Di Miller, Correspondent Denver Outlaws
Lacrosse is Awesome©
The Denver Outlaws (9-5) headed to New York to face the Lizards (4-11) for the final meeting between the two teams this year. The Outlaws led the series 2-0 and would go away with the “W” although the Lizards we predicted would not go quietly. Although Denver went on an eight goal run and held a seven goal lead heading into the half, New York started off with a run of their own in the third outscoring the Outlaws 6 to 2 and gave them a run for their money. But in the end, Denver hung on for the lead and walked away with the victory to put themselves in first place in the standings while clinching a playoff spot as well. Final Score: Outlaws 15—Lizards 12.
The game got off to a slow start with almost four a half off the ticker before Denver would get on the board. Three of their rookies would put goals up starting off with newcomer Jay Drapeau (2g) at 4:25 who made his debut against Boston the week before. Jack Jasinski (1g), the MLL Cascade Rookie of the Week would be next at the 6:00 minute mark; followed by none other than Mikie Schlosser (3g, 1a) who has been on fire since his return from an injury two weeks prior with 3:30 in the frame; and Ryan Lee (4g) another outstanding star for the Outlaws having come off a stellar week before would team up with Max Adler for the final point on the board only five seconds later at 3:25. Denver would lead in ground balls 10-9; and shots on goal 9-7. New York would lead in turnovers 6-5; and face-offs 4-1. Score at the end of one: Outlaws 4—Lizards 0.
The Outlaws would continue their run with three more. It only took 10 seconds for them to get on the board and it would be from Andrew Newbold (1 2ptG), who has become “Mr. 2-Pointer”, who would score his fourth two-point goal of the year with the assist going to Adler; Drapeau would team up with veteran John Grant Jr., for his second at 4:15; and Schlosser would notch another to close out the run 39 seconds later giving them an 8-0 lead. The Lizards would finally break the run with Brendan Kearns (3g, 2a) notching the first of three on the night with 8:32 left in the half getting them on the board 8-1. For the next five and a half minutes neither offensive unit could put anything together until Lee got possession for Denver and would score unassisted increasing their lead to eight once more. With 37 seconds left, the Lizards Dylan Molloy (1g, 3a) who is second in goals for the team would find a way to the cage with a helper from Kearns to close the gap and send them to the locker room with a bit of hope. Denver would still lead in ground balls this quarter 15-10; and in shots on goal 10-6; but they would also take over in the face-off category 4-3. New York would still lead in turnovers 7-5. Score at the end of two: Outlaws 9—Lizards 2.
Just as we suspected, the Lizards would not go down without a fight and came out of the locker room with fire in their eyes. New York would outscore Denver 6 to 2 in the frame with the Big Cat, Kevin Crowley (5g) getting it started and he had a stellar quarter. With 1:12 off the ticker, Crowley would fire it past Dillon Ward with a backdoor cut far side to give the Lizards a spark. On the ensuing face-off, Adler would get his own bounce off the flip and head down the field firing it past Austin Kaut only five seconds later giving them back their seven goal lead 10-3. Play would settle for a few minutes before the Lizards points leader Rob Pannell at X would feed the ball to Crowley and with a twister shot buried it to the top of the cage with 9:41 remaining. Denver would answer back once more with Brendan Kavanagh (1g) getting on the board with the feed from Schlosser. Another three would come off the clock before the Lizards would open up with a four-goal run. Crowley and Pannell would team up once more, giving him a true hat-trick. Crowley would pull three fakes and with the twister shot buried it back door top shelf far side with 4:11 remaining. With 3:23 left in the frame, Outlaws Max Adler would get hit with an “Unsportsmanlike Conduct” one minute non-releasable penalty and the Lizards would capitalize twice. The first would give Pannell his third assist in a row, this time with Justin Reh (1g, 1a) on the door step for their first man-up goal with 2:49 left; and the second man-up from Kearns with the catch and score on the door step (assist Pannell) only 26 seconds later to close the gap 11-7. Crowley would score his 150th career goal with a catch on the run 22 seconds later at the 2:01 mark for the final in the frame. The Lizards had won in all facets of the quarter. They led in shots on goal 8-4; and ground balls 10-6. Denver had jumped ahead on turnovers 5-2; and still held a slight margin in face-offs 5-4. Score at the end of three: Outlaws 11—Lizards 8.
Scoring would be equal in the fourth at four apiece with the Lizards starting it off and Pannell (1g, 4a) getting his lone goal on the night. Molloy would feed the pass to Pannell on the back door and he’d hit low to low between the wickets on Ward 52 seconds in closing the gap to two 11-9. The score would go back and forth between the two changing from a two goal to a three goal lead twice. The Outlaws would put it back to three off a sweet goal from Lee with the nice set up from Chris Aslanian at X to Kavanagh to Lee in front of the cage, he’d bury it far side high to low at the 2:51 mark. Crowley would answer back with his final on the night with the helper from Reh, he’d find Crowley at the door step and he’d fire it over the top 12-10. The Outlaws would come back less than a minute later with the tic-tac-toe play and a feed from Kavanagh to Grant Jr.; he’d bury it inside 13-10. New York would put up two more, Nick Aponte (1g) with the catch and shoot low to low with 8:00 remaining; and the final Lizards goal, another from Kearns catching it on the door step to bury it low at 6:03 getting them to within one 13-12. Denver would be the last to score as Schlosser would notch his hat-trick straight down the alley around the defense with the hard dodge up top, he’d fire it on cage 14-12. The last goal of the game would come from Lee down low with the snipe shot low to high off the cross crease pass from Grant Jr. with 3:53 remaining. That would be it as New York couldn’t find a way to put anything together and Denver found a way to control possession for the remaining seconds on the clock. Final Score: Outlaws 15—Lizards 12.
NEXT UP:
The Denver Outlaws (9-5) head back to Denver for their final home game this season on Saturday September 14. They’ll host the Chesapeake Bayhawks (8-6). This game is crucial for the seeding’s in the playoffs as the teams were determined after this weekend’s games. The game will be played at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on the campus of DU. Game time 5:00 p.m. EST and the game can be seen on www.majorleaguelacrosse.com
The New York Lizards (4-11) have a bye-week and will play their final game of the 2019 Season at home at James M. Shuart Stadium and will host the Atlanta Blaze (8-6), game time 7:00 p.m. EST. The game can be seen on www.majorleaguelacrosse.com
Di Miller, Correspondent Denver Outlaws
Lacrosse is Awesome©