Sports
Who wins the PLL championship? Key stats, matchups, X factors for Outlaws-Atlas
The 2025 Premier Lacrosse League championship is upon us. The final matchup represents the two best teams in the league this summer, as the New York Atlas face the Denver Outlaws.
There is no shortage of star power, as both teams dress rosters loaded with college icons and future Hall of Famers. Coaches Mike Pressler (New York) and Tim Soudan (Denver) both make their PLL championship debuts.
If the two teams’ regular-season matchup is any clue, we’re in for another classic. They met Aug. 2 in the Mile High City, and the game was won by Denver in overtime,13-12.
Who will hoist the trophy on Sunday?
Jump to: Broadcast details
Kessenich’s keys
Playoff stats


Denver Outlaws vs. New York Atlas
Sunday | 12:30 p.m. | ABC/ESPN
Injury report
Outlaws: None to report
Atlas: None to report
Quint Kessenich’s keys to the game

The Atlas are looking to win their first PLL championship, and are fortified by specialists Trevor Baptiste (FOGO) and goalie Liam Entenmann.
New York’s attack trio is dominant. Connor Shellenberger, Jeff Teat and Xander Dickson display uncanny chemistry and skill level.
Teat, the 2024 MVP, and Shellenberger, the favorite to win the award this summer, both eclipsed 40 points in the regular season.
Shellenberger sent the regular-season game with Denver into overtime with an isolation goal with 15 seconds to play. He produced a ho-hum five points in the semifinal win over the Philadelphia Waterdogs.
Dickson roams the slot area, and has filthy wrists to finish in a crowd.
New York has dangerous players at the midfield position too, in Bryan Costabile and Matt Traynor. Both require attention and are primary threats to score off the dodge. Reid Bowering, a lefty with savvy, sets roadblock picks and is a wizard from in tight. Traynor, a rookie from Penn State, had four points in the semifinals. Costabile has arguably been the most efficient and dangerous midfield dodger in the league this season.
Generally, the defense relies on Entenmann to make stops. Pay attention to Gavin Adler, who will likely draw the Pat Kavanagh assignment in this game. When the two teams met in August, Adler held Kavanagh pointless.
Meanwhile, Michael Rexrode will be in charge of marking Brennan O’Neill. Defensive midfielder Danny Logan is the best in the league at his position.

