Five Hoos Feature in PLL Quarterfinal Action in Minneapolis

Originally posted on Virginia Cavaliers on SI
By Aidan Baller | Last updated Aug 24, 2025 1:02 PM ET

On Saturday, the Premier Lacrosse League hosted its quarterfinal matchups in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with the two games featuring five former Cavaliers across two teams. Charlie Bertrand was the star of the show, notching two goals while other Hoos impressed on the defensive end.

To kick off the weekend, the Philadelphia Waterdogs, featuring Ben Wayer and Thomas McConvey, faced off against the Maryland Whipsnakes. Wayer made his presence felt early out of the gate, leading a fast break charge down the field and finding teammate Michael Sowers to give the Waterdogs an early 1-0 lead. Wayer has made an impact in transition all season long for Philadelphia, in addition to serving a role on the wing of faceoffs, just as he did at Virginia. Wayer also added three groundballs.

For full game highlights:

As for Thomas McConvey, although he didn't register a point on the statsheet, he made a key hockey assist (assist of an assist) that saw him scoop up a crucial groundball before one-hand shoveling it to Jack Hannah, who quickly found a cutting CJ Kirst for the score to kick off the third quarter. The efforts of Wayer and McConvey helped the Waterdogs to a 14-12 win over the Whipsnakes, setting up a matchup in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Atlas featuring PLL MVP frontrunner Connor Shellenberger and Xander Dickson.

oops he did it again@cjkirst_15 has 4️⃣

: https://t.co/SlOdrRzWOB pic.twitter.com/O37zgweD8L
— Philadelphia Waterdogs (@PLLWaterdogs) August 23, 2025

In the second game, the California Redwoods, featuring Cole Kastner, Jared Conners, and Charlie Bertrand, squared off against the Carolina Chaos. Bertrand was the first to make his presence felt for the Hoos as he scored the Redwoods third goal of the night. The 27-year-old dodged down the right alley before fighting along goal line extended and then diving across the crease to score.

In the fourth quarter, Bertrand found nylon again, this time sweeping across the left side of the field and delivering a lefty hammer on the run to give the Redwoods a 14-12 lead with 2:12 left, a goal that would seal the victory for California. The game was Bertrand's first multi-goal game since the season opener against the Chaos back on May 30th.

On the defensive end, Cole Kastner recorded two groundballs while Jared Conners scooped up three as they helped their squad advance to the Western Conference semifinals, where the Redwoods will face the Denver Outlaws.

For full game highlights:

In other news, the PLL announced its end-of-season award finalists earlier this week. From the list, Connor Shellenberger was listed as a finalist for the Eamon McEneaney Attackman of the Year in addition to being tabbed as a finalist for the Jim Brown Most Valuable Player award. From these two awards, Shellenberger has made his case to win both, having led the PLL in points in the regular season with 46 (five more than the next player) as he notched 23 goals and 23 assists in addition to helping the New York Atlas to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. The end-of-season award winners will be announced on September 12th.

As for the semifinals, the California Redwoods will face the Denver Outlaws on Monday, September 1st at noon, while the New York Atlas will play the Philadelphia Waterdogs at 3 pm in Chester, Pennsylvania.