Connor Fields had a hat trick and four points to lead the Utah Archers to a 10-7 win over the Denver Outlaws on Saturday night in Premier Lacrosse League action.
After dropping a 9-5 decision to the California Redwoods in their opening game, the Archers were able to pick up a split during their homecoming weekend, which also marked the opening weekend of the PLL season.
Along with Fields, Sam King also had a four-point night for the Archers with two goals and two assists.
Nick Washuta got the start in goal for the Archers and stopped 10 of 17 shots in the win.
For the Outlaws, Jared Bernhardt had two goals and one assist for three points, while Brennan O’Neill had one two-point goal and an assist for three points as well.
Logan McNaney got the start in goal and stopped 10 of 20 shots in the loss.
First Quarter
The Outlaws got off to a really quick start as Bernhardt found the back of the net six seconds into the game.
Utah tied the game at the 6:07 mark with Fields scoring his first goal of the contest to make it 1-1.
Denver retook the lead at the 7:28 mark with Logan Wisnauskas scoring before special teams started to take over.
Fields scored his second goal on the power play with 2:43 left on the clock. However, Wisnauskas answered with a power-play marker with 1:49 remaining to make it 3-2 for Denver.
Utah finished the quarter on a two-goal run. CK Giancola found the back of the net with 45 seconds left, and 34 seconds later, Fields scored a highlight-reel behind-the-back goal with 11 seconds remaining to give the Archers a 4-3 lead after the first quarter.
Second Quarter
Fields’ goal at the end of the first quarter lit a spark under the Archers as they went on a three-goal run to start the second.
Ryan Stines opened the scoring at the 2:13 mark to make it a 5-3 game.
King found the back of the net at 5:28. Ryan Ambler then scored at 7:09 as Utah started to pull away with a 7-3 lead.
The Outlaws rounded out the first-half scoring with Graham Bundy Jr. scoring with 3:00 left on the clock to make it 7-4 for Utah at halftime.
Third Quarter
Denver just couldn’t find any momentum in the third quarter as the Archers had answers for every Outlaws goal.
Utah opened the scoring 29 seconds into the quarter as Beau Pederson scored off a feed from King.
Denver replied at the 4:42 mark with Bernhardt scoring unassisted to make it an 8-5 game.
The Archers answered with 3:34 left on the clock as King found the back of the net off an assist from Stines.
The Outlaws rounded out the scoring as O’Neill scored a huge two-point power-play goal with 1:24 remaining, cutting the deficit to 9-7 heading into the fourth quarter.
Fourth Quarter
The final frame was a low-scoring affair as both teams struggled to get on the board.
The lone goal came from Giancola with 6:55 left on the clock as the Archers cruised to a 10-7 win.
You can watch the post-game news conference below:
Top Scorers
Utah Archers
Connor Fields, 3g 1a
Sam King, 2g 2a
Ryan Stines, 1g 2a
Denver Outlaws
Jared Bernhardt, 2g 1a
Brennan O’Neill, 1 two-point goal, 1a
Logan Wisnauskas, 2g
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