The Denver Outlaws escaped with an 18-17 win over the Boston Cannons Saturday. It’s the Outlaws’ fifth straight win after an 0-2 start. They now have a two-game lead over both the Utah Archers and the Carolina Chaos in the Western Conference with three games left in the regular season. The Cannons drop to 3-4, tied with Maryland for third place in the Eastern Conference, and two games behind the East-leading New York Atlas.
Denver leads at half as teams combine for 20 points
The Outlaws took an early 4-0 lead on a 2-point goal from Jake Piseno (1:42) and goals from Pat Kavanagh (2:16) and Brennan O’Neill (2:38). Ryan Drenner (4:12) and Matt Campbell (5:17) cut the lead in half, but Jared Bernhardt (5:45) and Logan Wisnauskas (6:13) quickly pushed the Outlaws lead back to four. The Cannons then reeled off their own four-point run, with Will Manny (8:30), a 2-pointer from Connor Kirst (10:48), and Jeff Trainor (11:17) to tie the game 6-6 after one quarter.
The slugfest continued in the second quarter as both teams traded goals. Justin Anderson (1:42) for Denver, Kirst’s second (3:22) for Boston. O’Neill again for the Outlaws (8:08), Drenner again for the Cannons (8:49). The Outlaws created some breathing room before the half with a three-goal run, started by a highlight-reel goal from O’Neill (9:17) for his hat trick. After Kavanagh netted his second (11:26), Luke Wierman (11:34) took the next draw and gave Denver an 11-8 lead. Campbell broke the run with four seconds left in the half, but the Cannons trailed 11-9.
Outlaws rally in the fourth for their fifth straight win
Bernhardt (0:27 power play) stretched the lead to 12-9, but Jules Heningburg, acquired by the Cannons this past week, fired in his first career 2-point goal (2:59) to cut Denver’s lead to 12-11. Rookie Jack Gray scored his first career PLL goal (5:18) to put the Outlaws back up two, but Boston again responded, with Marcus Holman stinging the corner (6:26) to make it 13-12. Dalton Young (8:17) restored a two-goal lead for Denver, before Boston went on a three-goal run. Trainor’s second (8:35) and Campbell’s third (10:03) tied the game, and Drenner’s hat trick goal (11:52) gave the Cannons their first lead of the game, 15-14 going into the fourth quarter.
Bernhardt (3:35) and O’Neill (3:46) struck again in the fourth quarter to put the Outlaws up 16-15. Holman appeared to tie the game at 7:53, but replays showed he was behind the 2-point arc on his shot. Boston was out of challenges for the game, so they could not dispute the initial ruling of a one-point goal. However, the scorer’s table changed the value after their own replay review, and the Cannons led 17-16. The goal was the 355th of Holman’s career, tying him with Paul Rabil for second all-time in goals scored, behind only John Grant Jr. (393). Dalton Young tied the game again at 8:30 with his second goal. Then with a minute left in regulation, Bernhardt netted his fourth goal, which stood as the game-winner for the Outlaws.
