There are championship losses that feel like the inevitable result of a flukey postseason run. There are championship losses that feel like the crushing end of a team’s run, a final flame on years of building and winning as a core.
But there are other championships that feel like the start of something. The first act in a long story of success, yet to be written.
When the Denver Outlaws lost to the New York Atlas 14-13 on Sunday, it wasn’t devastation. It was heartbreaking, especially for the veterans who may or may not get a chance to compete for PLL glory again. But for the club as a whole, this is only the beginning.
“I wholeheartedly believe that they’re going to win one,” said Mike Manley, one of those vets. “We got the right character in this group. We got the right players. Just today, it wasn’t our day.”
The U.S. Bank PLL Championship was a tale of two Outlaws teams.
In spurts, we saw the free-flowing and multi-tool superteam. Brennan O’Neill looked the part of a generational superstar on all three of his goals. Pat Kavanagh led the team with four points while setting the tone with his intensity.
Logan McNaney made eight of his 11 saves in the second half, giving Denver a chance to take home its first PLL championship and first pro lacrosse title since 2018.
But the other Outlaws wouldn’t go away. All season, Denver’s had its warts, and in the biggest moments, they reared their head again.
The Outlaws shot under 30%, and when it mattered most, they couldn’t beat a hot goalie, a recurring problem in their losses this season. Denver turned the ball over 15 times and lost the ground ball battle by 12.
Even beyond what’s quantifiable on the stat sheet, the Outlaws were making the little mistakes that made it hard to win the game.
“We just made way too many mistakes today to win a lacrosse game,” head coach Tim Soudan said.
Those moments would ultimately lead to Denver’s defeat, but even through the mistakes and misfortune, the Outlaws gave themselves a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter.
O’Neill got the ball out of a timeout with just over a minute to play. Denver dialed up a high pick for the powerful lefty dodger and let him make a play to tie the game at 14. He got past his man and rumbled to the crease.
It wasn’t the cleanest look, with sliding defenders barreling into him while he tried to score from a shot angle, but that was Denver’s best player in the biggest moment near the goal. But O’Neill was stuffed.
“I thought I had a good opportunity, and that’s all you can really ask for,” O’Neill said.
And that’s where the optimism for the Outlaws ultimately lies: players like O’Neill and Kavanagh learning from this moment.
In the last two years, Denver has rapidly built one of the best teams in professional lacrosse. The offense is built around the Tewaaraton Four — O’Neill, Kavanagh, Jared Bernhardt and Logan Wisnauskas — with a handful of vital role players like Dalton Young.
All of those players are in the Outlaws’ plans not only next year, but for the foreseeable future.
The defense is on the older side, with Manley and Jesse Bernhardt among the oldest players in the league, but McNaney is just a rookie.
Jake Piseno, who just won the Brode Merrill Long-Stick Midfielder of the Year Award, is in his second year. JT Giles-Harris isn’t going anywhere at close defense.
What Soudan has built with this Denver team wasn’t just to win a championship on Sunday afternoon at Sports Illustrated Stadium. It’s a team built to contend for the next era of PLL crowns.
“The foundation of what we have on the offensive end is very strong,” Soudan said. “I think of all the things that people should be thankful for, is getting here now and then learning from it and coming back and winning one.”
For now, Denver will be upset, living in the little moments and small plays that could’ve led to a title. But as Soudan and his team turn the page, they can look back on the 2025 season with fondness as the beginning of a new day for the Denver Outlaws.
