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Di Miller, Beat Writer Denver Outlaws
Lacrosse is Awesome
Opening day for the MLL and the World Champion Denver Outlaws (1-0) headed east to Charlotte to face the Hounds (0-1) at American Legion Memorial Stadium. As always on opening day, especially a season opener at home, that team wants to come away with the “W”. Although there were only 1,624 Hounds fans on hand, they were treated to an exciting night of lacrosse. All four opening day games would be decided by one goal, and Denver would come away with the win in this contest. Final Score: Outlaws 13—Hounds 12.
The Outlaws would open up the scoring with a five goal run, just as you would assume the World Champions would do. Matt Kavanagh would get it started for the Outlaws unassisted at 4:29 and 13:57, and a power-play goal at 9:56 to notch his hat-trick in the first 15 minutes of play. Mike Bocklet would get his first of four; and Eric Law would net his first of two. The only Hounds player to beat Jack Kelly in the first was Ryan Brown with only 24 seconds left in the quarter. Score at the end of one: Outlaws 5—Hounds 1.
In the second, the Outlaws would strike again with an unassisted goal from midfielder Jeremy Sieverts at 1:56. Joey Sankey would answer back with an unassisted shot of his own less than four minutes later. The Outlaws and Hounds would trade goals in the frame with Mike Bocklet (assist Kavanagh) hitting twine at 9:42; Brown for his second on the night at 9:55; and Noah Molnar (assist Law) at 12:27. For the next three and a half minutes, the fans would see a tennis match with the ball moving up and down the field and both net minders, Kelly and Charlie Cipriano holding strong in net. Score at the end of the first half: Denver 8—Charlotte 3.
Charlotte was a different team coming out of the locker room to start the third. They would dominate Denver outscoring them 3-1. Nick Doktor would hit a power-play goal (assist John Haus) at 5:51; followed by Brown for the hat-trick and the third of five goals in the game. Outlaws Midfielder Drew Snider would score one of two in the third for Denver with an unassisted bullet at 7:51.
Charlotte would hit right back with unassisted lasers from Mike Chanenchuck at 9:56 and 11:45. Again the Outlaws would be the last to score in the quarter with another unassisted shot from Sieverts at 13:24. Although the Hounds outscored the Outlaws in the third, Denver would hold the lead 10-7.
To start the fourth the Hounds would score three unanswered goals from Brown; and one apiece unassisted from Sankey and Chanenchuk (hat-trick) to tie the game at 10. But Denver wasn’t going to give in and Mike Bocklet would get his hat-trick (assist Sieverts) at 5:29 giving them the one goal lead. That’s when Brown would hit an empty net with a 2-pt shot to put the Hounds back on top with 7:31 left in the game. The Outlaws came back hard with another from Law at 10:06 to tie the game at 12. Less than one minute later Mike Bocklet would put it between the pipes unassisted at 11:03 to give Denver the lead. For the last four minutes, both goalies played tough in net not allowing another goal. Although Charlotte tried hard, and with Denver having three penalties in the fourth, they could not make that tying goal to send the game into OT. Final Score: Denver 13—Charlotte 12.
The game was a clean game with minimal penalties, in fact there was only one penalty in the first; no penalties in the second; two in the third; and three in the fourth. Five of the six penalties were called on the Outlaws with one “illegal body check”; one “holding”; and three “pushing” calls. Something you’d expect from a team that has seen several veterans retire this year including John Grant, Jr.; Max Schmidt; and Mike Skudin. Also missing from the line-up this year is Chris Bocklet who played only a few games in 2016 due to injuries and was traded to the Blaze. The Outlaws are a new team with one goal, to bring home another Steinfeld Cup in 2017.
Tommy Kelly Outlaws Midfielder would take all the face-offs, dominating with 18-28. For Charlotte Brendan Fowler was 3-10; and Kevin Massa was 7-18. The Outlaws were 1-1 on the power-play; and the Hounds were 1-5.
On the Goalie side here’s how it played out between the pipes:
Denver:
Jack Kelly—10 GA; 17 SOG; 7 Saves; .418 SV%
Charlotte:
Charlie Cipriano—13GA; 27 SOG; 14 Saves; .518 SV%
Next weekend on Saturday April 29, Denver heads to New York to face the Lizards (1-0); and Charlotte (0-1) will host the Ohio Machine (1-0).
Di Miller, Beat Writer Denver Outlaws
Lacrosse is Awesome