San Francisco Dragons Upset Denver Outlaws

[Sonny]

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Attackman Liam Banks scored two goals and added three assists as the San Francisco Dragons (4-8) snapped a two-game losing streak with a 16-15 victory over the Denver Outlaws (7-5) in the regular season finale for both teams at Kezar Stadium on Saturday afternoon. With the loss by the Outlaws, the Los Angeles Riptide clinch their first Western Conference title and will be guaranteed of at least being the second seed in NB ZIP MLL Championship Weekend, which takes place in two weeks at Rochester.

Defenseman Eric Martin gave the Dragons a 1-0 lead just over four minutes into the first quarter, scoring off an assist from midfielder Chris Rotelli. Led by two goals from attackman Brendan Mundorf, the Outlaws countered by scoring three straight goals to take a two-goal advantage. After attackman Ryan Powell narrowed the San Francisco deficit to 3-2 with an unassisted tally, the Outlaws added goals from midfielders Brian Langtry and Benson Erwin, extending their lead to 5-2.

The Outlaws extended their lead to 8-3 by scoring three of the first four goals of the second quarter. After midfielder Geoff Snider scored off a Langtry feed to open the quarter, Rotelli scored an unassisted goal to narrow the margin to 6-3. Midfielder Matt Hanna and Mundorf scored back-to-back goals to move their lead to 8-3, but rookie attackman Jake Byrne ended the quick spurt with a goal off a Powell feed with 8:19 left in the period.

Rookie attackman Drew Westervelt scored an unassisted goal to give Denver a 9-4 lead before the Dragons scored four straight goals, including a goal by Byrne as time expired in the period, to narrow the margin to 9-8 at the intermission.

Westervelt extended Denver's advantage to 11-8 with a pair of goals to start the third quarter before San Francisco responded with a six-goal spurt to take a 14-11 advantage with 2:06 remaining in the stanza. Banks had a goal and two assists during the rally. Powell upped the Dragons' cushion to 15-11 with a goal off a Banks assist with 10:06 left in the fourth quarter. Attackman Matt Brown ended the San Francisco rally with a goal before Westervelt added his fifth goal of the game, an unassisted tally with 4:40 remaining in regulation. Mundorf added an unassisted goal just 47 seconds later, narrowing the margin to 15-14.

Martin regained a two-goal advantage for the Dragons by scoring his second goal of the game off an assist from midfielder Jarett Park with 3:41 remaining before Mundorf countered less than a minute later with an unassisted tally. Banks led the Dragons to the victory while Byrne and Powell each added three goals with an assist. Westervelt scored a game-high five goals with two assists in a losing effort for the Outlaws while Mundorf added five goals. Langtry scored one goal and also had two assists.

Denver (7-5) 5-4-2-4 / 15
San Francisco (4-8) 2-6-6-4 / 16

Goals:
DEN – Drew Westervelt 5, Brendan Mundorf 5, Brian Langtry 1, Geoff Snider 1, Matt Hanna 1, Benson Erwin 1, Matt Brown 1.
SF – Jake Byrne 3, Ryan Powell 3, Liam Banks 2, Chris Rotelli 2, Eric Martin 2, Matt Alrich 1, Jarett Park 1, Greg Gurenlian 1, Nate Watkins 1.

Assists:
DEN – Brian Langtry 2, Matt Brown 2, Drew Westervelt 2, Mike Law 1, Josh Sims 1.
SF – Liam Banks 3, Nate Watkins 2, Eric Martin 1, Jake Byrne 1, Ryan Powell 1, Chris Rotelli 1, Jarett Park 1.

Saves:
DEN – Trevor Tierney 16 (60:00, 16 goals allowed).
SF – Matt Vallone 10 (60:00, 15 goals allowed).