No Ryan Powell, no problem for the Denver Outlaws.
Minus their new star acquisition, a two-time Major League Lacrosse most valuable player, Denver buried the defending Western Conference champion Los Angeles Riptide 22-12 on Saturday night before 11,843 fans at Invesco Field at Mile High.
While Powell was playing the indoor game, scoring two goals with six assists in Portland’s 14-13 National Lacrosse League title game loss to Buffalo, his new teammates used a nine-goal second quarter to start their third season on a winning note.
“To do that without Ryan Powell and Josh Sims, that’s kind of a scary thought,” said midfielder Brian Langtry, noting that the speedy Sims was sidelined from the scoring by a sprained ankle. “Our offense has the ability to do a lot, but this is a talented league and we have to show up every night.”
Langtry showed up with four goals and three assists.
Coach Brian Reese’s in-sync squad repeatedly moved the ball to open teammates. The attack corps combined for 11 goals, with Matt Brown and Matt Hanna netting four goals each and Brendan Mundorf scoring three.
“We had guys without the ball working hard for guys with the ball,” Reese said.
Mundorf made a behind-the-back pass to Brown, who faked, changed hands and scored for a 15-7 lead.
“It’s unselfish play, drawing slides and moving the ball — that’s all you need to do when you have talent at this level,” Brown said.
Los Angeles 4 1 5 2 — 12
Denver 5 9 4 4 — 22
Los Angeles — Watson 2-0-2, Harrison 1-0-1, Downing 2-0-2, Hubbard 1-1-2, Casey 2-0-2, Morrissey 1-1-2, Woodson 1-0-1, Ford 0-3-3, Riordan 2-1-3.
Denver — Langtry 4-3-8, Sonke 2-1-3, Mundorf 3-2-5, Westervelt 3-1-4, Hanna 4-0-4, Watkins 0-3-3, Brown 4-0-4, Snider 1-0-1, Polk 0-1-1, Erwin 0-1-1.
2-point goal — Langtry. Saves — Schwartzman 17, Alford 1; Jarboe N/A. Goalies — Los Angeles, Jarboe; Denver, Schwartzman.
