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The 2013 Denver Outlaws can pop the champagne as they are still the only team in Major League Lacrosse history to go undefeated in a regular season. Who helped them keep that distinction in 2018? The Denver Outlaws, of course, as they defeated the 4-0 Charlotte Hounds by a score of 17-13.

Denver – and more specifically, rookie Chris Cloutier – came out hot right from the start, leaving plenty of room between themselves and Charlotte for the entirety of the game. Cloutier, a fourth-round pick out of the University of North Carolina, opened the game with three consecutive goals to give the Outlaws a 3-0 lead five minutes into the game. Denver piled on the points in the first quarter, opening a 7-1 lead going into the second quarter, and Charlotte never recovered.

While the Outlaws scored only one goal in the second quarter, they got back to business in the second half and the 17 goals were the second-most the team has scored in 2018, trailing only the 22 they put up in a week four loss to the Chesapeake Bayhawks.

Denver’s offensive output was a total team effort as 11 different players earned at least one point including unheralded players such as defender Eli Gobrecht (who has tallied a point in two consecutive games), rookie midfielder Chase Young (playing in his first MLL game), and second-year midfielder Mikie Schlosser.

“We were doing it with some unfamiliar faces,” Denver coach B.J. O’Hara said in a postgame interview on Lax Sports Network. “[Assistant] John Grant does a great job getting the guys in the right place and painting a good picture for them. It was some awfully good offense.”

While he wasn’t their top draft pick, the Outlaws hyped up Cloutier’s debut, posting an article on the team’s website this week with the headline “Chris Cloutier – John Grant Jr in the Making.” Cloutier delivered, finishing the game with six goals and two assists, and his eight points were the most for any player in Week 5.

“Coming in, I was super nervous, but thankfully these guys helped me ease into it,” Cloutier, the Coca Cola MVP of the Game, said in a postgame interview on Lax Sports Network. “They helped me get my bearings and made it really easy for me to transition.”

Myles Jones Taking Over

In Chesapeake’s second game of the season, the Bayhawks earned a victory but former first-overall draft pick Myles Jones was quiet, failing to earn a single point. Since then, however, he has dominated games and become the Bayhawks go-to-guy. For three consecutive games, Jones has totaled at least five points, including his five-goal effort in a comeback victory over the Boston Cannons.

Down 8-4 at halftime, Jones scored three of his five goals in the second half, including two in the fourth quarter. It was the second consecutive week he scored three goals in the second half.

“I think Myles Jones has been the best player in Major League Lacrosse the last three games. He was absolutely outstanding tonight and scored big goals when we needed them,” Chesapeake coach Dave Cottle said in a press release on the team’s website. “Myles is a combination of a big man who can dodge and pass. He’s not turning the ball over like he did last season and is making really smart decisions.” 

The Return of Tim Soudan

When the Rattlers announced they were moving from Rochester to Dallas, the team also announced that Tim Soudan, the head coach for the previous six seasons, would not be joining the rest of the team in the move.

A popular person in the lacrosse and MLL communities, Soudan was back on the Rattlers sidelines in their Week 5 game against Atlanta as a special assistant, filling in for the unavailable Jacques Monte.

In what was sure to be a happy reunion, the Rattlers players made it extra special with a 15-14 overtime victory. Jordan Wolf, who Soudan mentioned in his tweet expressing his excitement of joining the team for shootaround, had the assist to Ryan McNamara on the game-winning goal five and a half-minutes into overtime. It was McNamara’s third goal of the game.

It was the second home game for the Rattlers, with both games turning into overtime victories.

Noteworthy

Eric Law scored five goals in Denver’s victory over Charlotte. … The Hounds got four points from both John Haus and Kevin Cooper. … The first two defenders selected in the 2018 MLL collegiate draft both made their debuts in the Hounds-Outlaws game, with Ohio State’s Ben Randall playing for Charlotte and Penn’s Connor Keating – the only defender taken in the first round – playing for Denver. … James Pannell scored four goals for the Cannons. … Making his Boston debut, Zed Williams scored one goal and added two assists. … In his first game of the 2018 season and back with the Rattlers, Randy Staats scored three goals and added one assist. … John Galloway made 15 saves. … The Atlanta defense held Jordan Wolf without a point until his assist in overtime. … The loss was Atlanta goalie Chris Madalon’s first of the season. He made 18 saves on 33 shots on goal in the defeat. … Atlanta’s Kevin Rice had two goals and three assists. … The Lizards stopped a three-game skid with a 14-13 victory over the Florida Launch. Joe Walters had a season-high five points (three goals and two assists), including the game-winning goal with 1:11 remaining in the fourth quarter. … Drew Adams made 22 saves on 35 shots on goal. It tied a season-high, equaling the number of saves he had in the season opener. … Kieran McArdle had a game-high six points (five goals, one assist) for Florida, while Dylan Molloy scored four goals, and first-round draft pick Jules Heningburg – making his MLL debut – had a goal and an assist.

Player of the Week

Max Adler, FO, Denver

Filling in for the injured Tom Kelly, Adler won 22-of-33 faceoffs and had a game-high nine ground balls. He also provided an assist on a first-quarter Kylor Bellistri goal.

“He took a lot of pressure off us,” O’Hara said in a postgame interview on Lax Sports Network. “Whenever they scored, we had a better than average chance of getting the ball back.”