The Outlaws shrugged off a 30-day layoff to dispose of the upstart California Redwoods in the semifinals, shutting California down for a 20-minute stretch along the way. Denver leads the PLL in shot attempts per game at 45, and they play fast.
Denver has an impressive group, including four Tewaraaton Award winners: Brennan O’Neill, Jared Bernhardt, Pat Kavanagh and Logan Wisnauskas. That’s like an NFL team having four Heisman winners in the same huddle.
The Outlaws acquired Kavanagh in an offseason trade with Boston, and the 2024 Notre Dame graduate leads the league in touches and shots this season. His point production has tripled in year two.
Brennan O’Neill unleashed the fury in the semis, with eye-popping goals worthy of a superhero and six points total.
O’Neill had two goals on nine shots while being covered by Michael Rexrode in the August matchup. Overall, he is averaging 4.3 points per game since the All-Star break. He is tough matchup at 6-2 and 220 pounds.
Bernhardt had the overtime game-winner in the Outlaws’ victory, and is the smoothest and fastest ball carrier in the league. He runs at a speed that most can’t handle. Bernhardt was signed on June 2 after pursuing an NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons. His addition — and Logan McNaney in goal — has put Denver in position to grab glory.
Specialists Luke Weirman (FOGO) and McNaney both played at Maryland and have a track record of performance in big games; McNaney played in four NCAA title games for the Terps, and Weirman went 54% against New York in the August matchup.
McNaney went 8-1 as a starter this season, and leads the league in clean save percentage. Those clean saves allow Denver to transition from defense to offense quickly.
Denver has a vicious transition offense, with long-stick midfielder Jake Piseno and defensive midfielder Ryan Terefenko spearheading the end-to-end rushes. Terefenko effectively stays on the field and creates mismatches with well-timed picks to change matchups.
The Outlaws’ defense is a veteran crew, with close defenders J.T. Giles-Harris, Jesse Bernhardt and Mike Manley.
As my X factors for this game, I’ll highlight midfielders Justin Anderson, Graham Bundy Jr. and Dalton Young. Of course, I also have to acknowledge the Tewaraaton quartet; when slept on, they typically find production.
Postseason leaders
Outlaws
Leading scorers:
1. A Brennan O’Neill | 6 P
2. A Pat Kavanagh | 3 P
3. M Jared Bernhardt, M Dalton Young | 2 P
Faceoff:
Luke Wierman | 57.9%
Goalie:
Logan McNaney | 11, 64.7 SV%
1:14
California Redwoods vs. Denver Outlaws: Game Highlights
California Redwoods vs. Denver Outlaws: Game Highlights
Atlas
Leading scorers:
1. A Connor Shellenberger | 5 P
2. A Jeff Teat | 4 P
3. A Xander Dickson, M Matt Traynor | 4 P
Faceoff:
Trevor Baptiste | 60.0%
Goalie:
Liam Entenmann | 18 SV, 69.2 SV%
1:35
Atlas beat Waterdogs to reach PLL championship game
New York Atlas defeat the Philadelphia Waterdogs 13-11 to advance to the PLL championship.
Sports
Star mountaineer Samina Baig reaches final degree of South Pole in historic expedition
Pakistani mountaineer Samina Baig has successfully skied to the last degree of the South Pole, adding yet another historic achievement to her adventure milestones.
She was part of an international expedition organised by Elite Exped. The team departed from Pakistan on December 2, reached Union Glacier on December 6, and Baig completed the journey on December 14.
In a post on her Facebook page, Baig said she was deeply grateful and humbled to have successfully skied to the last degree of the South Pole, describing it as part of her pursuit of the Explorer’s Grand Slam.
She said the ski journey had never been achieved by any Pakistani before and called it one of the most challenging and meaningful experiences of her life, adding that it was still difficult to put the experience into words.
“From standing on the summit of Mount Everest in 2013 to completing the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on each continent, from climbing K2 and Nanga Parbat to now reaching the South Pole, this journey has taken me across the highest mountains and the most remote places on Earth,” Baig added.
“Every step along the way has taught me patience, resilience, and the power of belief.”
She further wrote that the journey, though difficult, “has been about trusting the dream, staying committed through uncertainty, and continuing to move forward even when the path feels impossible”.
The mountaineer expressed hope that her efforts would remind others, particularly women, that dreams are worth pursuing, regardless of how long they take.
“Carrying the flag of Pakistan and my Ismaili flag across mountains, continents, and polar ice has been the greatest honour of my life. I remain grateful for every opportunity, every lesson, and every person who walked this path with me,” she said.
Baig expressed gratitude to her community members for funding the expedition and thanked her team, her family, fellow mountaineer Nirmal Purja and Elite Expeditions for their support.
“Without their trust, encouragement, and kindness, this journey would not have been possible.”
Namira Salim is Pakistan’s first astronaut and also the first Pakistani to reach both the North and South Poles. Got the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz back in 2011 for her adventure stuff.
Samina Baig is from this tiny village called Shimshal. In 2013, she became the first Pakistani woman to climb Everest. She’s also the first Pakistani to do the Seven Summits — Everest, Kilimanjaro, McKinley, Mont Blanc, Elbrus, Aconcagua, Vinson, Puncak Jaya, all of them.
In 2010, she climbed this peak nobody had climbed before, Chashkin Sar, now it’s called Samina Peak. Next year, she did another untouched peak, named Koh-i-Brobar or Mount Equality.
In 2023, she and Naila Kiani became the first Pakistani women to summit Nanga Parbat, the ninth-highest mountain in the world. And in 2022, she also conquered K2, getting there just a few hours before Kiani.
Sports
Liberty star Ionescu’s home in L.A. burglarized
New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu‘s home in Los Angeles was burglarized Monday night, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Police responded to the home at about 8 p.m., after two suspects smashed through a glass door at the rear of the residence, setting off the security alarm.
Authorities said several handbags worth more than $60,000 were stolen from the residence, where Ionescu lives with husband Hroniss Grasu, an NFL offensive lineman. The couple was not at home during the burglary.
No arrests were made, and an investigation is ongoing, police said.
Ionescu, 28, is a four-time WNBA All-Star and won a championship with the Liberty in 2024. Grasu was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 2015 and last played for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023.
Monday’s break-in was the latest instance of a high-profile athlete’s home being burglarized in the past year. It occurred one day after Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons‘ home in Tennessee was broken into while his team was on the road to face the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night.
Sports
College sports ‘visionary’ Neinas dies at age 93
Chuck Neinas, the onetime Big Eight commissioner whose media savvy and dealmaking helped turn college football into the multibillion-dollar business it is today, died Tuesday. He was 93.
The National Football Foundation announced Neinas’ death, with its president and CEO Steve Hatchell calling him “a visionary in every sense of the word.” A cause of death was not disclosed.
From 1980-97, Neinas was executive director of the College Football Association, an agency created by several big conferences that sought to wrest control of their TV rights from the NCAA.
Two key members, Georgia and Oklahoma, sued the NCAA and a 1984 Supreme Court ruling in their favor effectively made the CFA a separate business from the rest of college sports. It gave Neinas a key seat at the negotiating table.
He brought home deals worth billions in the 1980s and ’90s, and those huge contracts set the stage for today’s industry, currently highlighted by a TV deal worth $7.8 billion for the College Football Playoff.
After the CFA disbanded in 1997 — with conferences taking their TV rights into their own hands and the Bowl Championship Series, the precursor to today’s playoff, about to start — Neinas founded a consulting firm that helped schools create policies and hire athletic directors and coaches.
He was CEO of Ascent Entertainment Group, which owned the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche and their arena when they sold to Liberty Media Group in 2000.
But his passion was college sports. He served as interim commissioner of the Big 12 from 2011-12, solidifying that conference during one of many surges of realignment by adding TCU and West Virginia.
In a 2014 interview with The Associated Press, Neinas envisioned a future that looks much like today as he pondered lawsuits against the NCAA that would eventually lead to players being paid.
“There is a need for some changes,” Neinas said. “The auto industry is always trying to improve their model. College athletics should do the same. But the basics are still sound.”
Born in Wisconsin, Neinas was a longtime Colorado resident and was living in Boulder at the time of his death.
After working as a play-by-play man for Wisconsin football and basketball, Neinas got a job with the NCAA, where he served as an assistant executive director from 1961-71. He became commissioner of the Big Eight Conference in 1971 until moving to the CFA.
During his Big Eight tenure, Neinas chaired the committee that recommended the NCAA withdraw from the U.S. Olympic Committee. That led to a major reorganization and the passing of the Ted Stevens Amateur Sports Act that governs the Olympics in the U.S. today.
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