Charlotte Hounds coach Mike Cerino knew that his team would have to turn in a solid first quarter to have a chance to beat the Denver Outlaws.
As it turned out, the fourth quarter proved to be the difference, as the Hounds pulled ahead to knock off the previously undefeated Outlaws 18-15 on Saturday night at American Legion Memorial Stadium.
Matt Danowski, Ryan Young and John Haus had three goals apiece for Charlotte (2-4), which ended Denver’s Major League Lacrosse-record 25-game regular-season winning streak.
It was long-stick defender Mason Poli’s two-point goal just 50 seconds into the fourth quarter that put the Hounds ahead to stay, with Charlotte outscoring the Outlaws (5-1) 6-3 over the final period.
With Denver missing several key players–goalkeeper Jesse Schwartzman did not play because of an injury, No. 2 scorer John Grant Jr. did not make the trip–the Hounds managed to put up their most points since beating the Outlaws 17-15 in last year’s MLL playoffs.
Still, Denver–which also lost No. 3 scorer Chris Bocklet in the second half with a lower-body injury–managed to fight back from a 4-1 deficit early in the second quarter and lead three times in Saturday’s game, the last at 13-12 on Curtis Dickson’s goal just 27 seconds into the fourth quarter.
However, Poli’s two-pointer–his second this season–23 seconds later put Charlotte back in the lead. The Hounds would add goals by Danowski, Haus, Justin Ward and Jake Tripucka to close out the quarter.
Mike Chanenchuk–making his first MLL game appearance–added two goals for Charlotte, along with two goals by Josh Hawkins and Poli. Ward finished with one goal and three assists, and Haus added two assists.
Dickson led the Outlaws with four goals. Jeremy Sieverts and Drew Snider added three goals each, including a two-pointer by Sieverts, and Eric Law had two goals. Colin Dunster and Domenic Sebastiani both had a goal for Denver.
