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%

play

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%

play

Atlas beat Waterdogs to reach PLL championship game

New York Atlas defeat the Philadelphia Waterdogs 13-11 to advance to the PLL championship.

The NFL released a statement on Friday addressing a recent tribute to Charlie Kirk ahead of its most recent game, and said teams will be left to make their own decisions about whether to follow suit this Sunday. 

Thursday night’s game between the Green Bay Packers and Washington Commanders featured a moment of silence in honor of Kirk before kick-off. 

“Last night’s moment was the league’s decision. It’s up to the clubs for this Sunday’s games,” the league’s statement read, per multiple reports.

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The statement further addressed the context of the tribute, comparing it to other moments of silence following tragedies. 

“There have been moments following school shootings or an attack on a house of worship such as the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018. There also have been moments following major international incidents such as Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023 and weather-related incidents such as major hurricanes and fires,” the statement continued. 

“This is in addition to honoring those in the NFL family from tributes to recently passed players or personnel, or a player such as Damar Hamlin in 2023. The NFL also honored before Super Bowl LIV NBA star Kobe Bryant and the other victims of the helicopter crash (Gianna Bryant, Sarah and Payton Chester, Christina Mauser, Ara Zobayan) and also Pro Football Hall of Famer Chris Doleman who passed that week.” 

The league made reference to sweeping changes to field and pre-game protocols following the death of George Floyd in 2020, and moments of silence following other tragedies in the past calendar year. 

TIMELINE OF CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION 

“Lift Every Voice and Sing has been performed at league events since 2020 following the murder of George Floyd and the events of the summer of 2020, including last Thursday during the Kickoff game in Philadelphia. It is also performed before the Super Bowl,” the statement continued. 

“This summer before the Hall of Fame game in Canton, the league honored the victims and those impacted by the attack at 345 Park Avenue. During Week 18 games last season, the NFL honored the victims of the Bourbon Street terrorist attack. Also, that season the NFL held a moment to recognize those lost in the deadly crashes near Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia and also prior to the Vikings-Rams Wild Card game that was moved from LA to Arizona due to the wildfires.”

At least one NFL team has already made it a point to fire an employee who made insensitive comments after Kirk’s assassination. 

The Carolina Panthers fired Charlie Rock, a member of the team’s communications department, after social media posts linked to Rock appeared to show him questioning why people were sad that Kirk had been shot and killed. 

“The views expressed by our employees are their own and do not represent those of the Carolina Panthers,” the team said in a statement posted to social media. “We do not condone violence of any kind. We are taking this matter very seriously and have accordingly addressed it with the individual.”

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Elsewhere in American sports, the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs each held a moment of silence ahead of recent games to honor Kirk following the assassination on Wednesday. Meanwhile, MLB has instructed all teams to, at the very least, keep all American flags at half-staff throughout the weekend in honor of Kirk. 

“MLB asked all of the Clubs to follow the direction of the White House Presidential Proclamation and fly flags at half-staff in their ballparks,” an MLB spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

The NHL, NBA and WNBA have made no official statements addressing Kirk’s assassination. Fox News Digital has reached out to all three leagues to ask if they would, but has not received a response. 

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

We are back!

The international break is finally over, and with it comes a weekend packed with mouthwatering matchups across Europe.

We kick things off in the Premier League, where Nottingham Forest — now under new manager Ange Postecoglou after the sacking of Nuno Espírito Santo — travel to face Arsenal. We also have some other great matches which include Newcastle United, now without striker Alexander Isak, taking on Wolverhampton Wanderers, and a London derby between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur.

In LaLiga, Real Sociedad take on Real Madrid, in the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich meet Hamburg, while Serie A delivers one of the biggest games of the season: the Derby d’Italia, as Weston McKennie‘s Juventus face Internazionale.

Stay tuned for all the highlights and big moments from an action-packed day in Europe.