​Late-round draft picks can be wild cards. For every hidden gem, there are plenty of picks who never even see the field. If you could draft a two-time All-Pro and a locked-in every-game starter, it would be a no-brainer. So Tim Soudan did, sort of, when he traded away a third-round pick to bring Ben Randall to the Denver Outlaws this past offseason. Randall has been a star for Denver ever since.
“That might be the best third-rounder we’ve ever spent,” Soudan said. Randall nearly became a California Redwood, but the Outlaws swooped in to snag him from the Philadelphia Waterdogs. With the retirement of Jesse Bernhardt, Denver wanted an experienced, proven starter for a championship-contending squad.
Soudan and the Outlaws are selective about the kinds of players they bring in, but even more selective about the kinds of people they add to the locker room. Randall checked that box, especially with the strong recommendation of his former Ohio State teammate and Denver captain Ryan Terefenko. “Terefenko and I are pretty close. I mean, he came to my wedding,” Randall recalled. “I think he played some part in getting me over here.” That connection gave Randall an obvious launching point with the Outlaws, but he quickly integrated with the team.
At training camp, he and Mikie Schlosser — another former Waterdogs teammate — were among the older players on the roster. While learning the system on the field, they also served as mentors off it. After practices, they taught card games to the younger players to help pass the time and foster team camaraderie.
“It was some good team bonding, and I think I’ve gotten to know a lot of the guys really well and become close,” Randall said.
From that moment, it felt like a natural fit for Randall and the Outlaws. “He’s been an amazing freaking teammate,” third-year long-stick midfielder Jake Piseno commented. “I really feel like he’s been on our team this whole time.”
As Denver’s high-powered offense has faced injuries and absences, the defense has emerged as the team’s backbone. The Outlaws boast the league’s best scoring defense, allowing just 9.4 goals per game. They’ve held opponents to 12 or fewer goals in all but one game and have limited two opponents to single digits. Randall has been integral to that success. His elite on-ball coverage has given Denver one of the league’s best groups of defensive stoppers in front of arguably the sport’s top goalie, Logan McNaney. In a standout performance against the Maryland Whipsnakes, he shut down TJ Malone, holding Malone scoreless for the first time in his career.
As the Outlaws push into the second half of the season, with seven games packed into six weeks, the keys for Randall and the defense are growth and cohesion. “I was getting used to playing with the group, but I think we’ve progressed really well throughout this first half of the year,” Randall said, underscoring the development that has made Denver a formidable unit.