Denver Outlaws

Part of Major League Lacrosse's 2006 western expansion, the Denver Outlaws have posted winning records and reached the playoffs in each of the nine seasons that the team has been in existence. They are the only MLL team to accomplish such a feat, as the team's 60-26 record is top in the league since 2006.

The team is managed by Edge Sports & Entertainment, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Denver Broncos Football Club.

In 2012, behind the strong veteran play of MLL MVP Brendan Mundorf and Defensive Player of the Year Lee Zink, Denver capped their regular season with a 15-13 victory over Chesapeake to finish the year with an 11-3 record, which represented the most wins in team history for a single season. Additionally, Denver entered the postseason as the No. 1 seed for the second time in franchise history and first time since 2009.

During Championship Weekend in Boston, the Outlaws trailed 12–3 to Long Island with 11:32 to play in the third quarter. It appeared as if Denver's record-setting season had reached its end. Yet, that's when Denver set another record with a 10–0 run to end the game, catapulting the franchise into the Steinfeld Cup title game with a 13–12 victory over Long Island. Unfortunately, in the title game versus Chesapeake, the Outlaws were unable to muster that same kind of comeback magic and fell to the Bayhawks 16–6, falling one win short of their first MLL Championship.

In 2013 the Denver Outlaws became the first undefeated team in the regular season in MLL history after beating the Hamilton Nationals 18-12 to finish the season 14-0 but fell to the Charlotte Hounds in the semifinals.

BJ O'Hara took over as head coach for the 2014 season. That year, the Outlaws posted a 9-5 record and won their first Steinfeld Cup as the second seed. They defeated the New York Lizards in the semifinals, 14-13, in the first ever home playoff game in Denver. On August 23, the Outlaws defeated the Rochester Rattlers 12-11 to win their first MLL Championship in the team's 9-year history.

In 2015, the Outlaws missed the postseason for the first time ever in franchise history after posting a 7-7 record (also their worst record in franchise history).

The 2016 season saw the Outlaws get out to their worst start in franchise history at 2-6. After trading John Grant Jr. to the Ohio Machine, they won their last six games of the regular season to be one of the seven teams in the league to finish 8-6. With the tiebreaker procedures, they ended up with the third seed and faced the Lizards in the semifinals. In Fairfield, Connecticut, the Outlaws defeated the Lizards, 20-17. The next week, they faced the top-seeded Machine, featuring John Grant Jr. Two weeks prior, Grant Jr. scored an MLL-record 10 goals in the final week of the regular season to secure a playoff spot for the Ohio Machine. In the championship game, the Outlaws fell behind the Machine, 9-3 in Atlanta. Lightning delayed the game for 97 minutes, and the Outlaws scored the next four goals to cut the deficit to 9-7. The Machine came back with five straight and Denver went into the locker room trailing 14-7, at halftime. The Outlaws roared back to tie the score at 15 by the start of the final quarter, before Eric Law scored a go-ahead goal with 12.9 seconds left. The Outlaws shutdown the Machine's last scoring threat and claimed their second Steinfeld Cup victory in three years.

The Outlaws returned to the big game in 2017, where they again faced the Machine. The Outlaws led for most of the game by as many as four goals when the score reached 10-6 with three minutes left in the third. However, after taking a 12-10 lead with 10:30 to go in the game, they gave up seven straight goals and lose their fifth championship game in their seventh appearance, 17-12, allowing the Machine to win their franchise's first title.[2]

Much like their 2016 championship season, the 2018 Outlaws struggled out of the gate. On Mother's Day, the Outlaws dropped a 24-22 barnburner to the Chesapeake Bayhawks in front of only 1,788 fans at Mile High.[3] But the resilient Outlaws rattled off six straight victories ending with a 25-11 blowout of Boston at their annual Fourth of July game in front of 29,973 fans. The team finished 8-6 and in third place.

Despite getting swept by the Bayhawks 2-0 in the regular season, the Outlaws would go to Annapolis and get a gutsy 13-12 victory in the league semifinals.[4] The following week in Charleston, South Carolina, the Outlaws would face the Dallas Rattlers, who also swept them in the regular season, for the 2018 Steinfeld Cup. Denver would use a 7-0 run in the second and third quarters, and a nine-point performance from Matt Kavanagh to defeat Dallas, 16-12 for their third championship in five years.[5] Rookie Chris Cloutier won Rookie of the Year for the 2018 season.[6]