MLL Major League Lacrosse

MLL Week 9 Preview: Boston at Denver

Published on August 2, 2019 under Major League Lacrosse (MLL) News Release


Playoff Implications

Kicking off the second half of the season is a Week 9 matchup between the top two teams in the MLL, with the league-leading 6-2 Denver Outlaws hosting the 5-3 Boston Cannons. The Cannons have a chance to tie the Outlaws in the standings this week, while the Outlaws have the chance to pull away from the rest of the MLL. Denver could create a 2-game lead over Boston and maintain the 1.5 game lead on Atlanta and Chesapeake.

Faceoff Matchup

This week, Kevin Reisman will be returning from injury giving Boston access to their priority faceoff man. While swapping Nate Farrell (45.45% faceoff win percentage) for Kevin Reisman (50.33% faceoff win percentage) represents an upgrade, Denver has the faceoff advantage. Max Adler is the best faceoff man in the league, and is leading faceoff wins with a 57.2% success rate through the first 8 weeks of the season. The Cannons will have to minimize the advantage that Denver gains from the faceoff in order to limit disparity in possessions. With John Grant Jr. coordinating the offense for the Outlaws through a slow and steady approach focused on ball movement and finding the open man, Boston may have trouble stopping Denver when they acquire possession.

Goalies

In the goalkeeping department, Denver also holds an advantage over Boston. Dillon Ward has had a solid first half of the season posting a 51.42% save percentage. Ward struggled in the first matchup against Boston allowing 16 goals and only saving 13. Despite his performance, Ward ended up the victor because Nick Marrocco battled, as well, letting in 17 goals while saving only 13. While they both struggled in the early season matchup against each other, Dillon Ward has been solid in the last few weeks while Marrocco has had a string of poor performances:

Week 5 vs DEN: 17 GA, 13 SV

Week 6 vs DAL: 11 GA, 16 SV

Week 7 vs NYL: 15 GA, 10 SV

Week 7 vs ATL: 16 GA, 3 SV

Week 8 vs ATL: 13 GA, 14 SV

These last 5 matchups combine to give Marrocco 72 goals allowed and 56 saves for a save percentage of 43.75%. If the trend of Marrocco's performance continues, the multiple options on Denver's attack will likely overpower the Cannons defense.

Offensive Firepower

The Cannons (14.88 Goals Forced (GF) Avg.) and Outlaws (14.13 GF Avg.) are two of the top three offenses in the MLL, both closely trailing the Atlanta Blaze (15 GF Avg.) in output. Both teams are exceptionally deep with scoring threats each boasting 6 regular scorers.

BOS

Mark Cockerton - 26 G, 5 A

Will Sands - 9 G, 19 A

Connor O'Hara - 20 G, 2 A

Zed Williams - 14 G, 6 A

Challen Rodgers - 12 G, 6 A

Kyle Jackson - 13 G, 3 A

DEN

Brendan Kavanagh - 14 G, 12 A

Zach Currier - 13 G, 11 A

John Grant Jr. - 12 G, 11 A

Chris Aslanian - 14 G, 7 A

Ryan Lee - 15 G (1 2pt), 2 A

Mikie Schlosser - 6 G, 4 A

Boston's scoring attack is led by Mark Cockerton, who is tied with Shayne Jackson for second in MLL goals. They are one behind Lyle Thompson's 27, and Connor O'Hara who is 5th in the league with 20. Boston also runs a lot of their offense through Will Sands, who is second in the league behind Randy Staats (24) with 19 assists. While these three members of the Boston attack are focal points, Zed Williams, Challen Rodgers, and Kyle Jackson have all been contributing at a rate of 2 points per game or higher as well this season. Denver will have to keep track of all 6 of these players in order to stop Boston's attack.

Denver also possesses an incredibly deep attack with Brendan Kavanagh, Zach Currier, and John Grant Jr. all having already put-up double-digit goals and assists. While these players lead the offense, their three top scorers are rookies Ryan Lee, Chris Aslanian, and Brendan Kavanagh. With Mikie Schlosser being a quick midfielder who shoots from outside, unselfish distributors who keep the ball moving on offense, and rookies who are growing into their roles as top scorers, Denver has a well performing offense and should improve as the year continues and their experience grows. Quarterbacked by the legendary John Grant Jr., Denver will try to continue its impressive ball movement and create easy shots against the struggling Nick Marrocco.

Score Prediction: 17-14 Outlaws

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Major League Lacrosse Stories from August 2, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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