City of Champions: Philly Casually Adds Another Title To The Mix After The Waterdogs Were Crowned 2026 PLL Champions Of The World
Winning.
It's the only thing that matters. Not just in sports, but in life. You wake up every single day and you try to win regardless of what you're up against. You stack up enough wins over a select amount of time, and all of a sudden you're a champion. You have become so good at winning that you have managed to take out everyone and everything along your path to the top of the mountain.
That's what Philadelphia is all about. Sustained, championship pedigree excellence when it comes to winning. A city that was crucial to the United States of America picking up a massive win against the British in 1776. And a city that is still kicking ass 250 years later with the Philadelphia Waterdogs adding the latest piece of hardware to trophy cabinet.
If you want to talk about the greatness of the 2026 Waterdogs team, it all goes back to 2024. The Waterdogs finished the season in last place after going 2-8 on the year. But this is where you realize that not all shitty seasons are made the same. The Waterdogs weren't a bad team. They were actually a really good team who just had shitty luck. Out of those 8 losses, 6 of them were by 1-goal. Their total goal differential for the year was only -12. They lost a ton of 1-goal games, but they weren't nearly as bad as their record said they were. But thanks to that record, they had the 1st overall pick in the 2025 Draft.
With the first overall pick in that draft, they landed CJ Kirst. He won the league MVP in just his 2nd year in the league, and capped off the year by winning the Championship Game MVP yesterday with 5 goals and 2 assists. He got to join an attack lineup that already had Michael Sowers running point.
Kirst was the league MVP, and Sowers won Attackman of the Year this year. Honestly you could have flip flopped that and nobody would have said anything. The Waterdogs had 2 MVP candidates leading the way down at attack, and both of these guys want to win more than anything.
This is what winning looks like. Selling out to make every play, even if it's not scoring the ball. Michael Sowers is a hometown kid. He won a championship already with the Waterdogs in 2022, but that was before they were officially designated to the city of Philadelphia. So this was his first time winning a championship for the city he grew up in. Put him on the Mount Rushmore of Philly Lacrosse legends, of which there are many.
Obviously this team scored a ton of goals. But you don't win a championship game 14-4 unless you have an outrageous defense to make the offense's job that much easier.
I think a lot of people were confused at first when the Waterdogs decided to move on from Dillon Ward in net. He's a world class goalie and has been one of the faces of that franchise for a while. But there is so much talent at the goalie position in lacrosse right now that you can take those risks. The Waterdogs didn't go into this season thinking they'd be relying on rookie, Sean Byrne, to win a championship. But once he took over the net this year, he didn't look back. 12 saves in the championship game, held the Outlaws scoreless for 25+ minutes, and made sure the Waterdogs had that game locked up before heading back to the locker room for halftime.
You've got a guy who has won a Defensive Player of the Year before in Gavin Adler. Zach Currier is the best midfielder on the planet. And they're all led by arguably the greatest coach that the sport of lacrosse has ever seen, Bill Tierney. This team was always destined to be champions just as long as they took care of business. I'd consider a 14-4 final in the championship game as "mission accomplished".
Fuckin' champs, baby.