Men’s lacrosse is on the road to success after winning its third straight home opener at Pioneer Field on Monday night

The team celebrated goals by nine different players and trampled over Holy Cross in a non-conference match, ending the night with a score of 19-4.

The Pioneers dominated the game from the beginning with four goals from four different players in the first five minutes of the first quarter alone.

Junior Mike Kenlay increased DU’s lead with one of four extra-man goals of the night halfway through the first quarter.

The Pioneers sent two more goals past Holy Cross to give Denver an amazing 7-0 lead by the end of the frame.

Holy Cross failed to fire any goals past the mighty Pioneer defense in the second quarter. However, DU sophomore Jeff Biggs opened the round with back-to-back goals, followed by two extra-man goals by Kenlay and freshman Matt Brown. At the end of the half, the Pioneers held an overpowering lead of 13-0.

Finally, Holy Cross provided some competition for the Pioneers in the second half by scoring three goals in the third quarter and one more in the fourth,

However they were unable to catch up with DU.

Denver added two more goals in the fourth quarter, ending the game 19-4.

DU dominated every statistical category, including shots 41-15, groundballs 56-42, and face-offs 21-6.

Junior netminder Jeff Nunziato recorded four saves and two shut-out quarters in the first half, and freshman keeper Brian Sanders registered four saves in the second half. Many of the DU player’s who scored managed to post more than one point.

The men’s team is set to host the second annual Pioneer Face-off Classic presented by Toyota this weekend. The Pioneers will face Providence on Saturday and Syracuse, ranked No. 1, on Sunday.

Syracuse is a seven-time national lacrosse champion and returns 29 letter-winners from last year’s team.

Syracuse ended last season with a 13-3 overall lead and made its 19th consecutive Final Four appearance before falling to Princeton.

Providence made its first-ever post season appearance last season and hopes to make a run at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title.

Air Force will play Syracuse on Saturday and Providence on Sunday.

These teams are expected to bring some real competition to the field.

The matches start at 11 a.m. and tickets for the events are on sale now at the Ritchie Center box office.

GOALS

Adam Sitfel 1

Eric Swanson 1

Ryan Marshall 2

Jeff Biggs 3

Mike Kenlay 4

Blake Evans 1

Matt Brown 4

Chad Whitman 1

Sean McDounough 1

Craig Pastor 1

SCORE

Holy Cross 0-0-3-1-4

Denver 7-6-4-2-19