Led by a season-high four goals from rookie attackman Chris Bocklet, the Denver Outlaws used a strong start to earn a 17-13 Major League Lacrosse victory over the Ohio Machine in front of an MLL-record 30,128 fans at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Wednesday afternoon.
Bocklet, who earned Bud Light MLL Player of the Game honors for the first time in his MLL career, scored three of his four goals in the second half to help the Outlaws hold off the Machine.
The Outlaws jumped to an early 4-0 lead in the opening 11 minutes of the first quarter before attackman Connor Martin snapped the streak with an unassisted goal with 2:48 left in the period.
But, the Outlaws answered by starting the second quarter with a six-goal run, including a goal and an assist from three different players, to build a 10-1 advantage with 6:41 remaining in the first half. However, the Machine closed to within 10-5 by scoring four answered goals to end the first half, including two goals from attackman Jim Connolly.
After Bocklet and midfielder Peet Poillon extended the Outlaws' advantage to 12-5 by scoring back-to-back goals in the first nine minutes of the second half, the Machine countered with four consecutive goals, including a pair of markers from Kiel Matisz, to narrow the gap to 12-9 with 58 seconds left in the frame.
The teams exchanged goals three times to open the fourth quarter before a two-point goal from attackman Terry Kimener gave Denver a 17-12 advantage with 1:17 remaining. Despite a goal from Connolly with 20 seconds left, the Machine was unable to get any closer.
While Bocklet led the Outlaws with his second "hat trick" of the season, Poillon contributed three goals with an assist along with a goal and two assists from Colin Briggs.
Connolly led Ohio with a season-high five goals while rookie attackman Steele Stanwick contributed a goal with a season-high five assists. Meanwhile, Matisz recorded the first "hat trick" of his MLL career by scoring three goals.