With a narrow 12-9 victory over the Rochester Rattlers (4-7), the Denver Outlaws (11-0) remain the sole unbeaten team in Major League Lacrosse.
The victory in Rochester extends the MLL record for best start to a season at 11-0, while extending their regular season winning streak to seventeen. It also puts Denver head-and-shoulders above the rest of the league in playoff positioning.
While the 12-9 victory was the closest of the season for the Outlaws, they only trailed the Rattlers once early in the first quarter. Leading the attack was All-Star attackman Brendan Mundorf,contributing five points off of two goals and three assists to earn the Player of the Game honors. Fellow attackman Chris Bocklet also netted a pair of goals, pushing his season points total to 44 – second in the MLL in scoring.
Rochester got on the scoreboard first to take an early short-lived lead, before Mundorf found All-Star midfielder Jeremy Sieverts on the two-point arc to put it away. Denver went on to score three more goals before Rochester could answer – led by an unassisted goal and another assist by Mundorf to end the first up 5-2.
After a defensive start to the second quarter, the Rattlers found the back of the net just under five minutes into the quarter. The Outlaws responded quickly with back-to-back goals from attack man Zack Greer and Bocklet, but they would be the only goals in the quarter for Denver.
Rattlers attack man Ned Crotty kept the defense on their toes, assisting on two goals in the quarter and tallying an unassisted goal. Despite being out-scored 3-2 in the quarter, the Outlaws took a 7-5 lead into halftime.
Rookie sensation attack man Eric Law found Bocklet 30 seconds into the second half to start the scoring, followed shortly by two more Denver goals as they opened up the third on a three-goal run. Rochester was able to keep the ball out of its net the rest of the quarter, while scoring two to close the third with a 10-7 score.
The Rattlers netted an early-fourth quarter goal that was followed by a second shortly after to cut the Denver lead to 10-9. The Outlaws defense dug in, though, not allowing Rochester to tie, or score the rest of the game. Mundorf netted his second of the game midway through the quarter, before the game was put out of reach off a late goal with 21 seconds left.
The 12-9 win on the road gives Denver a solid three-game lead for first in the MLL, while also making them the only team in league history to go 11-0 to start a season.
The Outlaws return home July 27 to host Chesapeake, who also gave Denver a close 13-9 game earlier this season.
