After getting married, honeymooning at The Broadmoor and running a lacrosse camp, Denver Outlaws attackman Matt Brown ended the exhausting week by countering the punishing blows of the San Francisco Dragons on Saturday night at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Brown’s response to the most bruising shove was a diving shot that found the net for his fourth goal in a 19-16 victory, a triumph not sealed until Brendan Mundorf absorbed two hits in front of the crease en route to his third goal.
“They are pretty aggressive,” Brown said. “I think we did a good job of controlling ourselves, not reacting. They’re not dirty, they’re just young guys playing tough lacrosse.”
Denver’s Geoff Snider usually dominates the X mark, but the Dragons’ Greg Gurenlian used his power and girth to win 19-of-36 faceoffs, including a late battle of wills in which the two were locked in a stalemate like wrestlers for 10 seconds.
“It was tough, my backhand stick was under his feet and he wasn’t moving,” said Snider. “He’s a big guy, and he gets the credit. It takes a lot out of you, but when you have a goalie like Jesse Schwartzman and our defenders, and midfielders like Casey Cittadino and rookie Mike Ward — he was awesome — it makes this job away from our jobs easier. We wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t hard.”
Midfielder Brian Langtry reminded the Outlaws (4-1) of how hard it has to be during an impassioned halftime speech with his team trailing 10-8.
Then, Langtry scored the first of Denver’s nine third- quarter goals. Brown and Langtry each had two goals in the quarter.
Langtry’s four goals and two assists increased his season total to 27 points, second-best in Major League Lacrosse.
Late in the third quarter, Langtry pushed his defender, drawing closer for a low score. Snider won the ensuing faceoff and scored five seconds later for a 17-13 lead over the Dragons (1-3).
San Francisco 1 9 3 3 — 16
Denver 5 3 9 2 — 19
SF —Lalli (goals-assists) 5-0, Byrne 3-1, Ratcliff 3-0, Cranston 2-2, Loftus 1-0, Gurenlian 1-0, Hartzell 0-2, Booth 0-1, Martin 0-1, Holmes 0-1, Podgajny 0-1. 2-point goals: Byrne.
Den —Langtry 4-2, Brown 4-0, Mundorf 3-1, Sonke 2-1, Hanna 2-0, Powell 1-2, Westervelt 1-0, Snider 1-0. 2-point goals: Hanna.
Goalies-saves: SF, Vallone 16; Den, Schwartzman 14.
