SPORTS DENVER OUTLAWS COME UP SHORT OF TITLE
Outlaws unhappy with disparity of whistles in title game
COMMERCE CITY» The Denver Outlaws had enough to erase multiple five-goal deficits, but they didn’t have enough to hold on for a Major League Lacrosse championship Sunday.
Leading the Chesapeake Bayhawks 9-8 with less than three minutes to go, the Outlaws surrendered a goal and were whistled for a penalty on the same play. Attacker Andrew Kew converted it into a goal with 1:11 left, and the Bayhawks held on from there for a 10-9 victory before 6,374 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
The Bayhawks’ league-best sixth Steinfeld Trophy was not without controversy, however. Chesapeake generated six more power plays than the Outlaws, with Denver called for 11 more penalties — a disparity that preceded midfielder Zach Currier’s ejection in the game’s final moments.
The Outlaws were both unhappy with the whistles and the lack of one, stemming from an attempted timeout that went unrecognized as the game was tied.
“When we were down men, I said to the ref next to me: ‘If by chance we pick up the ball, I want to call timeout immediately. So please face somewhere near me,’ ” Outlaws coach Tony Seaman said. “When we got the ball, I yelled timeout, and the ref was running away from me to the other end of the field. So I was running after him screaming, and he didn’t give it to us. When he turned around, we didn’t have the ball. It was ridiculous.”
Added Seaman about the penalties: “13-2 tells you something, there’s something wrong.”
In front of a partisan Colorado crowd, the fast start and furious finish from the Bayhawks was too much.
On Friday night, the Outlaws erased a sixgoal deficit in the semifinals. Much like Denver’s win over Boston, they trailed by five goals multiple times. A second-half surge including six unanswered goals gave the Outlaws a late, but brief, lead.
“We made some great adjustments at halftime,” Seaman said. “We realized where we were and we were unbelievable. We just didn’t get a call. We hit a few pipes, any of those they put us up by multiple goals. It was bad luck.”
Not scoring for over 30 minutes of game time, the Bayhawks tied the game at nine with a little over two minutes to go and won it less than a minute later.
Ryan Lee and John Grant Jr. led the Outlaws with three points each as they sought back-to-back championships. Goalie Dillon Ward made 11 saves on 21 shots and allowed just two second-half goals, each coming on the final shots from the Bayhawks.
Steele Stanwick and Lyle Thompson each had three points for Chesapeake.