Di Miller, Beat Writer Denver Outlaws
Lacrosse is Awesome
The Denver Outlaws (5-2) who were sitting in first place heading into last Saturday’s contest, hosted the Boston Cannons (3-5) who had only been victorious in two games in 2017. The Cannons led the series 11-9 and as all Denver fans know, it’s always a battle when the Cannons come to town. Saturday’s game was no different and the 6,838 Denver fans were excited with the non-stop action, but disappointed with the outcome. The game was very aggressive throughout, and the shocker was the Outlaws being held to only two goals in the final 30 minutes of play. Final Score: Boston 16—Denver 9.
Denver came out gunning first with Rookie Zach Currier (2G, 1A) from Princeton University, who was drafted by the Outlaws in the 1st Round of the MLL Collegiate Draft and sixth overall notching an unassisted diving goal at the 2:46 mark. Boston would answer back with Rookie and phenom Sergio Perkovic (Notre Dame) chosen second overall in the draft scoring his first MLL career goal and an unassisted goal at that to tie the game at 3:49. Right at that moment, the Cannons bench was calling for the ball for the souvenir box Perkovic has assembled over his years in the game. Mike Bocklet who leads the Outlaws in goals would score off the assist from Jeremy Sieverts and let it rip past Tyler Fiorito 
who was named Warrior Defensive Player of the Week. Kyle Jackson would send it between the pipes with an unassisted shot past Jack Kelly at 7:20; followed up by Kylor Bellistri (4G, 4A) would start his stellar night (assist Brodie Merrill) at 7:44. At 10:35, Matt Landis defenseman for the Cannons would be nailed with an unnecessary roughing call and Eric Law would stretch out for the unassisted power-play goal at 11:01 (3G, 1A) tying the game at three apiece. Davey Emala would close out the quarter with his first of five goals (assist Bellistri) and only 1:17 remaining in the frame. The fans would see more penalties in the first 15 minutes of play than they would for the remainder of the game. It all started with Greg Downing (Denver) one minute for unnecessary roughness; Matt Landis (Boston) one minute for unnecessary roughness; Kevin Buchanan (Boston) 30 seconds for holding; and Matt Bocklet (Denver) one minute for slashing. Score at the end of one: Boston 4—Denver 3.
The second quarter would be high scoring and fast paced. The Outlaws would go on a three-goal run with Matt Kavanagh starting it off for Denver in the second with one of his classic push and shove goals sneaking it in past Fiorito off the sneaky assist from Law at 1:04. Drew Snider, midfielder for Denver would spin and dodge off the defender and with his classic wind up, opened up his stance and hit net (assist Mike Bocklet) at 2:35. The Law and Kavanagh team would put it together again, this time with Law 
notching his second in the contest giving the Outlaws a two-goal lead. Bellistri would pop an unassisted goal and hit twine at 8:46 cutting the lead to one only to be followed up by another laser from Snider (assist Currier) at 11:33. This would be the last time the Outlaws would lead in the contest. Boston would close out the first half off a shot from Justin Turri (assist Bellistri); and Will Manny would notch a true hat-trick scoring the final three in the first half at 12:34 (assist Joe Nardella); only 13 seconds later at 12:47 (assist Bellistri); and unassisted with only eight seconds in the quarter. There would be only two penalties in the second, both pushing calls against Denver. Boston would head to the locker room with the lead 9-7.
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There was a lot of tension and frustration on the Outlaws side as they headed into the locker room at the half to regroup and see if they could put something together in the second half. Believe it or not, at the half each team had won 9 of 18 face-offs but Nardella was making the most of it with perfect flip tosses to his wing middies and a watchful eye after the whistle and clamp at X.
Again, the Outlaws would be the one to start off the scoring in the quarter. This time Law would find net with the assist to Sieverts at 1:35. This would be the first of the last two goals the Outlaws would score for the remainder of the third quarter and the game for that matter. Bellistri would strike back with the hat-trick unassisted at 4:23; and after almost five minutes the Cannons would strike again. Emala (assist Bellistri) hit net at 9:04; then Bellistri with yet another unassisted goal less than a minute later. In that six minute span, it was the Emala—Bellistri show and the Denver fans were silent. Currier would get his second on the night for Denver less than a minute later giving the Outlaws their final goal of the night. Emala would close out the third (assist Manny) at 11:13. For the remainder of the frame, fans would see pushing and shoving; tempers flaring on the Outlaws side of the field while excitement deflated in the stands and on the sidelines. The only penalty in the third was a one-minute illegal cross check on Perkovic with 56 seconds in the frame. Denver wasn’t ready to give up the fight as the game was still within reach, so the team huddled and planned their fourth quarter strategy. Score at the end of three: Boston 13—Denver 9.
With 15 minutes to go, the Outlaws were playing tough defense with good man coverage, but they couldn’t get the offense firing on all cylinders. Boston would control a low scoring fourth with Jackson getting his second (assist Max Siebald) at 1:56. For the next 10 minutes the fans would not see a ball hit net. Sieverts who is usually a high-powered scoring machine attempted numerous shots during the game, including at least three 2pt shots with no success. Michael “Tree” Simon attempted his famous 2pt shot and with his 6’3” frame, six foot long D-pole and enormous stride let it rip, but unfortunately it went wide of the net. Denver couldn’t buy a goal in the fourth. Finally after those dreadful 11 minutes passed, Emala would close out the game with two more for Boston at 11:16 and 12:14 (both assists to Scott Bieda). We’d see no penalties in the fourth. Final Score: Boston 16—Denver 9.
The Outlaws had suffered their worst loss since May 14, 2016 when they were defeated by the Atlanta Blaze 23-12; and Boston would widen the series gap to 12-9.
Denver was coming off the bye week and looked out of sync yet Boston came out of the tunnel with fire in their eyes. Tommy Kelly who was better in FO% than Joe Nardella heading into Saturday’s game ended up with only 12 of 29 on face-offs. Denver would take 27 shots on goal, but as evidenced by the score, they weren’t the usual on the mark shots you would see from Denver. Tyler Fiorito was amazing between the pipes with 18 saves on 27 shots, and was awarded for his efforts as Warrior Defensive Player of the Week. Boston had outscored Denver in each of the four quarters and the deficit, although not overwhelming could have been overcome in the fourth quarter if the Outlaws had played quality lacrosse. The Cannons man defense was fantastic with their three-on-one man coverage dominating the powerful Denver offensive attack.
Denver now needs to regroup and figure out what went wrong; what went right; and what they need to do heading into this weekend’s game against the New York Lizards (3-4). The Outlaws are now statistically in second place behind the Ohio Machine due to a one goal differential.
Ohio heads to Boston to face the Cannons at Harvard Stadium on Thursday June 23. The last time the two teams met, Ohio walked away with a narrow 13-12 victory in OT. If Ohio can do it again and Denver can defeat the Lizards, they will take back sole possession of first place.
Di Miller, Beat Writer Denver Outlaws
Lacrosse is Awesome