The Denver Outlaws (7-3) faced their biggest test of the year against the New York Atlas (6-3) on Saturday, looking to clinch the first seed in the Western Conference playoffs. This marquee matchup featured the two leaders of the Western (Denver) and Eastern (New York) Conference, as the Outlaws looked to rebound from Friday’s loss against the Carolina Chaos. In front of the Denver home crowd, they were able to secure a thrilling 13-12 victory in overtime.
Logan Wisnauskas and Justin Anderson put Denver on top in the first quarter, but the Atlas answered with four straight goals to put them in the driver’s seat. Denver got two back with scores from Luke Wierman and Ryan Terefenko, but New York piled on with five consecutive goals to go up 9-4 into halftime.
Denver turned the tides in the third quarter, finding a spark from Brennan O’Neil and Wisnauskas with back-to-back goals. Graham Bundy Jr and Jared Bernhardt closed out the quarter with scores to bring the Outlaws within two.
Down 10-8 headed into the fourth quarter, Denver swiftly found the back of the net twice before a New York score made it 11-10. Then, with three minutes left, Jake Piseno executed a two-point goal to take the lead, but Atlas’ Connor Shellenberger unbelievably scored with 15 seconds left to force overtime.
Bernhardt rang the bell for the Outlaws’ in overtime, scoring the game winning goal and clinching the first seed in the West.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” Denver Head Coach Tim Soudan said. “We looked super sluggish in the first half and made some mental errors. That’s one of the best games I’ve been a part of.”
The Outlaws took the most shots by any PLL team this season on Saturday with 63. The regime was led by O’Neil, Bernhardt, Wisnauskas and Anderson each scoring twice. Winning faceoffs was crucial for the team, with Wierman taking 14 out of the 26 for a 53.8% win rate.
“I think he’s a warrior,” Soudan said about Wierman when he faced off against New York’s Trevor Baptiste, whose considered one of the best. “He adjusts better than anybody. He’s an athlete, not just a faceoff guy, and it was a battle between two really good faceoff guys, I’m glad he got the better.”
The defense played a crucial role in fabricating the comeback, led by Piseno and Mike Manley who combined for two caused turnovers and six ground balls. Goalkeeper Logan McNaney provided 14 saves with a 53.8% save rate.
This win for the Denver Outlaws marked the first time that they’ve clinched the first seed in the Western Conference for the upcoming PLL Playoffs. They will not play again till Monday, Sep. 1st.
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