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| Photo Courtesy of Getty Images |
By: Ashley Guerra
The 2012 MLL Most Valuable Player BrendanMundorf is back for the 2013 season. Mundorf is the all-time leading scorer in Denver Outlaws history; Mundorf has scored 206 career goals with 100 assists in 79 career games. After suffering what appeared to be a left ankle injury during the practice the afternoon before the MLL semifinal against the Long Island Lizards, Mundorf was unable to play in the 2012 Championship Weekend Games.
Mundorf spent most of the off-season recovering from his injury and returned to the Outlaws last weekend. We sat down with General Manager Tony Seaman to ask him about Mundorf’s return to the Outlaws.
Tony Seaman: Needless to say it's good to have the MLL's best offensive player back in our line up full time. It will take a couple of games for our attack to play together as a unit for us to expect maximum effectiveness.
OL: How much did Mundorf’s injury affect the way the team played in both the semi-final and the finals last season?
TS: When you lose one of your top offensive players at practice the day before the final four championship weekend it is a tremendous obstacle to overcome. You have no practice time left to try and fill the void created by his departure. So many parts of our total game were affected by his absence. To see our team come together on Saturday in the semifinal game and pull out a win against a very talented Lizard's team was beyond doubt our best win of the season. It was very apparent in the Championship game how much we missed having Brendan on the field against the Bayhawks.
OL: Do you think missing Championship Weekend last season will affect his play this season?
TS: Brendan was able to train hard and rehab his injury over the winter and managed to play in two NLL games in preparation for our MLL season. He looked in suburb condition on Saturday night against Columbus and we have the same high expectations for him as we did last season.
OL: What does a veteran like Mundorf bring to the team (aside from his physical play)?
TS: Brendan is an outspoken leader in the locker room and on the field. He is the first guy at practice and the last guy to leave the field at the end of practice. He sets a fine example to everyone on our team on how to work hard, play hard and expect nothing but the best. He is a fierce competitor and that certainly boils over to the rest of our team.