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First blood has been drawn in the push for the Western Conference regular-season crown. Through the whipping winds and driving rain, the Utah Archers dominated their conference rivals, the Denver Outlaws, 16-11 on Friday on Denver’s home turf at Peter Barton Stadium.
The Archers now take full control of first place in the conference standings, while the Outlaws stare down a second loss in their last three games.
Archers: Winning their way to take top spot in the West
Neither a second weather delay in as many weeks nor a boisterous Denver crowd could stop the Archers from playing their way to victory.
Utah played at its pace, forcing a high-flying Outlaws team to muck it up in a six-on-six game. With the Archers controlling the game, they were able to pick their spots for their splash plays. Mac O’Keefe took advantage of poor defensive rotations for his first two two-pointers of the season.
“It starts with us putting 16 in the back of the net,” goalie Brett Dobson said. “I think we do a good job of our O-middies being selfless. … They’re getting back in the hole, and they’re taking away transition.”
Brendan Lavelle dominated a marquee matchup for the second consecutive week, holding Brennan O’Neill goalless on 0-for-3 shooting. Tre Leclaire might be the hottest player in the league, adding six points (3G, 1T, 2A) after tallying nine last weekend.
When the Archers are playing their way, they’re one of the best teams in the league. With three regular-season weekends remaining, they now hold pole position in the West at 5-4 with a league-best plus-27 score differential.
“We’re in the home stretch here,” head coach Chris Bates said. “We want to control our destiny and keep playing great lacrosse.”
Outlaws: Offense can’t break Utah; stars looking for answers
The Outlaws have no answers for the Archers defense. In two matchups this season, they’ve scored just 18 total goals. Were it not for a garbage time two-pointer from Pat Kavanagh on Friday night, Denver would’ve been held to single digits for the second time this season.
It wasn’t for a lack of trying new things. The Outlaws debuted fresh blood with rookie midfielder John Dunphey (1G) and, more importantly, leaned into different offensive sets. Denver looked to exploit the two-man game to try and free up Kavanagh and O’Neill on the wings.
But even when they got switches, it wasn’t always in the right spots to execute.
“We were earning matchup switches in areas that we couldn’t be successful, and I think we have to get the ball out of our stick right away in those situations,” head coach Tim Soudan said.
But even that wasn’t enough to break through Dobson (11 saves at 55%). By the second half, the Outlaws resorted to long, isolated dodges against a settled defense. Even with all of their dodging talent, they won almost none of those matchups.
Add in a career-worst night from Logan McNaney, who saved just 35% of the shots he faced, and it was a nightmare homecoming for an Outlaws team that was hoping to be one of the league’s best by this point in the season.
All of a sudden, Denver’s Saturday Night Lacrosse showdown against the Philadelphia Waterdogs (9 p.m. ET; ESPN2) feels a lot like a must-win for a slumping Outlaws team looking to avoid a third loss in four games.
“That’s not gonna happen to us two games in a row,” Soudan said. “We’re going to come out and play really hard tomorrow and give these fans what they deserve.”
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