The Denver Outlaws (13-0) completed a second-straight come-from-behind win Aug. 4 over the New York Lizards (3-10) on the road, leaving a single game between them and an undefeated season.
The Outlaws became the first team in Major League Lacrosse history to hit the 13-win mark in a single season, which is the latest record to fall prey to Denver’s marauding of the record book.
Attackman Chris Bocklet responded to being shut-out of the stat sheet last week versus Chesapeake with a Player of the Game performance, netting three goals and three assist to lead Denver. Midfielder Jeremy Sieverts continued his stellar play, as he also put in a hat trick on the scoring end and chipped in with an assist.
The first quarter opened up with a defensive battle before back and forth scoring put Denver behind one. New York put in the first goal of the quarter which was followed shortly by a Bocklet-assisted goal. The Lizards took a mid-quarter lead off an unassisted goal, before Sieverts answered with an unassisted goal of his own to regain the tie. With just under three minutes left Denver allowed another goal, which would be the last of the quarter to bring the score to 3-2 in favor of New York.
Sieverts found Bocklet to start the second-quarter scoring, before putting in his second goal of the match. Lizards lead scorer attackman Rob Pannell tied it up to end the two-goal run for the Outlaws, before Denver took the lead again half a minute later. New York midfielder Jo-Jo Marasco put his second goal of the game in to knot it up again, before Sieverts nailed his third goal of the half to give Denver the lead. With six seconds left, though, New York found the back of the net to send the game into halftime tied 6-6.
The Lizards opened up strong after the half, netting two goals within the first minute to build the largest lead of the night so far. Bocklet and brother defenseman Matt Bocklet completed a rare feat, as Chis hit his second goal of the game before a give and go with brother Matt for the defenseman’s second goal on the season to tie the match. Marasco netted his hat-trick goal for New York, before Chris Bocklet found midfielder Drew Snider to tie the game up with just under a half of the quarter left to play. Neither team gave up any ground defensively the rest of the quarter, sending the game into the fourth tied 9-9.
The Outlaws weren’t about to let the game slip from them late, as they opened the final quarter with a three-goal scoring run that was capped by Chris Bocklet’s hat-trick goal of the game. The Lizards found the back of the net with just over five minutes left to play, but any comeback hopes were dashed by rookie sensation attackman Eric Law and his lone goal of the contest.
The hard-fought back-and-forth victory over New York puts Denver in the rarest of air with 13 wins this season and 19-straight regular season victories – both of which are MLL records.
The Outlaws will finish the regular season on the road against the Hamilton Nationals Aug. 10 – currently the second ranked team in MLL – in a tough test before Championship weekend.
