The First Stop On The Waterdogs Revenge Tour Is Finally Here With Opening Week Of The PLL Season
Icon Sportswire. Getty Images.The Waterdogs already established themselves as a true Philly team over the past 12 months after losing both the 2023 PLL Championship and 2024 PLL Championship Series Final. That's just the Philly sports initiation process.
But now is when the Aqua Pups get a chance to change the narrative. The boys are dialed, the team is loaded, and the Waterdogs Revenge Tour gets underway this weekend in Albany, NY. No longer is Philly going to be a door mat for dynasties to rack up more championships. The Oilers in '85 and '87. The Red Wings in '97. The Chicago Blackhawks in '10. The Yankees in '09 (sort of). The Patriots in '04. The Chiefs in '22. The Lakers in '01. Every time a Philly team loses a championship, it's because they run into a buzzsaw. But if there's any team in Philly that is set up to actually be that buzzsaw for a change, it's the Dawgs.
Try to find a single hole on this roster, I dare you.
I guess the faceoff X is the only area of the field where this team will struggle, but the PLL is already doing everything in its power to take the importance of the faceoff out of the game. They have one of the best goalies on the planet in Dillon Ward. They have proven pros and a ton of talented youth on defense. The midfield lineup looks like an all-star roster, and the attack is obviously where other teams will just have to tap out and say uncle.
The attack was already a weapon of mass destruction with just Sowers and McArdle. Now you add Matt Brandau, who was just one of the 5 finalists for the Tewaaraton Award last year as the best player in college lacrosse? Wag. On.
Oh and then just for good measure, the Waterdogs grabbed one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game to lead the Pups back to glory.
This team is so loaded and we're all just so lucky we get to live in a world where they play lacrosse on Saturday. I'm a little nervous about this claim, but there's a good chance it doesn't get any better than day 1 of this PLL season. We have a 2023 championship rematch between the Waterdogs and Archers kicking it off at 1pm. And then at 3:30, we have the Boston Cannons taking on the New York Atlas. Like I mentioned before, Matt Brandau was one of 5 finalists for the Tewaaraton Award this year. 3 of the other 5 will be playing in that Cannons vs Atlas game.
First up we have Pat Kavanagh, who won the Tewaaraton after just leading Notre Dame to back-to-back National Championships, on the Cannons.
He won 2 national titles with his younger brother, Chris, at Notre Dame. Now he has a chance to play with his older brother, Matt, on the Cannons.
Then there's Liam Entenmann, who was the goalie leading the way for Notre Dame on those back-to-back championships, and Connor Shellenberger on the Atlas. That's a combined like 7 Tewaaraton finalists and 5 national championships between those 3 players.
And then on Sunday it'll be our first chance to see #1 overall pick Brennan O'Neill play in the PLL for the first time with the Denver Outlaws. Which rounds out the 5 Tewaaraton finalists from this year.
Just a delightful little weekend of lax ahead of us. It really doesn't get better than this schedule of the pro season starting right off of Memorial Day Weekend. Let's just hope the games on top for this weekend are all a little closer than what we got at the college championship weekend.
Week 1 Schedule // Casey Stadium at UAlbany
Saturday June 1
Philly Waterdogs vs Utah Archers // 1pm // ABC
(Official Waterdogs Watch Party at Barstool Sansom in Philly starts at 12 noon)
Boston Cannons vs New York Atlas // 3:30pm // ESPN+
Sunday June 2
Carolina Chaos vs Denver Outlaws // 1pm // ESPN+
Maryland Whipsnakes vs New York Atlas // 3:30pm // ESPN+
Jordie's Lock of the Week: We'll see at least 1 fight in the Waterdogs vs Archers game after Big Cat agreed to pick up the tab for the weekend.