Di Miller, Denver Outlaws Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
The Denver Outlaws (6-3) hosted the Boston Cannons (6-3) for a battle of first place in the MLL. Boston has been coming out of the gates strong in each of their games, and yesterday’s contest would be no different as they would jump to a 5-0 lead in the first eight minutes of the first quarter and never looked back. Denver on the other hand has not been looking like a team who was Number One in the league having struggled in their previous four contests narrowly beating the Bayhawks and Blaze by one goal apiece; and struggling once more losing to the Dallas Rattlers who hadn’t won a game until July 21. The loss drops Denver to second place in the league. Final Score: Boston 16—Denver 13.
Boston was able to hold three of the Outlaws leading scorers, Brendan Kavanagh; Chris Aslanian; and Zach Currier to no goals. In addition, they notched seven goals against Dillon Ward in the first driving him from the cage in favor of back-up net-minder Christian Knight at the start of the second.
The Cannons would score five answered in the first jumping out to a 5-0 lead. Will Sands (3G, 3A) opened it for Boston less than two minutes in; and over the next five minutes, they’d put up four more. Kyle Denhoff (1G); Zed Williams (4G, 1A); Ryland Rees (1G, 1A); and another from Sands at the 8:31 mark would stun the Outlaws fans. It wasn’t until there was 8:15 remaining in the first when John Grant, Jr. (2G, 1A) would come through for the team and started a four goal run. Ryan Lee (5G, 1A) who had a stellar night would score the first of five on the afternoon; and rookie Kyle Marr would score his first career MLL goal with 6:36 remaining. Lee would score the final for Denver, but their run would be stop there as the Cannons would hit right back 23 seconds letter with a bullet from their leading scorer Mark Cockerton (3G); and Williams would get another. Although the Outlaws led in ground balls 10-9; and face-offs 8-4; they couldn’t control possession and Ward wasn’t seeing the ball well in cage allowing shots to get through that he would normally have no problem stopping. Denver’s Head Coach Tony Seaman made the call at the end of the first pulling Ward and gave Christian Knight the nod heading into the second. Score at the end of one: Cannons 7—Outlaws 4.
The second quarter seemed to go on for an eternity with only one goal scored and that came early with only 2:28 off the clock. Cannons attackman Sands would notch his hat-trick on the afternoon and that was it in the second. There was one controversial goal for Denver’s midfielder Zach Currier with less than a minute left in the half which was called back. Currier had come up on the door step, lept and attempted the slam dunk. The goal was called good as evidenced by the raised hands of both referees on each side of the cage. However, the goal was reviewed and it was determined that Currier’s stick had made contact with the stick of goal keeper Nick Marrocco of the Cannons and it was called a “no goal”. Denver was still controlling the ground balls 11-6; but was 0-2 at the face-off dot.
Score at the end of two: Cannons 8—Outlaws 4.
The Outlaws would outscore the Cannons 5-4 in the third going on a three goal run to start the frame with Lee starting it off. On the ensuing face-off Max Adler (1G) would notch his lone goal of the day on a fast break, lunged at the cage and as he was diving made the shot. Tim Barber (2G) would get the first of two getting Denver to within one 8-7 and that was the closest they would get for the remainder of the contest. Boston would score back-to-back another from Williams; and Zach Goodrich finally getting on the board. But Denver would hit back once more. This continued for the remainder of the third. Each time the Outlaws would score one, the Cannons would match the score not allowing them to close the gap which had now become three. The Outlaws continued to lead in ground balls 11-9, but again were losing at the face-off dot 6-4. Score at the end of the third: Boston 12—Denver 9.
Fifteen to go and Denver needed to figure out what needed to be done or they’d be looking at back-to-back losses. Boston continued the scoring heading into the fourth with Kyle Jackson (2G, 1A) finally getting on the board with his first of two; and the other two coming from Cockerton. With time running out for the Outlaws, Grant Jr.; Kavanagh; and Lee would each notch one apiece. Andrew Newbold would be the final to score for Denver as he grabbed the ground ball, headed down the field and with a wild shot as he was falling down, found a way to get the ball past Marrocco with 1:22 remaining. Unfortunately for Denver, although they would win the ensuing face-off, they could not maintain possession and the Cannons would control the ball on the other end of the field while the clock ran out. Denver had a commanding lead at the face-off dot in the fourth 7-1; but the tables turned on the ground balls 8-12. Final Score: Cannons 16—Denver 13.
In looking at the Outlaws final scores this season, in all but one victory they have only defeated their opponents by one or two goals. The amount of talent they have on the team and the fact they have the highest number of shots on cage of any team in the league leads one to wonder what is happening within the ranks. They led this game in all categories (except turn overs) as you can see by the stats line:
TEAM STATS SUMMARY
Boston Cannons—22 SOG; 40 STOT; 36 GB; 13-32 FO; 19 TO; 26:40 TOP
Denver Outlaws—29 SOG; 56 STOT; 40 GB; 19-32 FO; 18 TO; 30:32 TOP
Boston came out strong against Denver and the Outlaws couldn’t overcome the deficit they faced in the first while tempers flared as the game progressed. Boston wanted payback for the one goal loss against Denver on their home turf on June 29 and they got it yesterday in Denver. It will be an interesting contest when these two teams meet back here on August 31, 2019 for their rematch.
NEXT UP:
The Denver Outlaws (6-3) head to Chesapeake to face the Bayhawks (6-3) at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday August 10, game time 8:00 p.m. EST and you can catch the game on www.laxsportsnetwork.com
The Boston Cannons (6-3) will host the Atlanta Blaze (5-5) at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday August 10, game time 5:00 p.m. EST and you can also catch this game on www.laxsportsnetwork.com
Di Miller, Denver Outlaws Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©