The top two teams in the Premier Lacrosse League are facing off on Saturday (1 p.m. ET on ABC/ESPN+), as the Denver Outlaws host the New York Atlas.
Both teams enter the game 6-2, atop their respective conferences, and have clinched playoff berths; in fact, the team that wins this game will clinch the No. 1 seed in its conference. Is this game a preview of the 2025 championship?
Here's more on the matchup:
Injury report
Outlaws: A Pat Kavanagh questionable (left shoulder), SSDM Alexander Smith IR (right hamstring)
Atlas: D Brett Makar out (medical)
Series history
The two clubs have met just once before, on July 5, 2024. The Atlas won that game in a lopsided affair, 17-4.
Denver Outlaws vs. Utah Archers: Game Highlights
Key stats to know
These two teams account for four of the top five scorers in the league this season:
1. Connor Shellenberger (NY): 35
T-2. Michael Sowers (PHI): 34
T-2. Pat Kavanagh (DEN): 34
4. Jeff Teat (NY): 33
5. Brennan O'Neill (DEN): 30
Four of the last five No. 1 overall picks will be suiting up in this game: Jeff Teat (2021), Logan Wisnauskas (2022), Gavin Adler (2023) and Brennan O'Neill (2024). New York's Trevor Baptiste was also the first overall pick, back in 2018.
New York's Xander Dickson set a new record for most groundballs in a single season by an attackman, with 27. That broke the record that was set in 2024 by teammate Jeff Teat.
Atlas goalie Liam Entenmann and Outlaws goalie Logan McNaney are tied for first in save percentage among qualified goaltenders this season (59.1%). The two also met in the 2024 NCAA National Championship game, with Entenmann's Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeating McNaney's Maryland Terrapins, 10-5.
Other storylines
The Outlaws have four Tewaaraton Award winners on the roster (Jared Bernhardt, Logan Wisnauskas, Brennan O'Neill and Pat Kavanagh) and all of them will be mic'd up for the broadcast. O'Neill had one of the most epic mic'd up moments of the season in Week 9:
TURN UP THE VOLUME FOR THIS 🔊💥
— TLN 🥍 (@LacrosseNetwork) July 27, 2025
Brennan O'Neill was FIRED UP after scoring and eating a massive hit from Brendan Lavelle
(via @PremierLacrosse, ESPN2) pic.twitter.com/mU044OY3o0
Both of these teams had big draft classes in 2024, and those sophomore groups are playing a major part this season:
Denver:
Brennan O'Neill (No. 1 pick)
Pat Kavanagh (No. 6, traded from Boston Cannons)
Jake Piseno (No. 9)
Graham Bundy Jr. (No. 11)
Luke Wierman (No. 25)
New York:
Connor Shellenberger (No. 2)
Liam Entenmann (No. 5)
Jake Stevens (No. 10)
Tyler Carpenter (No. 26)