Previewing Denver Homecoming | The Scoop, Episode 23
Managing Editor, Joe Keegan, sits down with several Premier Lacrosse League writers to talk through Denver Weekend and what's on the line, Matt DeLuca's new injury and more.
Video Transcript
Coming up on The Scoop, Utah's defense is on pace to be the best since the undefeated 2020 Whipsnakes.
Can Denver's offense solve Brett Dobson?
Matt DeLuca was placed on IR.
Who will the Waterdogs turn to in goal for a pivotal double header?
The Cannons are back to 500 after a one in four start.
I thought they were done.
I was reading 2027 mock drafts a month ago.
How'd they turn this around?
It's all coming up on The Scoop.
The weekend begins at 8:00 Eastern when the Utah Archers and Denver Outlaws renew the Rocky Mountain rivalry.
What Utah is doing defensively is nearly unprecedented.
They're allowing 8.9 scores per game.
Only two teams have ever finished in single digits, the 2020 Whipsnakes and the 2022 Whipsnakes.
Brett Dobson is making a legitimate case for the MVP award.
He's on pace for career highs in save percentage and scores against average.
He's stopping 65% of shots from five yards and out.
The only way to beat him is to attack the rim, but with Brendan Lavelle and Warren Jeffrey waiting inside, you won't get a shot off from there and escape unscathed.
Defensive coordinator Tony Resch treats his defense to ice cream when they allow single digit scores.
At this point, it might be more financially responsible for Resch to franchise Assault and Straw.
Utah's kept opponents to single digits in six of eight games.
The Archers will take on an Outlaws offense loaded with star power, but still tinkering with its scheme to find the best version of itself.
Who plays attack?
We saw Brendan O'Neill run out of the box a few weeks ago, and then last weekend we saw Logan Wisniewski and Jared Bernhardt alternate quarters, a la Owen Hiltz and Jackson Eicher with the Chaos in 2025.
And who provides tertiary scoring behind the four Tewaaraton Award winners?
O'Neill, Wisniewski, Bernhardt, and Pat Kavanagh have shot over 31%, but the rest of the team is shooting 20%.
Topher Adams has more on the Outlaws search for secondary scoring options.
Thanks, Joe.
With the recent struggles of the Denver Outlaws midfield, head coach Tim Sudan is mixing things up for homecoming weekend with the debut of undrafted rookie John Dunphy.
Dunphy was a key part of Princeton's national championship run this past season, scoring 21 goals and providing 18 assists.
When I talked to Sudan when he picked up Dunphy, he mentioned his quickness as a top attribute.
He's also a natural left-handed midfielder, a player type the Outlaws just haven't had on the roster this season.
Dunphy's debut comes after weeks of underwhelming play from Denver's supporting cast on offense.
While the Tewaaraton Four continued produce at an all-star pace, the rest of the offensive midfield has been hit or miss this season.
Rookie Evan Plunkett was a major addition in the off-season, as the Outlaws moved multiple draft assets to pick him in the first round.
But so far this season, he's struggled with just six points, shooting 7.1% on the season.
Now, due to military commitments, Plunkett won't be available to play this weekend, giving the Outlaws an opportunity to try out a different look with Dunphy running out of the box.
Nolan Byrne is another player expected to get some run this weekend, as he starts the week on the protected roster, but is expected to play in the Outlaws' second game.
He had a 55-point rookie season in the NLL, but hasn't played field lacrosse since he was a freshman at Lafayette back in 2024.
Sudan said they've been excited to get him into the game day roster, and now they'll get a chance to see what he can do in the lineup this weekend.
This is an opportunity for the Outlaws to reassert themselves at the top of the Western Conference with a pair of games on home soil at Peter Barton Stadium.
They'll hope Dunphy or Byrne can be a spark to key a pair of wins.
Get ready for some lacrosse after dark.
The Waterdogs and Atlas face off tonight at 10:30 Eastern.
It'll be Gavin Adler's first game against his former team.
The reigning defensive player of the year in the Waterdogs defense will be without their starting goalie, Matt DeLuca, who was placed on IR with a hip injury earlier this week.
For more on Philly's goalie situation, let's send it to Mike Bolger.
Well, the Philadelphia Waterdogs have placed Matt DeLuca on IR, and this comes after he got hurt against the Archers this past Saturday during the second quarter.
