Pat Kavanagh had the ball, working to burn time, just trying to nurse a narrow one-goal lead for the Denver Outlaws. Defenders swarmed him, hitting him hard, trying to get possession back in the final moments. But in the dying embers of what was an absolute battle, Denver’s main man found *that* will to win and delivered in the clutch.
Kavanagh Pulled Off the Impossible
The Outlaws scraped by the Carolina Chaos 10-8 on Saturday afternoon in Fairfield, and man, was it a grind. With that tight one-goal lead, Kavanagh spun through not one, not two, but *three* defenders, stick checks flailing everywhere, to beat the Carolina defense for the game-sealing goal. It was pure madness! He told ESPN’s Dana Boyle, “Just power cradle and pray. I don’t know, honestly,” when asked how he fought through that swarm. Before Kavanagh’s heroics, Brennan O’Neill, who had been pointless all game, found captain Justin Anderson for the go-ahead goal with only 81 seconds left. Then Luke Wierman snagged a vital faceoff win, going 13-for-21 (61.9%) on the day, setting up Kavanagh’s unbelievable fight for that game-clincher.
Defense Was the Real MVP
Let’s be real, Saturday was a test of pure willpower. Kavanagh’s guts highlighted a Denver team that simply willed itself to victory, because for the second week in a row, it was NOT easy. The Chaos absolutely blitzed the Outlaws defense with five first-quarter goals. Can you believe it? Back-to-back weeks, Denver has given up five goals and trailed by two scores after the first quarter. Whether it was the rain, the opponent, or just the moment, it took forever for the Outlaws to wake up. Carolina’s Eric Spanos scored with just 0:43 left in that opening quarter, and then? For the next 31 minutes and 18 seconds of game action,that’s almost two-thirds of the game,the Chaos couldn’t put the ball in the net! Goalie Logan McNaney seriously returned to form after what they called the worst performance of his career. He racked up 14 saves at a 63.6% clip, with the Outlaws defense challenging Carolina shooters all day long. McNaney said, “We took care of, call it the heart, the paint. Obviously you don’t want to let goals up in there, so we just settled in and trusted our matchups.”
Almost Another Collapse, But Not Today
Logan Wisnauskas was on fire early with a first-half hat trick that pulled Denver ahead. But the Outlaws just couldn’t put the game away. The Carolina defense kept Denver off the scoreboard for most of the second half. Denver tried some interesting substitution wrinkles, with Wisnauskas and Jared Bernhardt (who had 2 goals) rotating between attack and midfield, but they never found that “next gear” to kill the game. That opened the door for Chaos to break McNaney’s shutout streak. A mishandled ball from the netminder trickled over the line, and the seal was broken. Less than three minutes later, the game was tied at eight! Just a week ago, against the Cannons, a flurry of fourth-quarter goals erased all their good work and led to a loss. With 3:10 left in *this* game, it seriously felt like Denver was headed for the same crash. But good teams find ways to win, even without playing their best. As Soudan put it, “I think our compete level was really high all day. There wasn’t too much to talk about besides, ‘All right, it’s our turn now.’” And boy, did they prove it. The result went Denver’s way.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
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