Lyle Thompson seems to enjoy playing against the Denver Outlaws.

Prior to Week 15, the Chesapeake Bayhawks and Denver Outlaws met twice, splitting the series. Thompson, however, has lit up the scoreboard all year, especially against the Outlaws.

In the Fourth of July loss to Denver, Thompson had five goals and one assist. On Aug. 10, a Chesapeake win, Thompson scored three goals and added two assists.

Thompson, a frontrunner in the MLL MVP race, continued his hot scoring with two goals and four assists as Chesapeake defeated Denver 11-10.

Thompson was involved in the scoring from the start, providing an assist to MLL Rookie of the Year candidate Andrew Kew to give the Bayhawks a 1-0 lead. In the fourth quarter, he scored a goal and provided an assist on Steele Stanwick’s eventual game-winning goal.

“It’s a good win for us,” Chesapeake head coach Dave Cottle said in a press release on the team’s website. “You want to go into the playoffs playing well, and this game was one that we needed.”

The game was also one Chesapeake almost gave away.

The Bayhawks jumped out to a 4-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and went into halftime up 8-4. The Outlaws, however, shut out the Bayhawks in the third quarter and scored five goals — two from Ryan Lee — to take a 9-8 lead.

“We’ve been playing some good lacrosse; we just haven’t played it for 60-minutes,” Cottle said. “For this game, we had a lead early and have been playing lacrosse defensively very well.”

Thompson’s fourth-quarter goal was his 46th of the season and broke Mark Millon’s single-season franchise record. He also surpassed Millon as the franchise’s single-season points record holder.

Chesapeake and Denver will square off again in the final week of the season, with a shot at the first seed in the playoffs on the line.

Thompson (46 goals, 27 assists) will also have a shot at the MLL single-season points record. Currently, he is five points behind Rob Pannell’s record of 78, set last season. Thompson averages 4.87 points per game and 5.67 against the Outlaws.

Boston moves into tie for first

With a huge 19-9 victory over the Atlanta Blaze, Boston evened the season series between the two teams and moved into a tie for first place in the standings.

While the previous three matchups featured late comebacks, there would be none of that in the final meeting between the Cannons and Blaze. Boston outscored Atlanta 12-2 in the second and third quarters, entering the final frame up big, 16-5.

Boston is hitting its stride at the right time, winning consecutive games for the first time since it started the season 3-0.

Noteworthy

Cottle said Warren Jeffrey and Jesse Bernhardt were the best players on the field. Each player picked up five ground balls and Bernhardt caused three turnovers, while Jeffrey caused two turnovers. … Steel Stanwick scored three goals and added an assist in Chesapeake’s win. … Midfielder Matt Abbott caused three turnovers and picked up a ground ball. … Nick Mariano (two goals, one assist) and Colin Heacock (three assists) each totaled three points. …

Chris Aslanian led the Outlaws in points (five) on two goals and three assists. Ryan Lee (four goals) and Mikie Schlosser (three goals, one assist) each had four points. … Faceoff specialist Max Adler was once again strong in a loss to the Bayhawks. After winning 95.5 percent of his faceoffs when the teams met in August, Adler won 12 of 22 faceoffs in the Week 15 matchup. …

Kyle Jackson scored three goals, including a 2-pointer, for a total of four points. … Five players totaled three points for Boston: Mark Cockerton (two goals, one assist), Zed Williams (one goal, two assists), Will Sands (one goal, two assists), Challen Rogers (one goal, two assists) and Cal Dearth (two goals, one assist). … Boston got a big lift from its faceoff specialists. Kevin Resiman won 15 of 24 faceoffs and picked up 10 ground balls, while Nate Farrell chipped in and went 3-for-6. …

Bryan Cole led the Blaze with four points on three goals and one assist. …  The only other Atlanta players to score more than one goal were Shayne Jackson (three) and Christian Mazzone (two). … Will Nowesnick caused three turnovers and picked up three ground balls. Additionally on the defensive end, Matthew Whitcher and Eddie Bouhall each caused two turnovers.

Player of the Week
Ryland Rees, LSM, Boston

The all-star rookie did it all for the Cannons in their decisive win over the Blaze. He picked up five ground balls and caused one turnover while also scoring three goals — one of which was a 2-pointer – and adding  an assist.

Play of the Week
Nick Marrocco, G, Boston

#SCTop10 Nominee featuring @OnThaRoccs.

Thanks @HoyasMLacrosse! pic.twitter.com/Wk4Iu0dgwN

— Boston Cannons (@BostonCannons) September 15, 2019

Cannons goalies seem to have the number of Atlanta’s offense. In Week 7, Cannons backup goalie Tate Boyce made a game-winning save as Atlanta tried to score from a cross-crease pass. In Week 15, it was Nick Marrocco’s turn to make a similar save, seemingly pulling Atlanta’s shot right off the line. Not only was it an impressive save, it helped keep Atlanta from gaining any end-of-quarter momentum.