Denver Outlaws 13, New York Atlas 12 (OT)
Topher Adams: Outlaws dig deep for grittiest win of the season to clinch top spot
Denver ran out of gas. After a tough loss to the Carolina Chaos the night before and a difficult first half against a red-hot Atlas team, it looked like the Outlaws would leave the Mile High City without a victory.
And then a funny thing happened.
Despite visible exhaustion, elite goalie play from New York’s Liam Entenmann and countless sloppy mistakes, Denver just wouldn’t go away.
The Outlaws offense is a hydra, and with Pat Kavanagh unable to get going, another head took over in the second half: Jared Bernhardt. He dished a pair of assists and raced by a defender behind goal line extended as Denver outscored New York 4-1 in the third quarter.
In the final quarter, the Outlaws had to lean on their other superpower, the defensive midfield, to keep the train on the tracks. How Ryan Terefenko and Jake Piseno had the strength or stamina to keep pushing in the fourth quarter was a mystery, but the tenacity and effort on display fueled a resurgent Denver team.
Piseno capped the comeback with a bomb of a two-pointer that put the Outlaws ahead 12-11 with three minutes remaining. That looked to be the dagger, but New York had an answer. It’d be easy for Denver to wilt again, after coming all the way back only to cede a late opportunity, but the Outlaws showed a special resilience.
In overtime, Logan McNaney played the hero to keep Denver alive until Bernhardt once again showed a second gear to blow by a defender and finally get a shot to drop to close out an instant classic win.
Having clinched the No. 1 seed in the West and a first-round playoff bye, the Outlaws will now wait for the next month for the Western Conference final as they look to win their first title since the 2018 MLL Championship.
Up next for Denver: Bye week
Paul Lamonaca: New York fails to close out in regulation, leading to OT heartbreaker
The Atlas’ five-game win streak came to an end Saturday at Peter Barton Stadium thanks to a hard-nosed performance from the Outlaws.
The matchup between first-place teams came as advertised. Two of the league’s most talented rosters came to play for a chance to clinch the top spot in their respective conferences.
After falling behind 2-0 early, the Atlas quickly found their stride, building a 9-4 lead going into halftime. Then, despite the momentum coming out at the half, New York’s offense was only able to score once in a 17-minute span, which allowed Denver to crawl back into the game. New York was able to get a goal off in the final minute of regulation to force overtime but fell short in the extended period.
Atlas head coach Mike Pressler was blunt about how he believed his team performed. He expects a higher standard out of the group.
“I’m not going to say a whole lot today,” Pressler said postgame. “It was mistakes on our part, just carelessness. We didn’t play 48 full. We played 24 [minutes] and fought back at the end, but in this league, you’ve got to play 48 full, and we didn’t.”
“48 Full” has been the mantra of the New York locker room, but consistency has been an issue for Pressler’s squad, which fell to 6-3 with the loss.
Offensively for New York, Connor Shellenberger and Reid Bowering each finished with four points. Two of Bowering’s three goals were from behind the back to help start the scoring for Atlas in the first quarter.
Pressler was pleased to see a role player like Bowering, who typically is not a big name on New York’s stat sheet, find success and help generate offense.
“Reid has been so consistent, and he’s been great,” Pressler said. “He has won that job, he has been a mainstay for us week in and week out, and you know what you are going to get with 98 — so tough, so reliable.”
The faceoff struggles continued for Trevor Baptiste and the rest of the New York rope unit. Luke Wierman completely dominated the second half, winning 8 of 13 faceoffs (61.5%).
Entenmann put up another standout performance in net for New York (18 saves, 60%). Denver attempted a league-high 63 shots on the day. If New York wants to make a deep run for a championship, it must allow fewer shots to be taken against its All-Star goalkeeper going forward.
Up next for New York: Saturday, Aug. 9 vs. Philadelphia Waterdogs (1 p.m. ET)
