After kicking off the 2012 season with four-consecutive wins, the Denver Outlaws head into their bye week with an unbeaten 4-0 record and tied for the top spot in Major League Lacrosse.
The Outlaws found success away from Denver to kick off the season, opening with three-consecutive road wins, before returning home and blowing-out Rochester 20-7 in their home opener.
“In this league, early-season wins are important,” Head Coach Jim Stagnitta said about the team’s early success on the road. “You need to get to that nine-win mark… and getting a quick start out of the box and winning on the road, it’s important to be able to be in the hunt and the end of the year.”
Denver has found a variety of ways to net goals so far this season, as five players have put up 10 or more points up to this point in the season. The explosive offense is led by attackmen Chis Bocklet – who has already had two sock trick (six-goal) games this season – with 17 points on 15 goals and two assist, and the return of 2012 MLL MVP Brendan Mundorf with 14 points on seven goals and seven assists.
“This team is very unselfish,” Mundorf said about Denver’s offensive attack. “We all share the ball. Everyone can dodge and create, and everyone can finish. That makes us hard to stop, and creates a lot of guys scoring points.”
Mundorf’s MVP season ended with an injury in the semi-final game of the MLL playoffs in 2012, however there hasn’t been signs of any lingering effects – especially since he is coming off an indoor season with the NLL’s Philadelphia Wings.
“People are going to focus on Brendan, and that makes everyone else that much more dangerous,” Stagnitta said about Mundorf’s start to the season. “For now he is doing what he did in his MVP season last year – making everyone around him better.”
As much as the offense has contributed to the early-season success the Outlaws are experiencing, the Denver defense has contributed greatly as well. Behind nine-year veteran defenseman Lee Zink, Denver has been able to stymie the offenses they’ve been up against – keeping their opponent to under 10 goals in a game twice so far.
“He did it all last year,” Stagnitta said about Zink’s defensive abilities. “It’s part of our game plan. We actually remind the guys every week, “Don’t worry about Lee. Lee will handle his matchup. Just worry about sliding to the other guy when necessary.”
Goalie Jesse Schwartzman has put up the best record among goalies in the MLL, at 4-0, and is currently the fourth ranked goalie in terms of Goals Against Average with 10.14 goals allowed per game. Schwartzman, a seven-year veteran, has been a staple in Denver’s past success and that has not changed so far this season.
“He’s beat up. He’s getting hit with the ball. He’s been consistent,” Stagnitta said about Schwartzman. “He leads the defense. I think he’s playing as well as he had at any point last year.”
Denver is riding its longest regular-season winning streak in team history, currently at 10-straight regular season wins. With a defense capable of shutting down key players of opponent’s offenses and an explosive offense capable of scoring from all sides of the field, the Outlaws have the talent and experience to remain at the top of the MLL.
In a re-match of a gritty, week-three matchup, the Boston Cannons travel to Denver May 31 in the second leg of a three-game home stand for the Outlaws at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
