HARRISON, N.J. — For the second time in Premier Lacrosse League history, the Philadelphia Waterdogs are champions. On the back of a seven-point performance from CJ Kirst, Philly defeated the Denver Outlaws 14-4 on Sunday at Sports Illustrated Stadium in a constant rain.
The championship gave Philadelphia coach Bill Tierney his first PLL title and eighth lacrosse championship as a head coach. Just two years after finishing his first season as the Waterdogs coach with a 2-8 record, Tierney led his team to a title.
The Denver defense had no answer for Kirst, with the PLL regular season and championship game MVP recording five goals and two assists. His seven points were the most by a single player in PLL championship game history.
"We told the guys this week, when in doubt, get the ball to Michael [Sowers] or CJ [Kirst]," Tierney said during the championship celebration.
The Waterdogs’ defense was just as impressive, holding the Outlaws to four goals and shutting out Denver for the entire second half. Undrafted rookie goaltender Sean Byrne made 11 saves with a save percentage of 73.3 — tying his highest save percentage across seven games as the Waterdogs’ starter.
The game opened with a frenetic pace, as six goals were scored in the opening four-and-a-half minutes. Kirst started the scoring off a feed from Michael Sowers, and both teams exchanged blows before the defenses settled in.
A well-timed pick from Alec Stathakis freed up Sowers to assist Zach Currier on a score that started a three-goal run for Philadelphia. Brendan Staub followed Currier with a transition goal, and Kirst scored twice more to give himself a first quarter hat trick and a 6-2 Philadelphia lead.
Even when not scoring, Kirst was a disruptor on the ride, preventing Denver goaltender Logan McNaney from turning clean saves into a transition chances.
Denver finally answered with 30 seconds left in the period on a nice feed from Pat Kavanagh to Dalton Young around the crease, but Currier scored six second later off the faceoff to give the Waterdogs a 7-3 lead entering the second quarter.
Kirst scored his fourth goal of the game to open the scoring in the second half and then assisted Kieran McArdle on another. Sowers scored shortly after to extend Philly’s lead to 10-3 with less than four minutes left in the first half.
With less than two minutes remaining, Denver had a couple of good two-point looks before getting Brennan O’Neill switched onto short-stick defender Matt Whitcher. O’Neill quickly exploited the matchup on a crease dive to cut the deficit to six goals entering halftime.
The “CJ Kirst Show” continued when the 2026 PLL MVP scored his fifth of the game to start the second half. Kirst’s goal was the only tally in the entire third quarter thanks to some stellar defense by both teams.
Denver struggled to put shots on cage for most of the period, and when it did, Byrne ate everything up, particularly the shots from distance.
Kirst’s PLL championship game record-breaking point came when he forced a turnover on the Denver ride and found his partner in crime Sowers on an empty-net goal to open the fourth quarter. Rookies Silas Richmond and Matt Collison put the exclamation point on the title with a goal from each in the final five minutes.
Defenseman Gavin Adler became the first player to win back-to-back PLL championships with different teams, last year having done so with the New York Atlas before joining Philadelphia in free agency.
"You win with people," Adler said. "I'm so proud to be a part of these team and see what the future holds."
A clearly dejected Tim Soudan stood with 38-year-old Mike Manley in the tunnel of the stadium watching the Waterdogs celebrate. It was anotehr championship game appearance for the longest-tenured coach-player duo, but the pair once again came up short.
"We ran into a buzzsaw in the first half," Soudan said. "We didn't execute in the first quarter at all ... those missed passes guys are going to have nightmares about."
Soudan called the Currier goal to end the opening quarter "deflating."
"Our first quarter sucked ... communication was poor in the beginning," Manley said. "Proud of the fight we had in the rest of the game, but you can't dig yourself that big of hole and expect to win."
When asked about his future, Manley was non-commital but said he'll reflect on the season and feels "blessed" to have been a part of the 2026 Outlaws.
"A lot of sacrifices are made. A lot of guys have families. ... One weekend I left, my little guy was crawling and when I came home, he was walking.Those are the sacrifices you make," Manley said candidly. "I'd do it over and over again. I'm grateful to have played the game this long at a competitive level. ... We're blessed to play this game every single weekend."
The Waterdogs defense held the Outlaws to their lowest scoring output of the entire season and handed the Outlaws their second-straight championship game loss.
