Recapping the Waterdogs clinching a playoff berth and Brennan O'Neill's big performance | The Scoop, Episode 26
Recapping the Waterdogs clinching a playoff berth and Brennan O'Neill's big performance | The Scoop, Episode 26
Video Transcript
Coming up on The Scoop, five teams had an opportunity to punch their ticket to the playoffs.
Utah wasn't able to, Maryland couldn't, California couldn't, and Carolina did not.
Only the Philadelphia Water Dogs punched their ticket with a huge win over the Chaos on Saturday.
Boston got a big win over Utah.
How were they able to upset the league's best team?
And Denver, without Pat Kavanagh, without Jared Bernhardt, was able to get a comeback win against Maryland.
Inside Lacrosse's Chris Rosenthal joins me to recap it all coming up on The Scoop.
Welcome back to The Scoop.
Week 11 is in the books.
I am joined by Inside Lacrosse's Chris Rosenthal to recap it all.
Rosie, five teams entered Columbus with an opportunity to clinch a playoff berth, and only one of those five ended up punching their tickets.
The Philadelphia Water Dogs got a win over the Carolina Chaos on Saturday to advance to the postseason.
Leading the way offensively was Michael Sowers with three goals, two assists.
The MVP conversation has been led by CJ Kirst.
Is it time to put Michael Sowers in the mix?
It's absolutely time to put Michael Sowers in the mix.
You know, just going numbers alone, this is a 20-20 guy.
We rarely see that in this league.
You know, we'll probably see it more as the schedule increases in games, but he has already done it.
First time he's done it this, in his career.
So someone like that, when you take a look at this offense, you know, I think a weekend performance like we just saw, CJ Kirst didn't have to be the guy.
It's one goal from him.
I'm sure he'll have many more in the next time they're out there, but Michael Sowers remained consistent and, delivered, you know, as far as shooting and as far as dishing the ball goes, and it's something he's been doing consistently all year long.
It's, it's absolutely something that we should take a look at as far as him being at least on that medal stand when it comes to picking an MVP.
And honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if we could get three nominations from this team alone.
We've talked about Kirst.
Sowers, I think, definitely should be in that conversation, and if he's not sneaking around the conversation yet, I wanna throw him in there right now.
Zach Currier, if we are going just definition of most valuable player on a lacrosse field, I, I think he has to be brought into the conversation, just what he does offensively, defensively, between the arcs, on the face-off wings, just all elements of the game.
He's everywhere, all at once, all the time.
Currier has been playing mostly short stick D-midi this year since Dylan Hess' injury, but also dr- dished four assists a couple games ago, on the offensive end.
He, he's never going to get that label as a short stick D-midi on the roster sheet, because you just can't put his game in a box.
I, I agree when you look at this team, you could make the case that there's nobody more valuable to the team than Zach Currier.
All of them have their cases.
My hope is that none of their cases compete against each other when it comes down to it.
Neil Barrett made the great point online, we've never seen a, a player win the MVP while having a teammate as a finalist, and I don't think that necessarily disqualifies any of these guys.
Just look at the last two MVPs.
Connor Shellenberger won it with Jeff Tee as a teammate.
Jeff Tee won it the year prior with Connor Shellenberger as a teammate.
So much of what makes a player an MVP is elevating their teammates.
It's what Sowers does for Kirst, what Kirst does for Sowers, vice versa, what Currier does for them both.
The Water Dogs have a lot of good players.
That's why they're going to the playoffs.
Yeah, absolutely.
And, you know, I think the whole situation that the Water Dogs had going into this season was, how do we figure out how to get the most of these incredibly talented players?
And as long as you have a few of them shining at any given time, somebody can have an off night, and the team continues to thrive, and I think that's what we saw this past weekend.
Moving forward for the Water Dogs, as they get a chance to look ahead to the playoffs, still searching to clinch that number one seed in the East, get a bye to the semifinals, they've got a big decision in front of them.
