Outlaws Corral Western Conference Crown

The Outlaws (9-2) clinched the Western Conference championship with a 17-13 victory over the Machine (0-11) Saturday afternoon in front of a crowd of 2,054 in suburban Chicago. Matt Brown (5-0—5) and Jeff Sonke (3-1—5) had five points apiece to pace Denver, which guaranteed itself of finishing its inaugural season with a better record than fellow Major League Lacrosse expansion teams San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The Machine were on the cusp of winning their first game of the season and franchise history when Dan Flannery’s goal 5:16 into the final quarter tied the score at 12-12. However, Jeff Sonke’s two-point shot from behind the arc less than two minutes later put the Outlaws up for good.

Denver – sensing the opportunity to take the inaugural Western Conference title and clinch at least the second seed in the Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend – went for the close as Brown and Josh Sims each followed Sonke with a goal to place the game on ice.

Rookie Brendan Mundorf continued his stellar play for the Outlaws with three goals and an assist for four points, while Mike Law and Matt Rewkowski each had a pair of scores. Kevin Leveille moved the Machine with a trio of goals and an assist for four points.

Denver sweeps the three-game season series with Chicago, having won the previous two matches at INVESCO Field at Mile High.

The Outlaws end the regular season next Saturday in Los Angeles as they face the Riptide. Denver will return to the Los Angeles area on Aug. 25 as the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. will host the 2006 Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend.

The semi-final games will be held at 5:30 PM PT and 8:00 PM PT on Friday, August 25. The two semi-final winners will advance to the New Balance Championship Game on Sunday, August 27. The Championship Game will air live on ESPN2.

The Boston Cannons and Philadelphia Barrage have clinched two of the remaining three spots.