Philadelphia Waterdogs attackman CJ Kirst talks PLL playoffs, Rob Pannell’s points record, and more

Philadelphia Waterdogs attackman CJ Kirst enters Saturday’s regular season matchup with the New York Atlas at Subaru Park in Chester, PA, with the chance to break the PLL’s all-time single-season goal record. Marcus Holman has held that record (30) since 2023. If Kirst doesn’t get the record-breaking 31st goal on Saturday, he’ll have the chance again on Sunday against the Maryland Whipsnakes in the regular-season finale.

Maryland, of course, has the all-time record holder for points in outdoor lacrosse, Rob Pannell. As Kirst told me, Pannell has been a mentor since his days at Cornell. Pannell was a Big Red lax legend over a decade before Kirst arrived in Ithaca.

I spoke with Kirst about Pannell’s record that was set in July, and whether he’s eyeing it, the PLL playoffs, and the Global Lacrosse Games ahead of his potentially historic weekend in the Philly metro.

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On Ryan Boyle and Brian Dougherty calling him the best player in lacrosse right now on the Freeze It Right Here podcast…

“That's amazing to hear. That’s pretty cool to hear, but obviously it's still a long way to go, which is probably the most exciting part for me personally. I love having the opportunity to play the game at a professional level. And I'm excited to continue to play with the Waterdogs and the Toronto Rock. And I'm so lucky to be a part of those organizations. Hopefully with this season, the main goal is winning a championship. And I think we have a pretty good group together right now and that's kind of the main goal and the main focus right now. Although it's pretty cool to hear that stuff. Hopefully we can win a championship this year and keep the momentum going. We'll see what happens.”

On the Waterdogs’ biggest hurdle to overcome to win the PLL Championship…

“I think it's about heating up at the right time. We have a huge homecoming weekend coming up to close out the regular season. We want to be playing our best lacrosse as we head into that weekend and head into the playoffs. It’s about having the mental buy-in and the strength of knowing that we have the right group to do it. We have the right locker room and even though we have a bunch of young guys who are kind of going through this process for the first time, I think guys are playing with a ton of confidence…

“I think that's going to be the biggest factor as we move towards the end of this regular season into the playoffs… just continuing to play with confidence and trusting one another. Hopefully we can keep that momentum going and play our best lacrosse."

On the PLL and WLL helping introduce the Global Lacrosse Games…

“I think it's incredible. Having lacrosse in the Olympics is going to be huge for the sport and huge for growing the sport as well. I think having the opportunity to hopefully be involved in that event would be huge. And obviously, anytime you get to represent your country is an incredible feeling and an incredible opportunity. You don't take that for granted. So, hopefully to have that opportunity to suit up would be huge, but, just to see that the sport is prioritized in sixes and trying to grow that as the Olympics approach is going to be huge. And having that partnership with the NLL…it's going to be some of the best players in the world competing during that week. I'm a huge fan of it. And I can't wait to not only watch it, but to see what it does for the sport as a whole.”

On Rob Pannell breaking the all-time points record for outdoor lacrosse…

“Rob has been a mentor of mine and especially at Cornell, our relationship was able to grow… he’s one of the best players to ever pick up a stick. Certainly, he's done it at all levels. He's done it for Team USA. He's done it in the pros, in college, and, for myself, having a player like that to look up to, and more specifically, to have a Cornell guy to look up to, where he went through the same situation, the same four years that I did...our relationship is definitely really strong because of that. And, I've been pretty grateful to have the opportunity to share the field with him. Even though we don't play on the same team every weekend, just to see that he's still dominating at the level that he's at right now for his 14th year speaks volumes…

“It’s something that I definitely idolize as well and hope to follow. Just knowing that all the work and all the time that he's put in... it is truly amazing. And yeah, something that I definitely, definitely appreciate and I know he's earned every second of that record. I just want to congratulate him on that as well.”

On if he’s eyeing Rob Pannell’s record…

“(Laughs) I mean, I hope to play the game as long as possible and to see the numbers that he's put up, but that's going to be definitely really hard to touch. So we'll see what happens. But that's definitely something he's earned with a lot of time put in. We'll see what happens in the future.”