Matt DeLuca went to the IR three games ago, and in that time, rookie goalie out of Army, Sean Berna, stepped up.
He's gone 3-0 with a 7.3 scores against average and saved 64%.
Rosie, if Matt DeLuca is ready to return when Philly goes home in mid-August and you're Bill Tierney, what are you doing between DeLuca and Bern?
You know, it's funny, this is the whole situation that Bill Tierney just got himself out of, right?
You know, saying goodbye to Dylan Ward.
You say firmly, "Okay, Matt DeLuca, you're gonna be our guy moving forward."
You know, tired of dealing with this sort of, what do we do in the cage situation.
And, you know, this time, by virtue of an injury, they find themselves right back in that very same boat they were happy to get out of the last time.
I think the way that Sean Bern's been playing, you just stick with him, which is very unfortunate for Matt DeLuca, having gotten the job outright.
But, you know, what's best for the team at this point is probably the consistency and the, performance that Bern's been bringing to the table.
Speaking of backup goalies, Boston got a huge win against Utah with backup goalie J.C. Higginbotham in as a starter for the first time in his career.
This was a shocker, on both ends really, to see Higginbotham get the start, hold this Archers offense that, in June and July, was the best in the league, hold them to seven.
And then on the other end, Will Manny's offense going against his former team- Really picking apart one of the best defenses we've ever seen in pro lacrosse history, putting up 11.
Brian Kelly, four goals.
Colter Mackesy had five points.
This felt like one of those games where the-- and we've seen this a few times, and, we've seen it against Utah in the championship series finale in 2025.
There are times where this Boston team takes the field, and on paper, has no right to win, but just comes out, and it is like a, i- i- it is, it-- this might be on the nose for a Boston team, but it is like i- a whose car are we gonna take type game.
Like, they are just ready for war.
Jeff Trainer will just step on the field and w- set the tone for a defense that's gonna punch you in the mouth for forty-eight minutes.
This offense got under Utah's defense's skin.
We saw the Utah defense lose their cool a bit, retaliate, get a penalty, that led to a pivotal goal late in the third.
What have you seen from this group of Marcus Holman and Colter Mackesy and a lot of unknowns, undrafted D3 products offensively?
Well, so what sticks out to me, right, you've got Marcus Holman, most, you know, prominent offensive weapon, one of the most prominent ones we've seen in this league, period.
And he is just surrounded by relative newcomers.
Really, really young offense, and they are just fearless.
You look at that Archers defense, right?
You know, it starts with Brett Dobson in cage, but just poles or short sticks, you know, that's-- not only is it a talented group, not only is it a group that works very well together, you know, you can say that about every Tony Resch defense, well-oiled machine, but individually, you know, you're talking about your Lavelles and your Dunhams, Warren Jeffries, and then you get into the guys like Beau Pedersons, right?
Like, these are physical matchups.
These are guys who are going to take the battle to you.
And you watch that game, Boston-Utah, Brian Kelly just, just driving from X like he's going against, you know, a teammate in practice, you know, just doing offensive drills.
He seemed entirely unconcerned that some of the most, you know, dominant defensemen were covering him, and then he'd score like that, and then, you know, two minutes later, just try the exact same thing.
They really took the fight in the settled situation to that Utah defense.
You talk about punching them in the mouth.
That's exactly what it looked like.
It looked like they were out there to make an impact, really kind of drag that Utah defense into the battle, and I think it caught them off guard a bit.
Boston improves to .500, going home next weekend with two chances to clinch a playoff berth.
They play Maryland and California in back-to-back days, the same two teams that at this weekend last year beat Boston to keep them out of the playoffs.
An opportunity for revenge, opportunity to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2024 for head coach Brian Holman and this group.
On Saturday, Denver Outlaws got a huge win against Maryland in comeback fashion.
No Pat Kavanagh, out with a thigh injury.
