New York Atlas vs. Boston Cannons
Paul Lamonaca: New York wins third straight behind high-powered offense
The New York Atlas avenged their first loss of the season, taking down the Boston Cannons 17-11 in Chicago. The story of the game for New York was their offense. The Atlas had seven different goal scorers in the evening behind a seven-point night from Connor Shellenberger (5G, 2A).
Atlas head coach Mike Pressler told Shellenberger prior to the game that he sensed a breakout performance coming from him.
“I told him pregame ‘tonight is your night,’” said Pressler. “Shelly demonstrated that and took a lot of pressure off of Jeff [Teat] who is drawing the number one. … It was one of best games in his short career in the PLL.”
Teat and Xander Dickson both finished with notable nights as Teat tallied five points (1G, 4A) and Dickson finished with four (3G 1A). New York’s attack unit combined for 16 points on the evening.
Trevor Baptistse continued his 2025 tear, winning 17-of-27 (63%) at the stripe while scooping up nine ground balls. While not a jaw dropping performance from Baptiste, his ability to consistently finish above the 60% threshold has become a standard practice throughout his career. Above 50% is always considered to be a “good’ game from a faceoff specialist.
Baptiste credited his teammates, especially his wings for his ability to play at such a high level each week.
“It takes a team to win the ball,” said Baptiste. “It’s not just on any one guy, everyone has to be on the same page. And also following through that, when you do pick up the ball it’s not done, the time goes by very fast so just be very efficient.”
Defensively for New York, they held the Boston Cannons to just 38 shots who only converted on 26.3% of their opportunities. Goalkeeper Liam Entenmann finished with 11 saves and Gavin Adler caused three turnovers.
Rookie defenseman Michael Grace continued to shine for New York on both ends of the field. Grace found the back of the net early in the first quarter on a long range two-pointer and dished out an assist to Jake Stevens in the second half. Grace also picked up two ground balls in New York’s defensive half and has notched a point in each of his last three games.
Up next for New York: Friday, July 18 vs. California Redwoods (6:30 p.m. ET)
Sarah Griffin: Shellenberger, Atlas surge past a struggling Boston Cannons
It was only a few weeks ago the Cannons were the top-dog in the East: suddenly, that feels like a lifetime ago.
Boston dropped their second straight game Friday night, falling 17-11 to the New York Atlas in a matchup that slipped away early and stayed out of reach. Despite a push in the fourth quarter vying for a dramatic comeback, it was too little too late for the Boom Squad. Atlas jumped out to a commanding 6-2 lead in the first quarter, punishing Boston in transition and capitalizing on defensive breakdowns. By halftime, the Cannons trailed 11-3 and, somehow, the gap felt even wider than the scoreboard suggested.
“We weren’t organized,” head coach and general manager Brian Holman remarked after the game. “I’ll take responsibility for that.”
While there’s no one person at fault for Boston’s funk as of lately, there’s a lot to be looked at in the locker room when it comes to their transition game – or lack thereof.
Coming into Friday night’s matchup, Holman said it was a goal for his team to clean things up in transition. Unfortunately, that goal did not come to fruition.
“We got out-transitioned by Atlas,” he explained. “Maybe we’ll have to pull back on transition a little bit.”
He did note that, while transition continues to be lacking, the settled offense started to come alive as the game progressed. Boston outscored New York 4-3 in the final frame, largely powered by the vision and precision of Asher Nolting (4P, 1G, 3A). “Mr. Consistent” Ryan Drenner also got in on the action with a goal in the fourth, as well as rookie Coulter Mackesy and midfielder Matt Campbell, who continues to make his case as the top midfielder in the league.
With a tough stretch ahead in the second half of the season, Boston will need to build off of what went right, and clean up quickly where it went wrong. The margin for error in this league is slim, and the gap between a playoff run and mid-season slide can widen quickly.
