Lacrosse

Slow start hurts Philadelphia Waterdogs in Loss to New York Atlas in Semifinals

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David Malandra Jr
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David Malandra Jr Sports Editor

I am Sports Reporter that covers Pro & College Sports in Philadelphia & any other events that are featured in Philadelphia

All posts by David Malandra Jr
Sports Editor

Published01 Sep 2025

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Philadelphia, PA: As the entire nation celebrates the Labor Day Holiday, Lacrosse would take center stage in Chester, PA, as the Premier Lacrosse League would bring the Semifinals to the home of the Philadelphia Union in Subaru Park in Chester, PA.

The Philadelphia Waterdogs would be in the 1st game of the Semifinals as they took on the New York Atlas. The Waterdogs booked their trip to Subaru Park by taking down Maryland in the quarterfinals in Minnesota, while the New York Atlas had been off for three weeks & made their way to Chester off a win over the Philadelphia Waterdogs back on August 9 in Boston.

Lineup:

How the game went:
The New York Atlas would score the game’s first 6 goals & 2 of them were on the Powerplay, before the Waterdogs would get on the board with a Blast from the point from Ben Wayer, which was a 2-point goal

 

The New York Atlas would take a 6-2 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. What can the Waterdogs do after a very slow 1st quarter?  Ben Wayer would strike for the 2nd time in the 2nd quarter for his 2nd 2-point goal & the Waterdogs would down 6-5 with 6:37 left in the 2nd quarter.  CJ Krist would strike to cut the lead down to 1 at 7-6 in the second quarter

 

New York Atlas would take an 8-6 lead over the Waterdogs into halftime. After getting off to a slow start, the Waterdogs would not back down and attempted to make this a game in the second half for a chance to play for the Title.

The Philadelphia Waterdogs would try to cut into the lead, but every time they did, New York would have a response & going into the 4th quarter, the New York Atlas would have a 12-7 lead. The waterdogs would fight back to cut the lead down to 2 at 13-11 on a huge 2-point goal from Jimmy Freehill

Could the Waterdogs pull off some late game heroics & the answer would be NO, as New York would hold on for a 13-11 win & advance to the Championship

You’ve got to like the fight & effort that the Philadelphia Waterdogs showed to not give up and show that they show why Philadelphia keeps fighting to the end.

Postgame:

Philadelphia Waterdogs coach Bill Tierney:

New York Atlas Coach Mike Pressler: