Major League Lacrosse

Law Helps Outlaws Cage Bayhawks; Cannons Outgun Hounds

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Rookie attackman Eric Law scored five goals to lead the Denver Outlaws to a 13-9 victory over the Chesapeake Bayhawks on Saturday night at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Bayhawks midfielders Ben Hunt and Matt Abbott scored two goals apiece to lead Chesapeake in a rematch of last year's MLL championship game.

Denver (7-0) maintained its grip on first place in the MLL standings.

"We thought [Denver] was going to be a little leaner and quicker, and we were bigger and stronger. They beat us to some big ground balls on the wings," Chesapeake coach Dave Cottle said. "I thought both goalies were great, and we didn't shoot it very well."

The Bayhawks got a sparkling, 19-save effort from goalie Kip Turner, but it wasn't enough to offset Chesapeake's shaky shooting. The Bayhawks converted on just nine of 45 shots (19.1 percent). Denver goalie Jesse Schwartzman had a major hand in Chesapeake's night by making 17 saves.

The Bayhawks trailed at halftime, 6-3, as Chesapeake managed just one score in the last 19 minutes of the first half. Denver broke out with four goals in the second period, after the teams were deadlocked at 2-2 at the end of the first quarter.

After falling behind, 9-4, early in the second half, Chesapeake went on a 3-0 run with goals from John Grant, Jr., Michael Kimmel and Ben Rubeor – who extended his point-scoring streak to 36 games.

The Bayhawks could not solve Law, who shot five for five and has recorded nine goals on nine shots in his only two games.

"[Law] is just great off the ball. He goes where the defense is not," Turner said. "Hopefully, we can get the book on him after two games. Sieverts is just a great dodger who you have to press out on to stop."

After Drew Westervelt and Abbott scored back-to-back goals to cut the Denver lead to 11-9, Law got loose on the right wing and dove across the crease to beat Turner for his fifth goal. That made it 12-9 with 3:23 remaining.

Momentum turned against Chesapeake during a strange second quarter in which Outlaws coach Jim Stagnitta challenged two calls successfully.

First, Kimmel's unassisted goal – which would have given the Bayhawks a 3-2 lead with 11:43 left in the half – was waved off. After the goal was reviewed, Kimmel was ruled in the crease. The Outlaws then got scores from Law and Sieverts to take a 4-2 lead midway through the period.

Hunt pulled Chesapeake to within 4-3 with 4:47 left on a diving, six-yard shot from the left side. Then, with 2:55 left in the half, Denver attackman Brendan Mundorf's shot appeared to hit the crossbar, before caroming away. The Bayhawks came away with the ensuing possession, but Stagnitta used his final challenge opportunity, and Mundorf's shot was ruled to have crossed the plane of the goal.

The Bayhawks return home on Thursday, July 18th against the Boston Canons at 7:30 PM at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Outlaws have only lost one game in the last 357 days. That loss came to the Chesapeake Bayhawks in the 2012 Steinfeld Cup Championship Game.

Denver got a measure of revenge for that game' outcome with a 12-9 victory over the Bayhawks at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday. The win improves the Outlaws' record to 7-0 and gives Denver a two-game lead on top of the MLL standings.

"Some of the things we've tried to do while building a team were to try to compete better with the Bayhawks," Head Coach Jim Stagnitta said on this week's MLL conference call. "I think that's a credit to Dave (Cottle) and what they've done with their squad."

Eric Law kept his perfect shooting streak intact, leading all players with five goals. Law, who scored on all four of his shots in his MLL debut last week was 5 of 5 shooting on Saturday to up his goal total to nine on nine shots.

While Law had no problem solving Bayhawks goalie Kip Turner, the Bayhawks goalie saved more than 70 percent of shots off the rest of the Outlaws' sticks.

Both Turner and Outlaws goalie Jesse Schwartzman turned in strong performances to keep the league's two highest-scoring offenses to a combined 21 goals. Schwartzman saved 17 of 26 shots (.654 pct.) and Turner stopped 19 of 32 (.594 pct.) for the game.

Law, who scored the first goal of each of the four quarters, netted his first goal 4:23 into the game to open the scoring off an assist from Brendan Mundorf.

The Bayhawks responded to take a 2-1 lead with back-to-back goals from Steven Brooks and Matt Abbott before Chris Bocklet tied the game near the end of the first quarter on a man-up goal off an assist from Zack Greer.

A pair of University of Denver alumni combined to start the second-quarter scoring when defenseman Dillon Roy found his former college teammate Law open on the crease to give the Outlaws a 3-2 advantage 6:20 into the quarter.

It appeared that Chesapeake had taken a 3-2 lead on a goal from Michael Kimmel earlier in the second quarter, but Stagnitta challenged the ruling, saying that Kimmel's foot was in the crease. After review, the challenge was successful and the goal was waived off.

Later in the frame, Stagnitta again challenged a ruling of a Turner save, saying that Mundorf's shot crossed the plane of the goal. He won the appeal for the second time and the Outlaws were awarded a goal to open up a 5-3 lead.

Schwartzman made seven saves in the second quarter to limit the Bayhawks to one point in the period and the Outlaws took a 6-3 lead into the intermission.

Law opened the third quarter with a goal in the first minute just as he did a week before against Hamilton. With the Outlaws ahead 7-3, Ben Hunt hit the net on a man-up advantage to cut the lead to three.

Jeremy Sieverts, a former Bayhawk, scored back-to-back unassisted goals 53 seconds apart to put Denver on top 9-4, which marked the largest lead of the game for either team at that point.

The Bayhawks got back into it with three straight goals and Turner kept the Outlaws out of the net for the final 8:40 of the third quarter to make the score 9-6 going into the final frame.