Bill Tierney tells me that he tore something in his stomach, and he will be out for at least the next three-ish games.
Now, that timeline is not solid, but they do expect him to be back at least before the end of the season, which means that they will get him back if they make the playoffs.
Now, this is where it turns to a little bit of a tricky situation, where the defense didn't have its best outing this past weekend, and there are some concerns with their short stick defensive middie play and other parts of the defense.
And then you throw in a rookie at goalie, Sean Byrne out of Army.
He's been one of the best goalies in college play in the past few years, averaged just below nine goals allowed at Army in the fa- past few years.
Got some awards.
Came in during the Cannons game in week two, showed some flashes.
Came in, obviously, in the second quarter against the Archers on Saturday.
Had a good start.
Had four saves before halftime and one goal allowed, and then kind of all just fell apart.
Bill Tierney tells me that he, it was mostly the defense and him that kind of unraveled in front of him.
So they look to get him prepared on what is gonna be a short week.
They got a double header coming up this weekend.
One of them is an in-conference game, so it's gonna be tough for the rookie to get in there.
But he's a very big play, save type goalie.
He's a little smaller than Matt DeLuca in size frame, but they're really excited about this guy.
He impressed Bill Tierney before the draft, kind of waited to sign him, and then signed him as the season began.
They also signed Tim Troutner to the squad as a backup, a veteran that can kind of help guide the rookie forward.
So the goalie battle is gonna be interesting to watch for the Waterdogs moving forward, but for now, they are riding the rookie headed into playoff season.
On Saturday, Boston rides a three-game winning streak into a matchup with Carolina.
Back in June, it felt like Boston had hit rock bottom.
I was on here asking Drew Carter to give the city a pep talk after the Jalen Brown trade and a one in four start by the Cannons.
But since then, the Cannons have rattled off wins over California, Denver, and the reigning champion New York Atlas.
This offense is putting up 13.1 scores per game.
The only teams to average 13 plus last year both made it to the championship.
They've assembled a group of mini Marcus Holemans.
They're high energy, high IQ, and fearless.
Brian Kelly was undrafted last year, not this year, last year, back in 2025.
He added 15 pounds of muscle in the winter, did all the team's off-season workouts, and has taken over the role at X.
He's leading the league in what I call fourth down goals, goals with 10 seconds or less on the shot clock.
The Cannons don't ask him to initiate often, but when there's low time, Brian Kelly finds a way to pull a rabbit out of a hat.
Jack McNary is averaging three points per game during the winning streak, and Inside Lacrosse's Chris Rosenthal said it best.
He's not confident for a D3 guy.
He's not confident for a rookie.
He's confident confident.
In total, Boston will dress six rookies this weekend.
One of them is making a massive impact at a new position.
Noelle D'Amico has more on Notre Dame product Will Donovan.
Thanks, Joe.
One of my favorite stories coming out of Boston right now is Will Donovan's move to close defense.
He was drafted number 15 overall by the Cannons out of Notre Dame as one of the top LSMs in the country.
But during the draft process, head coach Brian Holman kept coming back to one question, could Will Donovan play close defense?
And despite being a lifelong LSM, Donovan had no hesitation on embracing the new role.
He said for him, one of the most fun parts about playing LSM was winning his personal matchup, and that only becomes more elevated at close.
He made the move for the first time heading into the California matchup and has been starting there during Boston's three-game win streak.
There's been no easing into it either.
His matchup so far, Chris Kavanagh, Pat Kavanagh, and last year's league MVP, Connor Shollenberger.
When I asked him if playing with the Kavanaghs at Notre Dame gave him an advantage, he just laughed and said, "I think they're so good because you can know exactly what they're doing and they're still gonna do it."
The move has been great for Boston's defense as they've continued to find their rhythm this season.
Not only has Holman described his last three games at close unfathomable, but he said he's the type of player who made people around him seem to magically get better.
The biggest takeaway from Donovan's transition is that it hasn't just been about him surviving at close.
It's been about him impacting games from the position.
And if he continues to develop at this pace, Donovan is making a strong case to be in the Rookie of the Year conversation.
Enjoy all five PLL games this weekend.
We'll be back here with more news and more storylines on Monday.
See you then.
