What's Next 2025: Philadelphia Waterdogs

2025 Season Result: 4-6, lost in Semifinals

Draft Selections: 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5

Pending Free Agents:

Liam Byrnes, D

Eli Gobrecht, D

Thomas McConvey, M

Christian Scarpello, SSDM

Mikie Schlosser, M

Alec Stathakis, F/O

SEASON RECAP:

The Waterdogs had a bit of an up and down adventure in 2025. They won their opener against the Whips, split their home weekend against Boston and Denver, but then had a hideous loss against New York in Baltimore. Two nice bounce back wins had them looking like they righted the ship, but an ugly weekend in Fairfield resulted in a loss to the Whips, and that started a four game skid to close the regular season. They made the playoffs, but entering the postseason on a four game losing streak is hardly anyone’s idea of a successful regular season. They won their quarterfinal matchup and gave the Atlas a hell of a game in the semifinals though. Those postseason games looked most like what should be expected in 2026, but the regular season really didn’t make much sense.

That four game game skid started the week first overall CJ Kirst made his debut, that makes no sense. Jake Taylor had at least one goal in six straight games to start the year, but didn’t appear in the lineup after 8/1. That’s puzzling. Michael Sowers again led the team with 41 points, and through the first few weeks of the season looked like the MVP, but couldn’t hold that early lead. The late season skid began to define this group. Pundit takes abounded with who should and shouldn’t be in the lineup. Ultimately the Kirst/Sowers/McArdle attack was clearly the right one. In the quarterfinals the Dogs had 14 goals, and all 14 came from that trio. That’s not a bad place to be building from.

Plenty of bright spots for this team, particularly with their youth on defense. Jimmy Freehill became a defensive mainstay and a serious transition threat, hitting a pair of clutch two point goals late in the regular season, and another one against the Atlas in the playoffs. Kenny Brower, in his first full healthy season, quickly became one of the league’s best cover men. In Philly’s home weekend, he held Marcus Holman and Brennan O’Neill to a combined 2 goals and 1 assist and 14 shots on 81 touches. Dylan Hess emerged as a top SSDM in the league, finishing as a finalist for his positional award. Ben Wayer was a late round steal, finishing with six points on the year and every bit the between the lines force he was expected to be. Alec Stathakis finished the year over 50%, and posted games over 50% against the Atlas (Baptiste), Redwoods (Ierlan for part of the game), and Chaos (Inacio). 

OFFSEASON PLAN:

A new face will make the decisions this offseason, as the Waterdogs have hired Dave Cottle as their new general manager. Cottle is a very successful coach at the college level, though before serving at Navy’s OC in 2024 he had largely stepped back from that role. In the MLL days, Cottle’s tenure as Bayhawks President and Head Coach saw the franchise stay a perennial contender, winning multiple titles. Cottle will handle all the personnel moves, while Tierney remains the head coach. 

To the roster itself, as noted with the youth, the defensive end of the field looks to be in good hands. Freehill, Brower, Hudgins, and Hess is a hell of a defensive core to build around. The Dogs swapped back and forth between Matt DeLuca and Dillon Ward in net, both are under contract again for next year, but it’ll be interesting to see if the Dogs decide to move forward with one clear goalie in mind. 

The free agent list is short, but some key names are there. Stathakis surely earned a new deal playing for his college coach in Bill Tierney; that pairing isn’t going anywhere. Thomas McConvey was much better this year as a roster regular, becoming a major threat without the ball and that has value on a roster with so many ball dominant players. Waterdog fans need to remember that Zed Williams is also on this roster, he just missed last year with an achilles injury. The logjam at attack will remain one of the key issues for this team to address.  Sowers, Kieran McArdle, Taylor, Kirst, and Williams are all natural attackmen. The trio of Sowers, McArdle, and Kirst was dynamite down the stretch even if didn’t always translate to victories. How the roster shapes with the other attackmen will be critical in 2026. 

The Dogs pick fifth in a class with some very good poles should they decide to add more. Drafting more poles likely means moving on from Byrnes and/or Gobrecht, or making Gobrecht a full time SSDM. A goalie to get younger at the position would make sense as well. The Dogs will have to be careful with offensive personnel in the draft. A roster with too many guys playing out of their natural position usually doesn’t perform well.