. “A six-goal run and four-goal run made it tough, but I’m proud of the effort our guys put in.”

Philly answered by breaking the ice in transition. A Matt DeLuca save turned into transition, with Matt Whitcher feeding Ben Wayer for a two-point goal. The Waterdogs got one more look at goal, but Entenmann denied them at the buzzer to keep the score at 6-2 after the first. Entenmann had five saves in the frame.

“What do you say about Liam Entenmann?” Atlas head coach Mike Pressler asked rhetorically after the game. “I mean, what do you say about Entenmann’s performance on this big stage?”

Kirst opened the scoring on the power play for the Waterdogs in the second quarter on a stepdown shot, cutting the deficit to three. It looked like just the spark Philly needed. In transition after a power play stop, Wayer hit his second two-pointer to make it 6-5. After trailing 6-0 early, the Dogs had run off five straight to get back within one.

“It was definitely a slow start, but the way we answered that bell, being punched first and how we responded, is true to the culture in this locker room,” DeLuca said. “There is no deficit we can’t come back from, we truly believe that.”

The Atlas snapped the run courtesy of Max Krevsky’s first career goal. Shellenberger also drew a penalty on the play, giving the Atlas a power play on the following faceoff. The Waterdogs got a timely faceoff win, though, followed by a Kirst short-handed goal, and then another faceoff win, totally negating the penalty.

Jake Stevens got one more for New York, but the Waterdogs’ second-quarter rally gave the game new life. Philadelphia trailed 8-6 at the break.

“We go up 6-0, we know exactly what we were getting,” Pressler said. “Give them credit, they cut it to two. A key detail is that they never tied it.”

New York regained momentum to start the second half. While Philadelphia was finally able to get Sowers a chance to dodge, Gavin Adler caused a turnover and got the ball back to New York. Matt Traynor ran by a shorty and no slide came, so he finished on the doorstep to put New York up 9-6.

After an offsides call, Sowers finally broke through and scored his first of the day on the power play to get Philadelphia back within two. The Atlas again had an answer, this time in transition, as a defensive miscue left Shellenberger wide open on the doorstep for a dunk.

Philadelphia was much more effective at involving Sowers in the third, using two-man games to change his matchup or to try and create a step for him off the dodge. But when the matchup switched, the shorty guarding Sowers faceguarded him, and if it didn’t switch, Sowers saw quick doubles to deny him space.

“We’ve got five other great guys, that’s how we look at it,” Sowers said. “If you’re shut, there’s ways to be effective without the ball, and I think that’s what you saw. You know being a picker, trying to get guys open off ball, that’s how we look at it.”

“Michael Sowers is Michael Sowers,” Tierney said. “He has earned that kind of reputation to be shut, to be double teamed. The difference between Michael Sowers and other superstars is that he’s willing to do those other things.”

As the Atlas defense locked down, New York gained confidence on the offensive end. Traynor completed his hat trick to put New York up 11-7. Dickson completed his own hat trick on a power play following a Waterdogs push, giving the Atlas a five-goal lead. After three quarters, New York led 12-7.

Sowers scored on a McArdle feed just 44 seconds into the fourth quarter as the Waterdogs needed to spark a rally. The Atlas, as they had the entire second half, had the answer. Dickson scored his fourth to grab momentum back.

On the following possession, Kirst absorbed a barrage of checks and fed Zach Currier for a goal for Philly, which was followed by a Jimmy Freehill two-pointer, to get the Dogs back within two. Philadelphia did not go quietly.

“We gave up three twos today,” Pressler said. “From what I know, when you give up three twos, the percentage to win is very, very low. But forget all that. 13-11, we’re moving forward to celebrate today with the guys and enjoy this as best we can.”

The Waterdogs continued to push and created some quality looks, but they struggled to solve Entenmann. With just over a minute left, Philly took a timeout still down two goals. New York defended the designed play well, and Kirst’s sharp angle shot was saved.

Philadelphia got the rebound, but an off-balance two-pointer from Connor Kelly resulted in yet another Entenmann save. New York cleared, called timeout and iced the game.

“Forty-two years I’ve been doing this on the men’s side,” Pressler said. “Not sure I’ve seen too many better doing this than [Entenmann].”

Shellenberger led the Atlas with five points, including four assists. Dickson, Traynor and Teat had four points each. Bowering had three points, while Max Krevsky and Jake Stevens each had a goal. Entenmann made 18 saves and was 69 percent in net, while Baptiste went 60 percent facing off.

For the Waterdogs, Wayer’s four points on a pair of twos led the team scoring. Kirst had three points, while Sowers, McArdle and Freehill had two points each. DeLuca made 13 saves.