Up next for Boston: Saturday, July 19 vs. Denver Outlaws (3 p.m. ET)
Utah Archers vs. Philadelphia Waterdogs
Mike Bolger: Waterdogs midfield fuels balanced attack against Archers
“We ball, not me ball,” continues to fuel the Philadelphia Waterdogs’ success, matching their season-high in points, 16, against the Utah Archers.
Nine different players in the throwback purple, white and green uniforms scored during the electric outing. Of those, six were from the midfield unit, including Alec Stathakis.
“Stathakis is as improved as anyone in the league,” Archers head coach Chris Bates said postgame.
Stathakis was at the heart of it all, dominating the faceoff stripe with a career-best 81.5% win rate. His performance not only set the tone, but also sparked scoring opportunities, including a few picks to free players like Michael Sowers up and score a goal of his own.
“When our middies get going, that’s when we’re at our best,” attackman Kieran McArdle said. “It’s going to be a tough offense to stop the rest of the season.”
Connor Kelly had his long-awaited breakout, notching four points (1G, 1T, 1A), including two goals during a blistering 9-0 first-half run. Rookie LSM Ben Wayer added to the fireworks with the Waterdogs’ first two-pointer of the season, finishing with a career-high three points.
Despite a late push from the Archers, history was made as McArdle scored his 499th and then his 500th career point during a crucial fourth-quarter power play, becoming just the seventh player in league history to reach that milestone.
“He’s just the ultimate professional,” Kelly said. “The way he prepares and leads … I’d follow him any day of the week.”
With nine caused turnovers and just four saves needed, Philadelphia’s defense quietly backed a balanced offensive display. It was a complete team effort to keep pace with the Atlas in the East.
Up next for Philadelphia: Saturday, July 19 vs. Maryland Whipsnakes (8 p.m. ET)
Zach Carey: Second half surge isn’t enough as Archers’ offensive woes continue
The Archers’ offense continued to be plagued by scoring droughts in the club’s third consecutive loss. A 16:54 drought from midway through the first quarter through late in the second saw the Waterdogs go on a 9-0 run and build an 11-2 advantage that the Archers could not overcome.
“We started off slow and then just couldn’t dig ourselves out of that hole,” rookie Sam King said postgame.
King (4G) provided a much-needed bright spot in the second half as he got comfortable at his natural attack position and gave the Utah offense life. In his season debut, Tre Leclaire (2G) was the only other player with multiple goals for the Archers with Grant Ament (3A) and Tom Schreiber (3A) contributing as distributors.
Utah continued to find winning matchups difficult, especially as the Waterdogs were hesitant to slide. Schreiber, Ament and Connor Fields – the team’s three leading scorers in 2024 – shot 0-for-12 on the evening.
“We’ve got to find ways to win matchups,” Bates said after the loss. “We’ve got to get Fieldsy back on track a little bit and Tom on track a little bit. But, it’s a vet group. We feel like we’re getting there little by little.”
Faceoffs are another area of sustained-weakness for the Archers. With Mike Sisselberger on the Injured List due to a finger injury, the club signed Jake Naso to the roster this week. Naso and the Archers won 6-of-29 faceoffs (20.7%) which resulted in a 3:42 possession disadvantage and contributed to Utah shooting 11 fewer shots than Philadelphia.
“Possession discrepancy obviously hurts us,” Bates said. “I think Jake’s going to figure it out. He had a successful college career as one of the best guys ever. … So, we believe in his fight, that’s why we picked him up.”
The Utah defense had its worst performance of the season, allowing 16 points to a Waterdogs offense that got hot early behind Sowers and McArdle. Philly consistently put the Archers in tough spots with switched picks forcing rotations.
The Archers now stand 2-4 on the season with three matchups against Western Conference opponents in the next two weeks. Next Friday’s game against the Carolina Chaos is looking awfully close to a must-win for the Archers’ playoff chances before they go home to Salt Lake City to host the California Redwoods and Denver Outlaws in two more crucial matchups.
Up next for Utah: Friday, July 18 vs. Carolina Chaos (9 p.m. ET)
