Denver Outlaws at Florida Launch-Game Preview
May 13, 2015 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Denver Outlaws News Release
DENVER - The Denver Outlaws (2-2) will travel to Boca Raton, Fla., to face the Florida Launch (1-3) at FAU Stadium at 5 p.m. MDT.
Florida is coming off their first win of the season, a 15-12 victory over Ohio. Denver lost to Rochester by the same margin last week. The Outlaws are 2-0 against second-year team Florida.
First-year Outlaws Michael Bocklet and Greg Melaugh scored four and three goals, respectively, for their second career hat tricks. The two combined for more than half of Denver's score. The Outlaws were held to fewer than 20 points for the first time this season.
The Outlaws' offense is looking forward to a week 6 boost due to players rejoining the team, including John Grant, Jr. and Chris Bocklet to the attack. The top five Outlaws scorers from a year ago will all be in uniform for the first time this season.
In Week 6, Denver will have the challenge of containing Week 5 Warrior Offensive Player of the Week Kieran McArdle, who notched five goals and two assists against Ohio, and 2014 MLL MVP Casey Powell.
"I don't think you can just concentrate on just one guy because they've got an awful lot around him," Head Coach B.J. O'Hara said. "Having Casey Powell on the other side makes it even more difficult to stop one guy. They've got an outstanding group of midfielders that shot the ball real well against Ohio. So we've got to play good individual defense on McArdle, but we can't get slide-happy because he can distribute the ball very well too. So, it's just going to be a challenge."
Jesse Schwartzman is coming off his best game of the season, in which he recorded nine saves on Rochester's 17 shots on goal in the first half and 16 saves total. Schwartzman will need to step up in the cage to stop the Launch.
At the X, Anthony Kelly picked up his 500th win as an Outlaw but fell to the duo of Mike Poppleton and John Ortolani at Rochester, winning less than 50 percent of faceoffs for the first time this season. Kelly will face Christopher Mattes, who has also won more than 50 percent of all draws he has taken this season.
Tune into ESPN3 this Saturday to see the Outlaws take on the Launch on ESPN3 at 5 p.m. (MDT).
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Major League Lacrosse Stories from May 13, 2015
- Denver Outlaws at Florida Launch-Game Preview - Denver Outlaws
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