No Jared Bernhardt, out with, out with two hamstring injuries.
What did you see from the Outlaws to get this done down the stretch?
So first things first, I want to say, like, fantastic work by Dalton Young.
Yeah, I thought it was great how they put him in the attack position.
Really kind of, you know, understand he's gonna have to do a little bit more, and I thought he stepped up to the challenge.
Worked really well with Luke Wearman, who they were correct to assume was gonna have a huge face-off disparity in Denver's advantage, and, they made it count, right?
I think that was kind of a, a lesson throughout the weekend.
It's not necessarily about winning the face-offs.
It's what you do when you do win those face-offs, and Denver was really able to cash in.
Thought Dalton Young was fantastic, really stood out.
But, you know, yeah, it was a, it was a Brennan O'Neill sort of game, a- and I think, I think the essence of it, what it came down to, was, just kind of giving him the keys and letting him do what we've seen him do in the past.
You know, having had two games of, not great shooting for him, maybe some frustration throughout the entirety of the season.
But, you know, I, I think they honestly believed, listen, if we're, if we're gonna win here, we're gonna win thanks to you.
And if we're gonna lose, let's go out and lose because, you know, you're gonna take fifteen shots, and you're not gonna sink 'em.
But either way, you know, you're gonna control this game, and he did it.
You know, he got where he wanted to go on the field.
He, he got some shots that I thought were a little more ideal for him.
He took the battle to Matt Dunn, and Matt Dunn, not a small guy, but I think Brennan O'Neill did a really good job of kind of minimizing the physical element that Dunn brings to his game and really making him, you know, play on his heels and just kind of use stick checks and that kind of thing, which is not gonna fly when you're covering Brennan O'Neill.
So really great game from him.
I, I think, look, I'm certainly not gonna say they're a better team without the likes of a Pat Kavanagh or a Jared Bernhardt, but I think what worked out really well for them is they had no choice but to simplify things, right?
There wasn't so much, "Well, let's move Brennan here if this is gonna happen, and let's have Jared out the box if that happens."
They just said, "Hey, take the ball, Brennan.
Go play attack, and go make something happen."
So, you know, it worked out.
Delivered, I'm sure, was much better for his mindset after having some games that weren't really going his way to really just shoot his way out of this thing, and it worked out well for him.
Yeah, you said it.
It wasn't the Brennan O'Neill game that we all think of from Charlotte in June 2024, but it was a Brennan O'Neill game.
Like, he put his stamp on this game.
It was the first time since that game that he had taken 15 shots, and, you get the sense that he, he knew his team needed this win.
He knew his team needed him to get the job done.
For me, there were, there were times in this game, you mentioned the face-off disparity.
There were times i- in that second half where it felt like the Whipsnakes were Odysseus trapped in the cave with the Cyclops, and the Cyclops was Brennan O'Neill.
Just this monster that you have no idea how to take down, and there is no way to get out, get the ball, get back on offense, because every time Brennan O'Neill or Dalton Young scores, Luke Weirmann is feeding it right back to them.
Eventually the Whipsnakes came back, tied it up, and then, Ryan Tarafenko with, with a patented Ryan Tarafenko break.
That is what the Outlaws do so well.
Jake Pacino, Ryan Tarafenko, and Zach Geddes all getting upfield in a hurry for that six on four break to win it.
Clutch review, on that game-winning goal that just snuck inside the pipe to get the job done.
If you look at this win probability chart, the Whipsnakes were favored to win just until about the last second that that Ryan Tarafenko shot crossed the goal line.
Pretty incredible win for Denver, who absolutely needed it after dropping those two games at home.
We'll see if Pat Kavanagh and Jared Bernhardt can get healthy for another huge matchup next week.
But this Outlaws team showed us why, for most of the season, people have, have pegged them as one of the favorites to emerge out of the West and get back to the championship game, because they have players like Brennan O'Neill who can take over a game a- a- at, at will.
