Denver Outlaws, Philadelphia Waterdogs Advance to PLL Title Game

The 2026 Premier Lacrosse League championship game matchup is set, as the Denver Outlaws and Philadelphia Waterdogs advanced through the semifinals.

Both teams got off to strong starts and fended off late rallies by their opponents. The Outlaws are back in the title game after falling short in the championship last season, while the Waterdogs return to the final for the first time since 2023.

DENVER HANDILY DEFEATS UTAH

Score: Denver Outlaws 11, Utah Archers 5

Stat of the Game: Logan McNaney and the Denver defense held Utah to five goals, tying the Archers’ season low for goals scored. It was the fourth-fewest goals allowed by a team in PLL playoff history.

Recap: For the second straight week, the Outlaws survived a second-half rally by the opposing team. This time, the Outlaws’ strong first half proved to be too much, and despite only scoring a single two-point goal in the entire second half, Denver won convincingly.

Brennan O’Neill opened the scoring just 10 seconds into the game, but Sam King quickly answered for the Archers. But it was all Denver from that point, as the Outlaws scored eight points to take a 9-1 lead into halftime.

Utah attempted a comeback, but the game was never really in reach. O’Neill and Pat Kavanagh led the charge with four points each, and Jared Bernhardt also had a pair of goals. The Denver defense dominated in the first half, forcing 12 turnovers and limiting Utah to four shots on goal.

“You want to jump on them early, especially with them playing at their home field with the crowd on their side,” O’Neill said. “You don’t want to let them get that energy early on.”

The Archers also suffered a blow before the game even started when Tom Schreiber reportedly reaggravated his knee injury in warmups. Utah coach Chris Bates touched on how Schreiber’s late scratch affected the team.

“Tom’s our heart and soul captain. … He’s stayed with us as a leader and worked really hard to get back,” Bates said. “An hour before, he was going to go, and then five minutes before, he wasn’t. He tweaked it, and it didn’t feel right. He didn’t want to put himself in a position where he could hurt us.”

Despite the abysmal first half, the Archers showed life in the second half, scoring three straight goals to begin the third quarter. Kavanagh ended the Utah run with a two-point goal, and while Connor Fields scored another for the Archers to end the period, it was too little, too late in the end.

“We came out, and I don’t know if ‘flat’ is the right word, but we just didn’t make enough plays early on,” Piper Bond said. “Their key guys, O’Neill, Kav and Bernhardt, went to the rack and went hard in the first half. I was proud of how we responded in the second half, but we just couldn’t string enough plays together.”

The game could have gotten more out of hand had Brett Dobson not made so many spectacular stops. The Utah goaltender made 17 saves, including 11 in the second half while allowing only a two-point score in the final 24 minutes. But the Utah offense could never get going, and Denver eliminated the Archers in front of a sold-out home crowd.

“First half was incredible and ran into a hot goalie in the second half,” Denver head coach Tim Soudan said. “That’s a very great team that had a great year. I’m just happy that we’re playing our best lacrosse at the end of the year here.”

“In the playoffs, you have to grit through some wins and play through adversity,” Kavanagh said. “It's been the same story with us the whole year. We show flashes where we could be the best team in this league. We still think there's some meat on the bone.”

PHILADELPHIA FENDS OFF BOSTON

Score: Philadelphia Waterdogs 13, Boston Cannons 10

Stat of the Game: CJ Kirst scored three goals and notched two assists, giving him his seventh game this season with at least five points. It was also his 11th game with a hat trick in 17 career games.

Recap: The Waterdogs advanced to their third PLL championship game and first in the Bill Tierney era. Philadelphia outlasted Boston in a game that went down to the wire thanks to a late surge by the Cannons in the fourth quarter.

Kirst opened the scoring, but Boston’s Coulter Mackesy and Marcus Holman quickly responded to give the Cannons a 2-1 lead. Then the Waterdogs went on a 6-1 run to take a 7-3 lead into the half, with Kirst and Michael Sowers leading the charge and each finishing the half with a pair of goals. Waterdogs goalie Sean Byrne also made nine saves in the first half, finishing with 14 saves total and a save percentage above 60 percent for the fifth straight game.

Philadelphia had points from seven different players, with Kyle Lewis’ first-career hat trick being a notable contribution. Lewis’ goals were all timely, coming right before halftime, to end the third quarter and to start the final period.

‘[Lewis] takes what he’s given. He doesn’t force things too much,” Sowers said. “You saw today, they didn’t want to slide. He’s athletic enough and skilled enough to get to the cage and put the ball in the back of the net.”

“That play that he had at the end of the [second] quarter where he picked off a pass and then, with 15 seconds left, went to his left and buried [a goal] — I think that sums him up as a player,” CJ Kirst said. “He can really do it all.”

Entering the second half, Boston reclaimed some momentum when Jeff Trainor scored a two-pointer early in the third quarter, and Mikey Weisshaar followed with a goal to pull the Cannons within one.

Philly responded with a two-goal run to end the quarter, but Boston refused to go away. Boston coach Brian Holman opted to start Colin Kirst in place of JC Higginbotham to start the fourth quarter. After allowing two goals to give the Waterdogs a 12-6 lead, the elder Kirst made some key saves and helped ignite a four-goal Cannons’ run.

“We needed a jolt … and I think it worked a little bit,” Brian Holman said. “Colin made some saves down there and held us steady. It was really nothing more than we needed a spark.”

Brian Kelly capped the run by making it a one-possession game with a gritty one-handed goal with three and a half minutes remaining. Boston won the ensuing faceoff with a chance to pull within a goal or tie, but a strong defensive stand by Philadelphia led to a shot clock violation.

On the Waterdogs’ next possession, CJ Kirst evaded two defenders and put the ball past his older brother to secure Philadelphia’s trip to the title game.

“We’ve found so many different ways to win games,” CJ Kirst said. “We faced adversity today. There were so many highs, so many lows, but yet again, we had the confidence to go out there and play our game.”