Winners of three of their past four and two in a row, the Denver Outlaws are streaking at a prime time in the Major League Lacrosse season. But timing is about more than momentum, and it isn’t all going the Outlaws’ way.
With the Federation of International Lacrosse World Championships playing out in Manchester, England, the Outlaws will be without their three leading scorers when they host the Chicago Machine in a crucial MLL game Saturday at Invesco Field. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m.
Brendan Mundorf, Drew Westervelt and Max Seibald have combined for 84 points this season. The rest of the team has combined for 108 points.
“We are not going to make excuses about who is missing,” Outlaws coach and general manager Brian Reese said this week on . “We are a team, and the guys going out there are going to do what it takes to win.”
That Seibald led all American scorers with five goals in a U.S. win over Australia last week and Westervelt notched three goals in the U.S. win over Japan on Thursday is little consolation to the Outlaws, who are battling the Boston Cannons for the top spot in MLL.
At 6-3, Denver and Boston are tied atop the standings with three games remaining.
“I think one of our strengths is our depth,” Reese said. “Guys who do not play every game have gotten in there and stepped up.”
Lop off the top of the Outlaws’ scoring output and Matt Brown and Dan Hardy are left to lead the bunch. Brown, an attackman from the University of Denver, and Hardy, a midfielder, have each accounted for 22 points this season.
Chicago, at 4-5 and in third place in the MLL, also is without its leading scorer, American Mike Leveille. But the Machine beat Denver in their previous meeting.
“It’s really about us getting on the same page and knowing our roles and what to expect from our teammates,” Reese said.
Major League Lacrosse
Chicago Machine at Denver Outlaws
Saturday, 7 p.m., at Invesco Field
AROUND TOWN
All set for Urban Assault.
Remember that scene in “Revenge of the Nerds” when the fraternities race around a kooky obstacle course, riding kids’ bikes and drinking beer and otherwise reducing — or expanding — the concept of competition to new levels?
Now transfer to downtown Denver on Sunday, add big bikes and a longer course, sub out the javelin throw for human bowling and you’ve about approximated the New Belgium Urban Assault Ride race.
Starting at 9 a.m., tandem teams and teams of families will race around the city from Skyline Park, to the Tivoli, over to Wheat Ridge, La Alma, Garfield Street and beyond, with obstacles at each stop, including a paperboy delivery and piggyback polo.
The beer, by the way, won’t be served until after the race. Check for info.
STAY ON THE COUCH
National TV time for Rockies.
How there can be Rockies games that aren’t televised these days is baffling. But sure enough, another one was blacked out Thursday from Miami, when the Marlins topped Colorado.
But as they start a four-game series in Philadelphia against the National League champion Phillies, the Rockies will be all over the airwaves.
After a 5 p.m. game tonight on FSN, the Rox are pegged for Fox’s Game of the Week on Saturday for a regional-national 2:10 p.m. game airing locally on KDVR-31. Ubaldo Jimenez, below, goes against Kyle Kendrick (the probable starter) in that game.
Then on Sunday, find the Rockies in a national broadcast on TBS (as well as FSN) at 11:30 a.m. Then on Monday, the Rox are on FSN at 11 a.m.
GET OFF THE COUCH
Going the distance.
They’re not messin’ around on the Western Slope this weekend. Come prepared or don’t come at all to the two 100-mile races in Durango and Grand Mesa.
On Saturday, the Grand Mesa 100 trail race — which also includes 50- and 37.5-mile courses — will run along the largest flattop mountain in the world, a national scenic and historic byway. Starting at 5:30 a.m., the ultra marathon will climb 11,173 feet, with the three races running at an average of 9,200 feet above sea level ().
On Sunday, check the Durango Century bike tour, also known as the D100. The loop route rides through the San Juan Mountains, down to New Mexico to the Farmington mesas and back near the La Plata Mountains, starting at 7 a.m. ().
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
No beer leaguers around here.
No beer coolers on these infields — this is for-real stuff. The Rocky Mountain Shootout NIT this weekend will bring 40 of the best men’s competitive slow-pitch softball teams in the country to Aurora for a knock-down, drag-out showdown.
Resmondo Sports, the five-time U.S. Slow Pitch Softball Association World Series champion from Winter Haven, Fla., will be the team to beat. It enters ranked No. 1 in the top division.
The tournament plays out at Aurora Sports Park today through Sunday. Check for brackets, schedules and rosters.
