Chaos Spoil Outlaws Homecoming, Cannons Blast Waterdogs

DENVER, Colo. — Tied at 10 on Friday night, Jackson Eicher turned to Carolina Chaos coach Roy Colsey and asked a simple question: “Coach, you having fun?”

Colsey couldn’t help but laugh when recalling the moment. It came on the back of Eicher assisting one two-pointer and scoring another, with the goals happening less than 40 seconds apart and turning a 9-5 deficit into a tie ballgame. It wasn’t the same type of heroics as Eicher’s overtime winner a week ago, but it was the turning point in a 12-10 victory for the Chaos. It spoiled the first half of homecoming weekend for the Denver Outlaws at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium and secured a spot in the postseason for Carolina.

“To get that from a rookie — he’s just a guy who is so well-traveled and has been through stuff we wouldn’t necessarily know,” Colsey said of Eicher. “He’s so cool under pressure and I’ll always remember that specific moment with him checking in on me. It was a light moment, but it was typical of him.”

Denver built a first-half lead that grew as large as 8-3 and was 9-5 at the break. But on the other side of halftime, Eicher assisted on a chopping two-pointer from Shane Knobloch at 7:27 in the third, then followed up with one his own to tie the game with 6:50 left in the frame. Colsey said it was part of a concerted effort from his team to take advantage of the bouncers, with Knoblach adding that “all the momentum” was with the Chaos after the two-pointers.

Although the Outlaws stopped the bleeding with a side-armed whip from Pat Kavanagh, the Chaos netted the next three goals across the remainder of the third and most of the fourth quarter. Defensively, Carolina surrendered seven goals across the first 15 minutes, then three the rest of the way.

Statistically, Chaos goalie Blaze Riorden had one of his poorer games of the season with nine saves on a 47.4 save percentage. But Cosley said his efforts late in the game allowed Carolina to maintain momentum and ratchet up the pressure on offense.

“Once Blaze gets warm and starts making those saves, in the second half you could just see it,” the coach said. “He could see every shot. He was all over it. Our success is going to be built from the goal out with a very veteran defense.”

The Outlaws can still clinch the top seed in the Western Conference with a victory over the New York Atlas on Saturday, with the 1 p.m. EDT game televised on ABC.

Denver’s early surge was thanks in large part to Brennan O’Neill. Two weeks removed from scoring arguably the goal of the season in Connecticut when he scooped a backwards shot between his legs, the Outlaws forward added another highlight-reel tally against Carolina. He started behind the net on the right side, climbing toward the cage and spinning back to the crease. Off balance, O’Neill leapt and planted one leg just long enough to wedge in a score.

His two goals pushed his season total to 21, tying with Kavanagh for the league-best mark.

Cannons Blast Waterdogs Early and Cruise to Win

Michelle Kirst surprised her sons, showing up in Denver with a patchwork jersey split between the Boston Cannons and Philadelphia Waterdogs. Although Colin and Connor got the better of C.J. in the Cannons’ 13-10 victory, two of the brothers in perhaps the most famous family in lacrosse had career nights.

Colin turned in a career-best 20 saves with a 66.7 save percentage, anchoring a defense that both he and coach Brian Holman heaped praise on.

C.J., meanwhile, netted five goals and assisted on another. It was the first professional hat trick for the 2025 No. 1 overall pick.

Colin tried to play it cool in the press conference, saying he was focused on the stick head and the ball. But he was quickly and humorously called out by his coach as well as teammate Asher Nolting.

“Yeah,” Colin admitted with a grin. “I knew who had the ball.”

On the offensive end, the Nolting had a hat trick to lead the Cannons and helped bring things home in the second half after the team built a big lead early. In the first half, Coulter Macksey had two goals and two assists, while Ben Ramsey and Marcus Holman found net from beyond the two-point arc to give the Cannons a 10-4 lead at the break.

The Cannons didn’t secure one of the two remaining playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, but they’re now ahead of Philadelphia and Maryland in the standings headed into Week 11 in Boston.