It was a battle for first place between the Chesapeake Bayhawks and Denver Outlaws. The Outlaws had not been at home for weeks, and they would close out the season yet again on enemy territory.
In front of over 10,000, the Denver Outlaws defeated the Bayhawks to clinch the first overall seed in the MLL Playoffs. That means they will play the fourth seeded Long Island Lizards on Championship Weekend.
Mark Matthews, Chris Bocklet and Brendan Mundorf all had three goals in this come from behind win.
Denver trailed 7-2 at the end of the first quarter but they scored five in the second and shut out the Bayhawks to have a 7-7 tie at halftime. After tying at the end of three, Denver scored three to the Bayhawks one to win 15-13.
The Outlaws beat the Bayhawks in faceoffs, 16-13, and dominated on groundballs, 40-26. Justin Pennington led the Outlaws with seven while Anthony Kelly had six.
Kyle Dixon led the Bayhawks with four goals, two of them two pointers. Drew Westervelt and Ben Rubeor also had two each.
In net, Kip Turner made eleven saves on 25 shots for the Bayhawks. He allowed fourteen goals, one of them a two pointer.
Jesse Schwartzman was the man in net for Denver, and he allowed eleven goals, two of them two pointers, and made eighteen saves to give the Outlaws the victory.
As the top seed in the league, the Outlaws finish at 11-3 as one of two teams to finish with double digit wins. They will take on the Lizards on August 25th in a battle to make the Championship game.
