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Denver Stays Perfect, Chesapeake Still Challenging

Editor’s Note: Please welcome Chuck Richardson of EvoShield back to LaxAllStars! Chuck is the man behind lacrosse at EvoShield, a true game grower (we saw it in action in Jamaica!), and will be following the Chesapeake Bayhawks for the rest of the MLL season. 

The Bayhawks hit the road this week, hot off Casey Powell’s MLL return and a huge overtime win over Boston, to face the undefeated Denver Outlaws in Mile High Stadium. The game would open with a quick goal from Denver’s Jeremy Sieverts (former Bayhawk) only to be answered equally as quickly by Chesapeake’s Drew Westervelt (former Outlaw) who would start this week off in the same fashion as he ended the last, by finding the back of the net.

For GREAT game photos, check out the Lacrosse Frontier!

Westervelt came out of the gates on fire, scoring the first 3 goals for the Bayhawks, earning a hat track in the 1st quarter and giving Chesapeake a quick 3-1 lead. Michael Kimmel and Ben Hunt would add to the Bayhawks quick start by adding a goal each, giving Chesapeake a 5-1 advantage over the undefeated Denver Outlaws.

The big lead would prove to be short lived. As they have done all season long, Denver would respond with an explosive offense, lead by Jeremy Siever and Drew Snider who each put up two goals to tie the game 5-5. The Outlaws’ offensive run would be stopped by a rebound goal from Ben Rubeor to send the Bayhawks into the half with a 6-5 lead.

Both teams would settle down in the third period they got into a back and forth game with seven different players scoring, including Chesapeake’s Drew Westervelt and Denver’s Jeremy Sieverts, both  putting up their fourth goals of the game.

The 4th period would begin all even at 10, but it wouldn’t take Denver very long to show why they sit at the top of the league and with a perfect record, as they came out and scoring 4 unanswered goals from Greer, Mangan, Pennington, and Snider to give Denver their biggest lead of the game.

Steven Brooks and Matt Abbott would respond with two clutch goals to keep the Bayhawks in reach with minutes left in the 4th.

It goes without saying that it takes perfection to beat perfection, and unfortunately for the Bayhawks, perfection was just out of grasp. The final 2 minutes of the game would be defined by 2 Casey Powell turnovers and a Brian Spallina penalty for cross checking, which would leave the Bayhawks man down in the final minute of the game, allowing Denver to hold onto the home win, and their perfect season.

Former Outlaw turned Bayhawk Drew Westervelt on the game: “It’s always good to be in Denver.  It’s a great sports town.  It was a tough way to end, but we have to play well for 60 to win games.  The positive is we have yet to play our best lacrosse.

The Bayhawks are still in the playoff hunt with 2 games left to play before Championship weekend.  Chesapeake will face Ned Crotty and the Rochester Rattlers next week in Annapolis.