Waterdogs dominate Outlaws to win second PLL Championship

The Philadelphia Waterdogs talked all season about saving their best for the biggest moment.

Philadelphia defeated the Denver Outlaws 14-4 in the U.S. Bank PLL Championship at Sports Illustrated Stadium, winning the second championship in team history and completing its Bill Tierney-led turnaround.

Two years after finishing 2-8 in Tierney's first season as head coach, the Waterdogs saved their best performance for the biggest game of the season. They overwhelmed Denver from the opening whistle, built a 7-3 lead after one quarter and never let the Outlaws back into the game.

"We were building all year for something like this," Michael Sowers said. "We've got a great thing going, and I think today to be able to cap it off like this, it's just an unbelievable feeling. So it's hard to describe, but it's special."

Philadelphia had talked throughout the season about finding different ways to win. On Sunday, it did not need any of them.

The Waterdogs won on all three phases. They forced Denver into 13 turnovers by halftime, held the Outlaws to one shot on goal in the second quarter and shut them out in the third.

The result was a championship game that was effectively decided before the fourth quarter began.

For Championship MVP CJ Kirst , it was also the perfect ending to a season in which he became the league's MVP and broke the single-season goals record.

On his 24th birthday, Kirst scored seven points (5G, 2A), setting a PLL Championship record. He scored three times in the opening quarter and had four goals and an assist by halftime before continuing his historic performance after the break.

Yet Kirst said the performance was a reflection of the entire group.

"All credit goes to Coach [Dylan] Sheridan for coming up with a great game plan, but more so, just not changing anything up," Kirst said. "We have the guys; we've won in so many different ways. … Getting hot in the first quarter — that's really all it took. We just didn't have to think too much. Every huddle was one voice."

It was exactly the kind of collective performance the Waterdogs had spent the season building toward.

Gavin Adler , last season's Defensive Player of the Year, said the championship was the product of the intensity Philadelphia brought throughout the season.

"In these big games, X's and O's are valuable, but … the intensity you play with this group, it's way more significant than any X's and O's," Adler said. "I think you saw that really come out today. You saw the want from this group. I'm just so proud of the guys … we've been building, we've been through a lot too."

That history made Sunday's victory mean more than another championship.

The Waterdogs had been through injuries, lineup changes and the growing pains that came with building one of the league's youngest rosters. Dylan Hess suffered an ACL injury in Week 1. The team switched goalies in July. Rookies were asked to become starters immediately.

Instead of breaking the team apart, those moments became part of its identity.

Tierney pointed back to the team's 2-8 season in 2024 when asked when he realized this group could become something special.

"Well, I'll tell you the point we felt like we had something special is when two years ago we went two and eight," Tierney said. "And then all of a sudden started feeling good about ourselves, and then the Archers stepped in and humbled us again. But after that, you know, the way these guys adopted the young guys, the way Sean [Byrne] stepped up … I think for each guy to all of a sudden realize, 'Wow, we can do this.'"

Against Denver, Byrne continued his third-quarter dominance with six saves and no goals allowed. After becoming the starter mid-season, the undrafted rookie goalie went 7-0 and recorded a 68.4% save percentage.

For Tierney, who entered the professional game after winning seven national championships in college, the victory carried a different feeling because of the people who helped him get there.

"It's the people," Tierney said. "It's relying on people, relying on the conversations with Gavin every Monday, with Kieran [McArdle] every Monday, just to get them going. Obviously, these two guys [Sowers and Kirst] and Coach Sheridan just pulling this thing together. And there was never a guy — not once the whole season — who didn't believe in what we were doing."

Sowers, who starred for Philadelphia's 2022 championship team, had a front-row seat for the transformation.

"It's amazing," Sowers said. "I think having the opportunity to win, celebrate the guys, and then look over and see my brothers, my mom, my best friends who made the trip, and so many family friends, as well … it definitely means a lot to me, knowing that they're here to support me."

For Adler, who won a championship with the New York Atlas last year before joining Philadelphia, this one felt different because of the investment he made in the Waterdogs and the relationships he built along the way.

"With the longer season, everything, just the build of it, I've never really experienced that, and I've obviously had a little bit of a bigger hand in it this year, just being an older guy in the group," Adler said. "So it definitely means a lot more, and I'm just so excited for the future."

After everything Philadelphia had gone through to get there, Tierney said there was no better way to finish.

"To have them be able to save their best to last, we've been talking about that for a long time," Tierney said. "Save their best to last at both ends of the field with the faceoff game, the riding play. It's heck of a way to culminate a great season."