Atlas Wrap Up Playoff Spot, Whipsnakes Ride Strong Finish to Win

SAN DIEGO — The New York Atlas wrapped up a playoff spot, while the Maryland Whipsnakes improved their own postseason chances.

That was the story on a sun-splashed Sunday afternoon at the University of San Diego’s Torero Stadium, as the Premier Lacrosse League continued to roll towards the backstretch of the regular season.

One day after the Boston Cannons became the first team in the PLL to clinch a playoff spot, the Atlas (6-2) joined them with a 12-11 win over the struggling Philadelphia Waterdogs (1-6).

“I’m excited and the whole team is excited to be in this position,” said New York’s Trevor Baptiste, who scored a pair of goals and won 70 percent of his faceoffs. “It shows all the hard work we have put in and how we have taken steps forward, especially when you put it into perspective where we came from last season. We’re a completely different team. We’re playing well together and specifically about today, we figured out a way to get it done.”

It wasn’t easy.  

After New York jumped out to 4-1 and 5-2 first-quarter leads, Philadelphia coach Bill Tierney made a goalie change, going from Dillon Ward to Matt DeLuca.

The Waterdogs got back into the game by increasingly gaining an edge in possession and thanks to two-point goals from Jake Carraway and Ryland Rees.

With continued strong possession and crisp ball and player movement, Philadelphia scored the final five goals of the first half and went into halftime with a 9-6 lead following goals from Ethan Walker, Jack Hannah and Kieran McArdle.

After trailing 9-6 at halftime, the Atlas outscored the Waterdogs 6-2 the rest of the way and emerged with a victory that wasn’t ensured until the game’s closing seconds.

After Rees nailed a two-pointer to draw the Waterdogs within a goal with 31 seconds remaining, Philadelphia’s Alec Stathakis won the ensuing faceoff and Tierney called timeout.

The Waterdogs set up for a final opportunity, but after a two-pass sequence, they turned it over. The Atlas ran out the clock for the victory.

Turnovers proved to be a major factor for the Waterdogs all day, as they finished with 21 — 10 of which were unforced.  

For the Atlas, Jeff Teat finished with three goals to add this PLL single-season record (23), and goalie Liam Entenmann (17 saves) made two crucial stops in the final two minutes to help preserve the win.

“You have to give it to the Waterdogs and Coach [Tierney],” Atlas coach Mike Pressler said. “They’re 1-5. We get up, what, 4-1? You’d think some doubt would creep in for them. No way. He makes the goalie change and the second guy comes in and stones us. We’re down three at halftime but no panic. Then I thought in the second half, we were all over those guys. Everywhere … they get the [two-pointer] at the end to make it interesting, but we were able to get stops. So, thrilled to be 6-2 and have a playoff berth behind us and not hanging over our head.”

The highlight of the game was provided by Teat at 5:16 of the fourth quarter when he wrapped around the goal, fought off a defender and snapped a one-handed backhand past DeLuca to give the Atlas a 12-9 lead.

Prior to the game, the teams and fans paused for a video tribute to Callum Robinson, who was murdered along with his brother, Jake and friend Jack Carter Rhoad, while on a surfing and camping trip to Baja California, Mexico, in April.

Five suspects have been arrested by Mexican authorities and charged with the murders.

Callum, who was born in Australia and lived in San Diego for several years, played for the Atlas as well as the Chesapeake Bayhawks, Atlanta Blaze and the Australian national team.

Waterdogs defensive midfielder Jake Richard, who played with Robinson for the Atlas, is honoring Robinson by wearing No. 10.

WHIPSNAKES RIDE STRONG FINISH

A pair of goals from Zed Williams and another from Jack Koras on an assist from Williams over the final 2:38 of the game helped the Whipsnakes (3-4) snap a two-game losing skid with a 18-13 victory over the host California Redwoods (2-5) in the second game of the day.

The game’s other key stretch came in the second quarter when the Whipsnakes outscored the Redwoods 6-0 in order to take a 10-5 lead into halftime.

Midfielder Tucker Dordevic, who returned to the lineup last week after recovering from a foot injury, opened that strong second quarter with a goal off an assist from Levi Anderson.  

Dordevic then followed a goal by Matt Rambo with a pair of two-point scores.

He added a third two-pointer in the fourth quarter to make it 15-10 after the Whipsnakes killed a California two-minute power play.

“The other five guys around me do a great job of dodging and being the guy moving it, so I’m lucky to be the beneficiary out there,” said Dordevic, the 2023 PLL Rookie Of The Year. “Truthfully, you just have to pick and choose when to shoot. I like when traffic is in front of the goalie. Picking the right time to shoot definitely helps.”

Joining Dordevic with big games were Williams (three goals, one assist) and Joe Nardella, who scored two goals immediately after winning a faceoff and set up another with a hockey assist.

Nine Whipsnakes scored goals, and goalie Brendan Krebs finished with 13 saves.  

California’s Rob Pannell became the third player in professional field lacrosse history to reach 600 career points.

Cole Kirst added three goals for the Redwoods, who defeated the Carolina Chaos on Saturday and were hoping for a weekend homecoming sweep to boost their own playoff hopes.

Failure to capitalize on that late two-minute penalty and 21 turnovers conspired to doom the Redwoods.

The Whipsnakes now get to serve as the homecoming team next week in Baltimore with games against the Waterdogs and Cannons, while the Redwoods face the Denver Outlaws at Homewood Field on the campus of Johns Hopkins.  

“Look, our backs were against the wall,” Whipsnakes coach Jim Stagnitta said. “We needed a win. We’ve been knocking on the door. Today, we were able to execute some things better. Our effort has been terrific, and today it came together. We played with a little more force, had better execution and put the ball in the back of the cage.”