Photo Credit: Di Miller
On July 23, the MLL held their weekly Coaches Conference Call and Denver Outlaws Head Coach B.J. O’Hara was asked about the change of goalies in the game against the Florida Launch on July 20. Coach O’Hara said:
“Obviously that was a contingency that we had talked about before the game. Goalie Jesse Schwartzman was coming off a long two weeks where he played awfully well, and helped the United States get to the championship game. Given the heartbreak of the result for the US players, we left it up to him, he told us that he wanted to try to help the team, and wanted to get in there and start. We didn’t know what to expect. He was just not himself, understandably. Charlie knew going in that there was a chance that this could be the scenario, he was ready to go and particularly before halftime he made some huge saves. We were down 8-5 and it could have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for Charlie. Early in the second half I thought the guys settled down a bit, and starting shooting better. I thought we were a little bit antsy shooting the ball in the first half, missed some that we typically would have had, and Florida Launch goalie Brett Queener made some big saves for them. Once some of those shots started to fall we got gathered a bit and got it going our way.”
Then he was asked about the importance and versatility of Jeremy Sieverts. Here’s what he had to say:
“I think any team in the league would be glad to have him. We’re just glad he’s wearing an Outlaws jersey. He does everything well. He competes hard, he’s got good size and speed, he’s athletic—he’s a tremendous competitor. We’ve a got a lot of confidence in his ability to put the ball in and play the goalie from anywhere. He works hard on it during the week. Having him put in a two-pointer at a critical point in the game and give us the lead for the first time was huge, and lifted the whole team up.”
Tell us about facing Ohio with play-off scenarios at stake. Coach O’Hara’s commented:
“Again, I’m sure all the coaches have said at this time of the year you’ve just got to take care of your own business, you can’t worry about what other people have at stake. We have a lot of stake and had a lot at stake this past weekend. We do again this week against a very much improved Ohio team. What went on in May (the first time the teams played each other) I don’t think has a lot of bearing on what’s going to happen this week. Both teams have changed their shape dramatically in terms of personnel and what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. It’s going to be a battle and like every game in the MLL, you’ve got to go into it expecting it to go down to the wire. The teams that function and make plays late in the game—they’re the ones that usually come away with the victory. That’s kind of how our approach has been. The games where we have come up short we were in them right to the end but just didn’t complete them. The close ones that we’ve won, that’s what we’ve done. I think that’s your mindset, you’ve got to expect to battle right to the end.”
How do you feel about the toughness of playing on the road in the MLL and the team’s final three-game road stretch? Coach O’Hara said:
“That’s a great point. We know going into the season that we’ve got to try to get as many wins as we can as early as we can, knowing that we have several critical games on the road at the end of the season. You try to get to town early; you try to get a good workout in the night before; you get a good walk-through in; and try to keep your routine as best you can. One thing a lot of people don’t realize is that a lot of our players are coming from the east, so it’s almost less travel for them for some of these games than when they go out to Denver for home games. We have our hands full. I think it’s going to be a nice crowd with most of them rooting against us, that’s life in the MLL.”
What do you think was John Grant Jr.’s mindset for the game Sunday after being unable to compete for Team Canada in 2014 FIL World Lacrosse Championships? He said:
“As you can imagine, when he got the news that his waiver had been denied—and unfortunately there’s a lot of misinformation out there, he never didn’t pass a drug test or anything like that, he never had to take a drug test. He was forthright and applied for a waiver knowing that the medical protocol he was following could be an issue. Seeing him after the game Saturday night when they won the World Championship—he was grinning from ear-to-ear. I think he was over the fact that he wasn’t playing and he was just glad that he was able to contribute as a coach and an advisor to the gold medal. He came into the locker room on Sunday with a look in his eyes that he was going to have a special day and he really did. He’s a great team leader; and he’s obviously a very good player. One of the things that got us to engineer that trade is the fact that he has won so many championships and been involved in so many championships at so many different levels. We’re hoping that the kind of spirit that he brings can help get us to where we’d like to be.”
Tell us about the scuffle between teams at the end of the Outlaws-Launch game, and whether Chris O’Dougherty will be benched by the team for his involvement. Coach O’Hara said:
“No, no, no. It was tough game. Florida Launch Attackman Casey Powell dove—was trying to make a play—and dove into the crease, and made contact with our goalie. Charlie actually ended up getting stitches in his head from that contact. Chris just stepped in trying to protect his goalie. They just both got in it with each other. I don’t think anything too extreme came from it. The officials handled it perfectly. I haven’t heard anything from the league office so I assume it was adjudicated there and then and on we go.”
What about the play of Face-off guys Anthony Kelly, and Brent Hiken? He said:
“Anthony knows that he’s going to be a key factor for us going down the stretch. He was mentally and physically ready, and he had a great game against Launch FOGO Chris Mattes who has won his share of face-offs. He got us some key possessions, got us several possessions in a row. Then we have the ability to bring another look out there in Brent Hiken. He took the first one down and scored a goal, made the coaches look like geniuses (laughs). It just gives Kelly a little break. Brent can play in this league, he’s got a good future in this league if he can hang in and keeps working. I think having two face-off guys is a bit of a risk sometimes when you dress them because you’re going to have to give somebody else up positionally—one of your runners. But we knew it was going to be hot, and it was very hot, but that was the way we wanted to go for this game with two face-off guys dressed.”
In closing, will you continue to dress both face-off guys or will it be a week-to-week decision? He said:
“It will be week-to-week. We kind of look at sometimes we’ll even bring them in for practice and not even really decide until game-day. We try not to do too much of that but that’s basically what we did this week, we brought them both in not knowing if we were going to use both or not. We decided that given the heat and the situation that we’d do it that way. To be honest with you I don’t know what we’re going to do this week yet. But if we are fortunate enough to make the playoffs, in the past we were able to dress an extra player. I’m not sure if that’s going to be the case this year with the play-off games a week a part. Those are things every coach has to wrestle with each week—how many face-off guys; how many short stick d-middies; how many attackmen. You can’t have them all, unfortunately.”
As the In Lacrosse We Trust Beat Writer for the Denver Outlaws, I’d like to thank them for their assistance and professionalism as an MLL franchise. As always, they are a pleasure to work with.
