Rochester beat the No. 1 seeded Outlaws both times during the regular season.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The No. 4 seeded Rochester Rattlers (8-6) travel to Denver to take on the No. 1 seeded Outlaws in the opening round of the Major League Lacrosse (MLL) playoffs Saturday night.
Jordan Wolf, Ty Thompson, Jordan MacIntosh, and John Ranagan had four points apiece (3 goals and 1 assist) in the 14-13 victory over the Ohio Machine Saturday, which secured the final playoff spot for Rochester. John Galloway made 23 saves, many of the spectacular variety, in gaining the win.
Wolf leads the Rattlers in scoring with 44 points (29g, 15a). Ned Crotty is second with 33 points (8g, 1 2-pt g, 24a).
Rochester defeated the Outlaws twice this season, 16-15 on May 27 in Denver, and 18-12 on July 20 in Rochester. The Rattlers were the only team in the league to sweep the 2016 finalists this season. Denver defeated Ohio last year in Atlanta to capture the championship.
Last Thursday, the Outlaws (9-5) played the Chesapeake Bayhawks and lost, 23-19, but still maintained the No. 1 seed when the Rattlers beat Ohio (9-5). Denver held the tie-breaker on goal differential, 25-24.
Matt Kavanagh (Notre Dame) led the Outlaws with 3 goals and 4 assists. Goalie Jack Kelly (Brown) had 5 saves in net for Denver in the first half, and Mike Nugent made 7 saves in net for the second half.
Eric Law (Denver) leads the Outlaws with 52 points (32 goals and 20 assists). Michael Bocklet (Dartmouth) is second with 48 points (37 goals and 11 assists).
The winner of the game will face the winner of the other semifinals between No. 2 Ohio and No. 3 Florida Launch, which is making its first-ever appearance in the MLL playoffs.
The Champion’s Cup game will be played on Aug. 19, outside of Dallas in a 12,000 seat indoor stadium.
The Rattlers appeared in the 2014 and 2015 championship games, losing to Denver and the New York Lizards, respectively.
Rochester won its lone MLL Championship in 2008.