Outlaws Drop 19-17 Decision to Chicago
Machine Pick Up First Win Ever
Denver–May 31, 2007 – The Denver Outlaws jumped out to a 13-8 halftime
lead against the Chicago Machine, but could not hold on in the latter
stages, as the Machine recorded their first ever victory and dropped the
Outlaws to 1-1 on the season. Chicago outscored Denver 11-4 in the second
half and attackman Athan Iannucchi scored seven points to propel the
Machine to an exciting 19-17 victory on a beautiful night in Chicago ’s
new venue, Toyota Park in Bridgeview, IL.
With the Outlaws ahead 17-15 late in the fourth, Iannucci tallied a huge
two-point goal on a man-up opportunity to tie the game and then scored
again less than 10 seconds later to give Chicago their first lead with
just over three minutes left. The Outlaws could not find a way to respond
in the waning moments and lost only their fourth game in team history and
their first regular season road game.
After Outlaw attackman Brendan Mundorf scored with 7:16 remaining in the
third quarter to make the score 14-8, Chicago ran off seven of the eight
next goals to tie the game before Matt Hanna and Geoff Snider answered to
give the Outlaws a two goal cushion. Iannucchi got open on the left wing
and fired home his two-pointer to tie the game and then found himself open
again to finish a fast break by face-off man Dan Kallaugher to take the
lead for Chicago.
Denver was plagued with poor shooting and decision-making in the second
half and saw their offensive production plummet in the final 30 minutes.
Chicago plugged away behind a host of new faces making their first
appearances in Major League Lacrosse after being drafted on Thursday
night. Pat Heim, the MLL’s first overall draft pick, had four goals and
made an immediate impact for the Machine. The Outlaws did not dress any
of their draftees.
Midway through the first quarter the Outlaws trailed 4-2, but midfielder
Jeff Sonke hammered home a two-point goal to tie the game and set off a
string of four straight Outlaw tallies that brought the first quarter to a
close with Denver ahead 6-4. Sonke led all Denver scorers with five goals
while Josh Sims pitched in with four assists. The Outlaws also got solid
production from Hanna and Mundorf, who registered three goals and one
assist each in the losing effort.
The Outlaws continued to find success on both ends of the field in the
second quarter as they outscored the Machine 7-4 to take a five goal lead
into the half. Much of their success was due to the stellar face-off play
of Snider, who finished the game winning 27 out of 40 draws.
Twelve different players registered points for the Outlaws including
goaltender Trevor Tierney, who assisted one of Sonke’s goals in the first
half. Tierney finished with 12 saves. Iannucchi led all scorers with
seven points for Chicago, which also got four points each from Heim and
attackman Sean Morris.
Next up for the Outlaws is their third straight Western Conference game to
open the season, when the Los Angeles Riptide come to town on June 9th.
The Outlaws took all three games from Los Angeles in 2006 and will look to
get back on the winning side of things next weekend.