Just as he did in the first three quarters, Law started the scoring, needing just :42 seconds to put the ball into the back of the net. Drew Snider added his first of the game 1:29 later to put Denver ahead 11-6.

After a pair of Bayhawks goals cut the lead to three, Law turned momentum back to the Outlaws' side with a goal at the 11:37 mark to push the score to 12-8.

The league's two-point scoring leaders, the Bayhawks attempted to get back into it with long-distance bombs, but Schwartzman's steady play in net swallowed up all of the Bayhawks' attempts from deep.

Snider iced the win with a goal with just 45 seconds to go and the Outlaws left with a franchise-record 13th-straight regular-season win. The last time Denver lost in the regular season was nearly a year ago when the team dropped a 14-8 decision at Long Island on June 23, 2012.

Denver returns home on Saturday, June 22 against the Ohio Machine.

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The Charlotte Hounds on Saturday night came up short against the Boston Cannons, falling 15-13 in front of 5,463 fans at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte. The outcome marks the first win for the Cannons under John Tucker, who was named head coach on Monday, replacing Steve Duffy. Cannons midfielder Mike Stone was named player of the game following a four-goal performance.

The Hounds dominated the opening quarter, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the first 8:32 of the game with goals by Matt White, Peet Poillon, Matt Danowski and Mike Sawyer. The Cannons finally ended the run when Will Manny got a quick pass from Ryan Boyle and snuck a shot low past Adam Ghitelman. Danowski responded with his second of the night, and Ryan Young followed that with a tally of his own to push the Hounds lead to 6-1. But Brent Adams scored with less than a minute to play and that shifted momentum in the Cannons favor heading into the second quarter.

Stone opened the second with three straight goals to pull the Cannons within one, 6-5. Casey Cittadino was then called for holding, giving the Cannons their first man-up opportunity of the game. Kevin Buchanan capitalized, scoring a power-play goal to tie the game at 6 all. Brian Ferrell added a goal and Buchanan scored his second of the game to give the Cannons an 8-6 advantage going into the intermission.

Danowski struck first in the third, getting a friendly assist from the post for his third goal of the night to pull the Hounds back within one, 8-7. But the Cannons put together a three goal run, including the second of the night from Manny, to extend their lead to 11-7 with 7:33 to play in the quarter. Tim Fallon won the ensuing faceoff after the third Cannons goal and it took it straight to the cage to pull the Hounds back within three, 11-8. The final 7:09 of the quarter went scoreless.

The fourth and final quarter was more of a back-and-forth affair, as the teams traded two goal runs from the start. Cam Flint and P.T. Ricci opened the scoring for the Cannons, followed by two for the Hounds from Fallon and White, before another two for the Cannons by Stone and Matt Poskay to put Boston up 15-10 with 3:24 remaining in the game. The Hounds never backed off though, scoring the final three goals – including two from Young – to account for the 15-13 final.

The Hounds (3-4) return to American Legion Memorial Stadium next weekend to face the Chesapeake Bayhawks (4-3) at 5:30 pm ET. The Bayhawks are coming off a 13-9 loss to the Denver Outlaws (7-0). A win earlier in the week by the N.Y. Lizards and a loss Saturday night by the Rochester Rattlers sets up a three-way tie for forth place in the league, keeping the Hounds in the playoff hunt.

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June 15, 2013 - Charlotte, NC - The Boston Cannons closed out a three-game road trip with a 15-13 victory over the Charlotte Hounds (3-4) tonight in front of 5,463 fans at American Legion Memorial Stadium. Player of the Game Mike Stone scored four goals to lead the Cannons to their second win of the season.

The Hounds jumped out to an early 4-0 lead on goals from rookie Matt White, Peet Poillon, Matt Danowski and Mike Sawyer. After 11 and a half minutes of play, Will Manny got the Cannons on the board with an assist from Ryan Boyle. After Ryan Young added another for the Hounds, Brent Adams scored for the Cannons before time expired and the quarter ended with Charlotte ahead, 6-2.

The Cannons then took over, shutting out the Hounds for the second 15 minutes of play. Stone completed a hat trick with three straight unassisted goals to open the quarter. Kevin Buchanan scored twice, including a power play goal, and Brian Farrell added another to give the Cannons an 8-6 lead at the break.

Danowski ended the Hounds' scoring drought by striking first in the third quarter, but the Cannons scored three straight on Manny's second of the night and one each from Boyle and Kyle Sweeney. Tim Fallon scored off a face-off win for the Hounds, but the Cannons maintained an 11-8 lead after three.

Rookie Cam Flint scored his first MLL goal to open the fourth quarter, followed by the first of the season for PT Ricci, playing in his first game since May 11 when he suffered a broken thumb. Fallon and White each scored their second goals of the night for Charlotte, but Stone and Matt Poskay answered for the Cannons to maintain a healthy lead. Charlotte threatened late, with back-to-back goals from Young and another from Poillon in the final seconds, but it was not enough as the Cannons held on for the win.

"It was about getting back to having fun," said Stone of the win. "It hasn't been the season we thought it would be at the outset, so tonight it was about coming together as team, getting back to the fundamentals and having fun playing lacrosse."

Goalie Jordan Burke made 17 saves in the win, including seven in the fourth quarter. Nine Cannons scored goals, making up for MLL's points leader Paul Rabil being kept off the scoreboard.

The Cannons return home to Harvard Stadium next Friday, June 21 to face the New York Lizards (7:30 pm).

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The Ohio Machine earned its first win of the season, defeating the Rochester Rattlers on Saturday night, 13-11. Joe Cummings led Ohio (1-6) with five goals, while John Galloway recorded 25 saves for Rochester (3-4).