The Denver Outlaws were a Major League Lacrosse professional men's field lacrosse team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They began playing in the MLL in 2006 as an expansion team.
During their time in the MLL, the Outlaws played in the championship game a league-record ten times. Missed the playoffs just once in franchise history and never had a losing season. The Outlaws regularly posted the highest attendance in the league. The Outlaws won their first MLL Championship on August 23, 2014, defeating the Rochester Rattlers 12-11 and won their second MLL Championship in 2016, defeating the Ohio Machine 19âÂÂ18. On August 18, 2018, the Outlaws won their third championship by defeating the Dallas Rattlers, 16âÂÂ12.
The Outlaws had their inaugural game on May 20, 2006, versus the Chicago Machine at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. It was played in front of a Major League Lacrosse record crowd of 13,167 (but was broken again later that year at another Denver home game which drew 15,981), where the Outlaws won 24âÂÂ14. The Outlaws won the Western Conference championship in their first season.
On June 16, 2007, the Rochester Rattlers won a game in overtime 27âÂÂ26 over the Outlaws in the highest scoring game in MLL history at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
Denver hosted the 2008 Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game in front of 10,124 people, with the Western Conference defeating the Eastern Conference 31âÂÂ15.
In 2012, behind the strong veteran play of MLL MVP Brendan Mundorf and Defensive Player of the Year Lee Zink, Denver capped their regular season with a 15âÂÂ13 victory over Chesapeake to finish the year with an 11âÂÂ3 record, which represented the most wins in team history for a single season. Additionally, Denver entered the postseason as the No. 1 seed for the second time in franchise history and first time since 2009.
During Championship Weekend in Boston, the Outlaws trailed 12âÂÂ3 to Long Island with 11:32 to play in the third quarter. It appeared as if Denver's record-setting season had reached its end. Yet, that's when Denver set another record with a 10âÂÂ0 run to end the game, catapulting the franchise into the Steinfeld Cup title game with a 13âÂÂ12 victory over Long Island. Unfortunately, in the title game versus Chesapeake, the Outlaws were unable to muster that same kind of comeback magic and fell to the Bayhawks 16âÂÂ6, falling one win short of their first MLL Championship.
In 2013 the Denver Outlaws posted the first undefeated regular season (14-0) in MLL history after beating the Hamilton Nationals 18âÂÂ12 to finish the season. But they fell to the Charlotte Hounds in the semifinal the next week, as their first Steinfeld Cup continued to be elusive.
BJ O'Hara took over as head coach for the 2014 season. That year, the Outlaws posted a 9âÂÂ5 record and won their first Steinfeld Cup as the second seed. They defeated the New York Lizards in the semifinals, 14âÂÂ13, in the first ever home playoff game in Denver. On August 23, the Outlaws defeated the top-seeded Rochester Rattlers 12âÂÂ11 to win their first MLL Championship in the team's 9-year history, thanks to a go-ahead Drew Snider goal with 56 seconds remaining. In 2015, however, the Outlaws missed the postseason for the first time ever in franchise history after posting a 7âÂÂ7 record (also their worst record in franchise history).
The 2016 season saw the Outlaws get out to their worst start in franchise history at 2âÂÂ6. After trading John Grant Jr. to the Ohio Machine, they won their last six games of the regular season to be one of the seven teams in the league to finish 8âÂÂ6. With the tiebreaker procedures, they ended up with the third seed and faced the Lizards in the semifinals. In Fairfield, Connecticut, the Outlaws defeated the Lizards, 20âÂÂ17. The next week, they faced the top-seeded Machine, featuring John Grant Jr. Two weeks prior, Grant Jr. scored an MLL-record 10 goals in the final week of the regular season to secure a playoff spot for the Ohio Machine. In the championship game, the Outlaws fell behind the Machine, 9âÂÂ3 in Atlanta. Lightning delayed the game for 97 minutes, and the Outlaws scored the next four goals to cut the deficit to 9âÂÂ7. The Machine came back with five straight and Denver went into the locker room trailing 14âÂÂ7, at halftime. The Outlaws roared back to tie the score at 15 by the start of the final quarter, before Eric Law scored a go-ahead goal with 12.9 seconds left. The Outlaws shutdown the Machine's last scoring threat and claimed their second Steinfeld Cup victory in three years.
The Outlaws returned to the big game in 2017, where they again faced the Machine. The Outlaws led for most of the game by as many as four goals when the score reached 10âÂÂ6 with three minutes left in the third. However, after taking a 12âÂÂ10 lead with 10:30 to go in the game, they gave up seven straight goals and lose their fifth championship game in their seventh appearance, 17âÂÂ12, allowing the Machine to win their franchise's first title.
Much like their 2016 championship season, the 2018 Outlaws struggled out of the gate. On Mother's Day, the Outlaws dropped a 24-22 barnburner to the Chesapeake Bayhawks in front of 1,788 fans at Mile High. But the resilient Outlaws rattled off six straight victories ending with a 25-11 blowout of Boston at their annual Fourth of July game in front of 29,973 fans. The team finished 8-6 and in third place.
Despite getting swept by the Bayhawks 2âÂÂ0 in the regular season, the Outlaws would go to Annapolis and get a gutsy 13âÂÂ12 victory in the league semifinals. The following week in Charleston, South Carolina, the Outlaws would face the Dallas Rattlers, who also swept them in the regular season, for the 2018 Steinfeld Cup. Denver would use a 7âÂÂ0 run in the second and third quarters, and a nine-point performance from Matt Kavanagh to defeat Dallas, 16-12 for their third championship in five years. Rookie Chris Cloutier won Rookie of the Year for the 2018 season.
After the departure of over 140 MLL players to the new Premier Lacrosse League attributed to the contraction of the league from nine to six teams, the Outlaws posted a 9âÂÂ7 record in 2019. Despite tying their franchise record for most losses in a season, with the longer regular season the Outlaws claimed the second seed heading to the championship weekend, which would be played in Denver for the first time. Although the Outlaws rallied to defeat the Boston Cannons, 17âÂÂ15 in the semifinal, they were not able to ride the homefield advantage to their fourth title. The Chesapeake Bayhawks left Denver as victors, 10âÂÂ9, after scoring two goals in the last three minutes.
The 2020 season was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantined at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, home to the Chesapeake Bayhawks. In a five-game regular season, the Outlaws stormed to a 4âÂÂ0 start highlighted by an 18-6 throttling of the new Connecticut Hammerheads and a 13âÂÂ12 overtime victory over the defending champion Bayhawks. They entered the postseason as the top seed. However, on the last night of the regular season, a Bayhawks player tested positive for COVID-19. The semifinal game between the second-seeded Hammerheads and third-seeded Bayhawks was canceled as both teams withdrew from the tournament. As a result, the semifinal between the Outlaws and the Boston Cannons was moved to the next day to serve as the championship. In their league-record tenth championship appearance, the Outlaws fell to the Cannons, 13âÂÂ10.
On December 16, 2020, the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) announced a merger with Major League Lacrosse. The move created a unified outdoor lacrosse league that kept the PLL name and eliminated all home market teams. This left six MLL franchises, including Denver, on the outside. The league retained the rights to the now-retired team identities with the option to use these brands in future expansion.
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