The postseason is a funny thing in sports. Players, coaches and everyone involved in the sport spend months preparing, pouring every ounce of their soul into their craft. All for a chance to win a few games in the playoffs.

In these win-or-go-home settings, the line between success and failure can be razor thin. That was painfully apparent for the Denver Outlaws in their loss to the Maryland Whipsnakes in the first round of the Cash App Playoffs.

Two plays embodied the inches between jubilation and devastation.

In the third quarter, Denver led by two. As the fourth quarter approached, Maryland’s Jake Bernhardt flung a haphazard pass through traffic to the doorstep of the crease. The pass wasn’t all that close to a Whipsnakes target, but it was dangerous enough to cause chaos.

The ball bounced off of Outlaws defenseman JT Giles-Harris in the sea of bodies. The loose ball trickled past goaltender Owen McElroy for one of the flukiest goals of the year. Worst of all, Bernhardt’s pass was behind the two-point arc.

Just how we drew it up…(we promise 😂)

It’s a tie game in the Quarterfinals BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY! 😤 pic.twitter.com/F9SIFoICRp

— Maryland Whipsnakes (@PLLWhipsnakes) September 3, 2024

This type of play results in a turnover 99 times out of 100. But this one time, it took a weird bounce and snuck between the pipes. Tie game and all the momentum to the Whipsnakes. But that’s the playoffs.

“The ball bounces a certain way sometimes,” veteran defenseman Mike Manley said postgame. “And today, it didn’t go our way.”

At the end of the game, Denver still had a chance to tie the score with a late miracle. These are the moments players dream of. Game on the line, clock ticking down. Time to be a hero.

Jesse Bernhardt pushed the ball across midfield and fired the ball through the teeth of the defense. Eric Law aggressively crashed upfield, but the ball slipped just above his head.

Turnover. Season over.

“Losing sucks,” Law said. “I don’t care when it is, but especially in the playoffs when you feel like you’re right there.”

If Law stays at home, Bernhardt’s effort works as a possession shot. If the ball bounces a little lower, maybe Law snags it off the bounce and can get a shot away. These are the margins in the playoffs.

This is a piece of Outlaws history. In the 2016 MLL Championship Game, Law handled an aggressive pass to the crease in the dying seconds to take the lead and ultimately hoist the championship trophy.

Personally, I think that was a possession shot by Bernhardt, but man was it eerily similar to another heavily debated pass/shot that Eric Law DID catch and scored on to win the 2016 MLL Championship.

The duality of last-ditch efforts in pro lacrosse. https://t.co/INaEhdihYV pic.twitter.com/woZcyNwjZ2

— Hutton Jackson (@HuttonJackson) September 3, 2024

If Law mishandles that pass, who knows how history unfolds. Thus is the folly of the postseason.

Winning a championship can feel like an impossible feat in sports. It takes elite roster construction, strong coaching and culture and top players performing up to their ability. And then in the postseason, it takes all of that and a ton of luck.

The Outlaws are a young team learning how to win. The bulk of the roster, including standouts Brennan O’Neill, Graham Bundy Jr. and Dalton Young are rookies. Even established stars like Giles-Harris and Ryan Terefenko were only in their second-ever playoff game.

To win in September takes more than winning in the regular season. And as heartbreaking as this experience is for Denver, it’s an essential part of the journey to title contention.

For the veterans like Manley and Law, it’s hard to come so close to a postseason run yet still fall short. But the future of the organization has never been brighter.

“Great group of guys, great teammates,” Manley said. “And that's a good foundation, really good foundation to build on and get better on.”