by DENVER, CO – The Chesapeake Bayhawks defeated the Denver Outlaws in the teams’ third meeting of the season Saturday evening at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium in Denver, CO.
After a scoreless 6:30 to start the first quarter, superstar attackman Lyle Thompson (Onondaga Nation) launched a clean pass to rookie attackman Andrew Kew directly in front of the goal. Kew nailed it in the bottom right corner of the cage to give the Bayhawks a 1-0 lead.
A minute later, three-time MLL All-Star attackman Steele Stanwick sunk another goal from the right side of the crease after a long pass from a first-year midfielder and Syracuse grad, Brendan Bomberry.
Denver attackman Chris Aslanian found himself totally unobstructed in front of a wide open Bayhawk’s goal, set-up for an easy shot, but launched it to the outside of the net, keeping the score at 2-0.
Thompson responded to Denver’s attempt with a well-placed a shot over the head of Denver goalie Dillon Ward which resulted in a goal. This goal placed Thompson in a tie for the Bayhawks’ franchise single-season goal record and broke the franchise single-season point record. This point was Thompson’s 69th and put him past the previous holder, Mark Millon.
“I thought we got off to a good start – and Denver is a quality team – we had to keep playing,” said Head Coach Dave Cottle. “I thought we made some strides for a while in moving the ball out of double teams.”
With a minute left in the first quarter, Bayhawks goalie Brian Phipps made his first save of the game from a sturdy Denver shot from just inside the two-point arc. Immediately, the ball was sent to midfielder Nick Mariano who then cut to the net and put one in, closing the first quarter with a 4-0 lead for Chesapeake.
In response to Chesapeake, Denver opened with a strong second quarter. The team scored four consecutive goals to tie the game at 4-4. This surge did not last long, as Stanwick scored a highlight reel goal. Thompson sent a pass high to an airborne Stanwick who then faked out Ward for the Bayhawks’ fifth goal of the game.
Thompson continued his sensational performance, finding Kew who then fired a cannon crank shot into the net. Mariano recorded his second goal of the game seconds later when veteran midfielder Matt Abbott forced a Denver turnover. The ball was collected by close defenseman Jesse Bernhardt who carried it down the field. Bernhardt handed it off to attackman Colin Heacock who then found Mariano cutting to the cage.
“I thought Warren Jeffrey and Jesse Bernhardt were the two best players in the Bayhawks uniform today,” said Cottle.
With 3:12 left before the half, midfielder Ryan Tucker completed a four-goal run for the Bayhawks, scoring off a pass from Heacock.
Chesapeake finished their strong first half winning 50-percent of their faceoffs and outshooting the Outlaws 26-10. The Bayhawks also won the turnover battle, recording only five turnovers to the Outlaws’ 13.
“I think we’ve been playing some good lacrosse, we just haven’t played it for 60-minutes. For this game we had a lead early and have been playing lacrosse defensively very well,” said Cottle at the half.
Coming out of the break, the Outlaws got the best of the Bayhawks. Denver was able to score five-straight goals in the third quarter to give themselves their first lead of the night at 9-8. The Bayhawks did not score for the entirety of the quarter.
This changed in the fourth. Chesapeake’ rookie midfielder John Wag ner tied the game back up with his ninth goal of the season. The Ontario native threw a left-handed shot past Ward with only 90-seconds elapsed in the quarter. Denver would answer to take a 10-9 lead with 5:26 left in the game, but that is where the scoring ended for the Outlaws.
With 3:28 left in the game, Thompson collected a pass from Heacock and turned to send a shot into the Denver net. This goal was Thompson’s 46th of the season and surpassed Mark Millon’s Bayhawks’ franchise single-season goal record (45).
The Thompson-Stanwick duo struck one final time. Thompson found Stanwick who then scored a low goal, completing his hat trick. This goal gave the Bayhawks the lead with 1:34 left to play and became the game-winning goal for the playoff bound Bayhawks.
