After two straight home games, the Denver Outlaws (7-1) head to New York to take on the Rochester Rattlers (5-3) on Sunday.
The two teams will meet just three days after the MLL All-Star game which took place Thursday night at Harvard Stadium in Allston, Mass. The game — which had MLL All-Stars playing Team USA — featured seven Outlaws players. Eric Law, Jeremy Sieverts, Drew Snider, Anthony Kelly and Michael Simon all suited up for the MLL All-Stars while Lee Zink and Jesse Schwartzman played for Team USA.
Denver took down the Chesapeake Bayhawks last week to clinch its league-best seventh win of the season. After a win over the Florida Launch last week, the Rattlers sit at second place in the standings, two games back of the Outlaws.
The Outlaws are 5-4 against Rochester all time and have won each of their last five contests dating back to 2012.
Earlier this season, Denver cruised past the Rattlers at home, 14-8, with the help of a hat trick from Snider and 14 saves from Schwartzman.
Justin Turri and Kevin Leveille have led Rochester’s offense this season. Turri’s 23 points rank tied for ninth best in the league, and Leveille has 19 points on 13 goals and six assists.
In the crease, John Galloway is averaging 11.65 goals against per game, and his 116 saves lead the league.
“They’re playing really well right now,” Denver head coach B.J. O’Hara said. “They added a couple of new pieces — and they were a really solid squad going into this season, bringing back what they had last year. They added a couple of new pieces on the attack end, especially. They’re playing at a high level and they’re at home, they’re in second place. We expect that we’re going to see everything they’ve got and we’ve got to be ready for it.”