Yeah.
It, it was never a matter of, you know, if we thought they had the personnel to get it done, right?
It was just about can they execute at the right times?
Are, are the pieces being utilized in the proper ways?
And, you know, I, I think almost by addition, by subtraction, this time out, they said, "Just do your thing, Brennan O'Neill."
And, you know, maybe the next time they play it'll be a Pat Kavanagh day.
You know, they're all very capable of doing so.
But I think as far as O'Neill goes, this was really something that he needed, I think.
And, you know, he stepped up and delivered.
You know, he was, what, questionable even heading into this one.
So, you know, dropping six points on this team was, you know, probably just the best possible outcome that he could have done just for himself as a player at this point in the season.
Another team who had an opportunity to clinch a playoff berth this weekend, the California Redwoods split.
They lost on Friday to the Chaos.
They won big on Sunday against Atlas, scoring more points in a single game than any team has since the Archers put up 25 against Atlas in 2019 in the number one overall pick game that got them Grant Hemmet.
It was a tale of two games for the Redwoods.
The offense, how- however much stock you wanna put into a 21-point performance against an Atlas defense that, has injuries of its own and has had struggles throughout the course of the season, th- there's still things to take away from this Redwoods win.
Most notably, Dylan Malloy running out of the box a little bit with Finn Thompson down on attack just gave a different look.
They, they went to it in the second half of both of those games, and it gave the offense a spark.
The other for me, Chris Kavanagh, just incredible performance, career-high five goals, seven points today.
This team I think can go as far as Chris Kavanagh takes them.
Like, to me, you look at teams, we talked to MVP candidates with the Waterdogs earlier, who's theirs?
Is it Sauers?
Is it Cursed?
Is it Currier?
They're lucky to have three guys who can be in that conversation.
The Redwoods have one, in my opinion, and it is Chris Kavanagh.
If, if there is a player who's their most valuable player, it's him, hands down.
And when he plays like he did today, good things happen for the Redwoods.
Yeah, absolutely.
I thought it was really interesting to see Malloy coming out of the box.
And, and I thought he, I thought he handled it very well.
You know, sometimes I, I think attack men coming out of the box almost just kind of punt it, right?
And, and don't really turn it into an advantage.
But we saw Malloy running out of that box.
He got matched up with a short stick and said, "Okay, well, I'm just gonna drive to X, and I'll, I'll be a little bit of a distributor," right?
And the ability for him to be able to switch his game from the, you know, physical bully ball against the poles to more of a, of a savvy feeder if, if the situation calls for it, is really, you know, I don't know if you wanna say unlocking something at this stage in Malloy's very, very successful and productive career, but it definitely opens up another element to that Redwoods offense that we could see moving forward in a, in a much more productive way.
Yeah.
The There's, there are no easy wins in this league, right?
We say it every week.
It, it's, it's any team can win on any given day.
So huge credit to the California Redwoods for rebounding after, like you said, really tough stretch here.
Their first win since June 28th back at home when Dylan Malloy scored the game-winner against Chaos.
Like, it's been a long month.
And it's been a long wait to get some of their defensive guys back.
Chris Fake, good to see him back in the lineup.
Cole Kastner, made his return for the first time since opening night, today.
So they're starting to climb back to 100%, just in time for a playoff push.
They'll get their chance to clinch next weekend against Boston in Boston, where, like we said earlier, they famously ended the Cannons' season, and Ryder Garnsey was not shy about shushing that crowd.
That wraps up week 11.
The Philadelphia Waterdogs are headed to the postseason.
There are five more spots up for grabs.
No teams have been eliminated yet.
Both number one seeds in each conference are on the table.
It'll all come down to Boston next week, Philadelphia the week after.
We'll be right back here on The Scoop later this week with the storylines and newsbeats to follow headed into Boston weekend.
Rosie, as always, appreciate you jumping on.
Thank you for having me.
