The odds were stacked against the Maryland Whipsnakes, and in the end, a lack of possessions was too much to overcome.
Maryland lost to the Denver Outlaws 14-13 in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday afternoon in the Premier Lacrosse League, as the Whipsnakes played without injured faceoff man Petey LaSalla and lost nearly every draw.
Ryan Terefenko finished off a last-second fastbreak, assisted by Logan Wisnauskas, to give Denver the win on a goal with 3.4 seconds left. The shot hit the in-net camera and rebounded out, sending the play to automatic review, where it was confirmed as a goal.
Denver won 26 of the game's 28 faceoffs to dominate possession, but the Outlaws also committed 20 turnovers, and Emmet Carroll stopped 54% of the shots he saw as Maryland's defense dug in just enough late to keep it close.
The Whipsnakes had even built a six-goal lead in the first half, behind five first-half points from rookie Joey Spallina. Then Denver went on an 8-0 run over 20 minutes bridging the second through fourth quarters to take a 12-10 lead, and things looked bleak for Maryland.
But the Whips responded with three straight scores, getting a rare faceoff win along the way. Aidan Carroll scored to make it 12-11 with 7:04 left, and Adam Poitras tied it at 12 off a Spallina feed with 5:29 to go. Long-stick Billy Dwan III then buried his first career goal in transition for a tiebreaking score. But Maryland couldn't hold the lead.
Denver's Skip Plunkett tied it again off his own rebound with 1:13 left, before Terefenko's unsettled score in the final seconds sealed it.
Maryland falls to 5-5 with the loss. Denver improves to 5-5.