For the first time in the 2017 Major League Lacrosse season, the two teams at the top of the standings — the Denver Outlaws and Ohio Machine — met in a rematch of the 2016 MLL championship game. The end result was the same. Denver outscored Ohio 3-1 in the fourth quarter and won the game 13-11 on Saturday.

“The defense in front of me played so well,” Outlaws goalie Jack Kelly said in a postgame interview on Lax Sports Network. “We really collapsed in the crease when they tried to feed it. They have a great midfield, and they love to initiate their dodges with their middies, and they’re great feeders, all three of those guys, [Peter] Baum, [Kyle] Harrison and [Tom] Schreiber. We had two slides tonight. We were sloppy in the beginning. I don’t know what that was about, but we really buckled down at the end there. ... We were able to shut the door.”

Ohio scored just four goals in the second half, not nearly enough as Denver, down one at halftime, outscored the Machine by three goals in the second half.

Denver and Ohio both were missing key players. The Machine were without Marcus Holman, the league’s leading scorer heading into Week 12, while Denver was without all-star defenseman Matt Bocklet. That didn’t stop other players from showing their talent, however.

Both teams had two three-goal scorers apiece: Connor Cannizzaro (three goals, one assist) and Mark Cockerton (three goals, two assists) with Ohio and Eric Law and Wes Berg (three goals and one assist each) with Denver.

The difference maker, however, came from Outlaws rookie midfielder Romar Dennis. Just under two minutes into the fourth quarter, the Loyola product scored his second professional goal, a 2-pointer on the run that broke a 10-10 tie.

Romar Dennis ankle-breaking 2-pointer pushes @DenverOutlaws to a 2-point lead over @MachineMLL 5 minutes left https://t.co/oJkK8CQ2nw #MLL pic.twitter.com/MZ5KEEawkU

— Lax Sports Network (@LaxSportsNet) July 16, 2017

Dennis drew rave reviews from Outlaws assistant coach John Grant Jr.

A jump shot from 16 is scary. This kid is a weapon for us. https://t.co/k9sBoZeuSw

— John Grant Jr (@JohnGrantJr24) July 16, 2017

The Coca-Cola Player of the Game, however, was Kelly. The goaltender was one of the 49 players from the U.S. national team tryouts earlier in the week to be chosen for the training team that will prepare for the 2018 FIL World Championship. He continued his strong form, making 22 saves on 33 shots on goal, including eight saves in the fourth quarter.

“The way I look at it, every shot is unique,” Kelly said. “A save or goal, you’ve got to focus on the next shot. That goal or save has nothing to do with the next one coming at you. The first quarter was a little tough, but 22 saves, the defense in front of me played so great, giving me the shots I wanted to see. It was just take it one shot at a time, see what happens next.”

Denver remains undefeated in road games.

Florida honors a legend, sets franchise record

On a night when the Florida Launch celebrated the career of lacrosse icon and offensive genius Casey Powell by retiring his jersey No. 22, the players still wearing the uniform put on an offensive show of their own Saturday, outlasting the Chesapeake Bayhawks 20-19.

Florida jumped out to a 5-1 lead at the end of the first quarter and an 11-3 lead at halftime. Steven Brooks scored two of his three goals by halftime, and Kieran McArdle scored three of his four goals and added two of his three assists by the break.

After halftime, however, the Bayhawks stormed back. Chesapeake scored six goals to start the third quarter, including two from rookie Colin Heacock. After scoring only three goals in the first half, Chesapeake outscored Florida in both the third and fourth quarters and outscored them in the second half by a score of 16-9.

Florida was able to withstand the comeback, however, and escaped with the victory thanks to Dylan Molloy’s third goal of the game coming with 1:36 remaining in the game. It was the team’s third one-goal victory of the season.

“Apparently, we like the excitement,” Molloy said in a post-game interview on the team’s website. “We want to give our fans a little excitement for coming, a nice thanks. As long as we pull it out in the end, it doesn’t matter.”

The Launch (6-5) moved into sole possession of third place in the league standings. The fourth-year franchise has reached six wins for the first time in its history.

Bad breaks for Boston

The weekend did not start well for the Boston Cannons.

On Friday, the team released a statement regarding its trade with the Lizards that involved Will Manny. In that deal, the Cannons sent Manny — Boston’s leading scorer — and midfielder Joe LoCascio to New York in exchange for former all-star Dave Lawson and Chris LaPierre, who was the second pick in the 2013 MLL draft. In Friday’s statement, however, it was announced Lawson intended to file paperwork for retirement and that LaPierre would not report to the team.

Boston then entered Sunday’s game against Rochester without two starting defensemen (Brandon Mullins and Matt Landis) and two-way midfielder Justin Turri. An undermanned Boston squad suffered against the Rattlers, losing 21-9.

Jordan Wolf started things quickly for the Rattlers, netting a hat trick two minutes and 19 seconds into the start of the game. Rochester broke away in the second quarter, outscoring Boston 7-1 and entering the half with a 12-3 lead. The lopsided matchup continued in the third quarter, in which Rochester outscored Boston 6-1.

The loss dropped the Cannons to 3-7, the worst record in the league.

Noteworthy

Chesapeake’s loss to Florida was its fourth one-goal defeat of the season. The Bayhawks are 2-4 in one-goal games. … Chesapeake rookie Josh Byrne scored six goals — three in the fourth quarter — and added one assist. He now has 19 goals in five games. … Matt Danowski had a season-high six points on four goals (including one 2-pointer) and one assist. … Austin Kaut, the league leader in save percentage, made 16 saves on 34 shots on goal in Florida’s victory. …

In his first MLL game, Bentley graduate Max Adler went 15-for-27 on faceoffs for Denver, while also picking up six ground balls. … Ohio’s Tom Schreiber had one goal and three assists in the loss against Denver. …

In Rochester’s rout of Boston, Jordan Wolf finished with five goals and one assist. Jordan MacIntosh scored four goals. … New all-star Drew Simoneau went 22-for-34 on faceoffs, picked up 12 ground balls and scored a goal for Rochester. … After Boston drafted him in 2014, Jack Murphy played in his first MLL game in the Cannons’ loss. … Midfielder Josh Hawkins helped the Boston defense, picking up a long pole, and helped their offense with that long pole as well, scoring a goal. …

New York faceoff specialist Greg Gurenlian went 19-for-29 with nine ground balls and two goals in the Lizards’ victory over Charlotte. … Rookie Matt Rambo had a team-high three goals for the Hounds in their loss to New York. …

In Atlanta’s victory over the Lizards, four players scored three goals each: Mark Matthews, Randy Staats, Kevin Rice and James Pannell.

Player of the Week

Kieran McArdle, A, Florida Launch

McArdle tied a game high with seven points on four goals and three assists in Florida’s victory over Chesapeake. He earned Coca-Cola Player of the Game honors. His four goals matched the team’s total in its previous outing, a 17-4 loss to the Atlanta Blaze.

“That’s a big W,” he said in a post-game interview on Lax Sports Network. “We dropped our last two. It’s coming down to the playoff push now. That’s a big one to grind out, and it’s nice to get that one.”