Denver Outlaws 15, Philadelphia Waterdogs 13

Topher Adams: Pieces starting to come together for young Outlaws

After a dismal 17-4 loss to the New York Atlas, the Outlaws faced a reflection point. Early returns are showing they learned the right lessons from that defeat. The issues that plagued them against the Bulls hardly showed their head in Fairfield, and Denver moved about .500 on the year.

The offense has been inconsistent all year, but Friday showed what this offense can do when things are working. Brennan O’Neill scored a hat trick, and Graham Bundy ripped apart the Waterdogs with his outside shot. 

Those two are the foundational pieces of the offense, and when they play well, Denver plays well.

The biggest thing for the Outlaws to build on from this game is the supporting cast. After four weeks of chopping and changing, the pieces are starting to fit together. It starts with Eric Law, whose veteran savvy and off-ball prowess fit like a glove around the crease.

In midfield, undrafted rookie Dalton Young had a breakout game with two goals and three assists. He’s flashed promise all season, and he finally made good on his potential against Philadelphia.

When the ball is moving and the shooters are getting good looks, Denver is one of the scariest teams in the league. The Outlaws shot a season-high 31.6% from the field. Against New York, they shot 10.3%. Getting good shots and burying those opportunities is the difference for this team.

Up next for Denver: vs. Boston Cannons (Saturday, July 27, 5:30 p.m. ET)

Wyatt Miller: Deep ball plagues Waterdogs again as they fall to 1-5

Every time the Waterdogs have lost the two-point battle, they’ve lost the game. In each of those losses, the difference in two-point production matched or exceeded the scoring margin. That trend continued Friday, as the Outlaws hit three of their four two-point shots in the win. 

It started in the first quarter with Ryan Terefenko, of all people, who connected on his first career two-pointer in his fourth season as a two-way short-stick defensive midfielder. The assist came from fellow defender Mike Manley in transition, and it held up after review, which also wiped a Ben Randall pole goal off the board. That was a massive, three-point swing that gave Denver the momentum.

There was one major difference for the Waterdogs in this game, and that was the offensive two-point production. In the second quarter, Connor Kelly scored the second Waterdogs two-pointer of the season, and the first by an offensive player. But that wasn’t enough. The Waterdogs went scoreless in the final eight-and-a-half minutes and ended the game 2-for-7 (28.6%) from beyond the arc.

Meanwhile, the Outlaws continued to pile on from deep. Bundy put on a shooting clinic with a pair of two-point goals and a one that Dogs head coach Bill Tierney believed should have been called a two, but the referees said he had a toe on the line. 

“It’s not like we weren’t prepared for Bundy,” Tierney said.

“We talked about it on last week’s team Zoom, we talked about it on this week’s team Zoom. … You've just got to know where these guys are. They’ve got a couple of big-time guys that do everything.”

The Outlaws shot the lights out against a Waterdogs team Tierney thought was “out of sync defensively.” Another tough outing from Dillon Ward against the two ball did nothing to help the Waterdogs’ offense, which once again was outmatched by its opponent's in terms of efficiency (24.4% compared to 31.6%). 

Now sitting at 1-5, it’s time to start thinking about the Waterdogs’ path to the playoffs, because it’s not as clear as it once was.

Up next for Philadelphia: vs. New York Atlas (Sunday, July 28, 3 p.m. ET)

Carolina Chaos 10, Maryland Whipsnakes 9 (OT)

Hayden Lewis: Blaze Riorden’s 18-save night paves path to Carolina’s overtime win

It hasn’t been a pretty year on the offensive side of the field for the Chaos, but one thing has remained consistent: excellent defense backed by stellar goaltending. 

Friday night was no different.

Blaze Riorden stole the show with an 18-save performance, helping hold the Whipsnakes to nine goals. Riorden’s success catapulted him to ninth on the all-time saves list (973).

“He’s like an alien in the cage,” head coach and general manager Andy Towers said “He’s consistent all the time at a position that is probably the hardest position in sports to be consistent at.”

Riorden’s magnificent play is the basis for all Carolina strategy. 

“We feel like getting to 12 goals is sort of the magic number for us considering that we have Blaze Riorden in the goal,” Towers said.

In this one, the Chaos only needed 10, with rookie Shane Knobloch providing the game-winner in overtime. With three straight conference matchups ahead, each game will become more intense as the playoffs approach, and the magic number 12 will be paramount. 

Up next for Carolina: vs. California Redwoods (Saturday, July 27, 3 p.m. ET)

Adam Lamberti: Whipsnakes on wrong end of overtime game

Long story short, the Whipsnakes ran into a red-hot Riorden in this game.

Registering 18 saves, including a fabulous save on Mike Chanenchuk in overtime, the Whipsnakes had no answers for the Chaos goaltender.

It was pretty surprising the Whipsnakes were even in this game early on. They shot a dreadful 4-for-21 (19%) in the first half and relied on their stout defense to stay in the game.

Matt Dunn had his best game of the year guarding Josh Byrne and holding him to one goal, while Brendan Krebs had another solid outing with 13 saves and Joe Nardella won faceoffs at a 68% clip.

The story of this game was the lack of offensive production.

While Riorden was exceptional in this one, the Whipsnakes still had 19 turnovers and settled for the first shot, not necessarily the best shot.

"The two things we have to do is be better shooters, and we have to cut down on the turnovers,” head coach Jim Stagnitta said in the postgame press conference.

If they do those two things, we’ve seen what this Whipsnakes team is capable of.

Up next for Maryland: vs. California Redwoods (Sunday, July 28, 5:30 p.m. ET)