After a hard-fought 10-9 loss to unranked Ohio State on Sunday, the men’s lacrosse team dropped from No. 5 in the national rankings to No. 10 in the Nike Division I Top 20 Poll and No. 12 in the USILA Coaches’ Poll. The preseason polls marked the program’s first appearance in the top five nationally.
Sunday’s contest against the Buckeyes, Denver’s first game of the season, was the first game of the Moe’s Southwest Grill Classic in Jacksonville, Fla., hosted by Jacksonville University. The competition was aired live on NBC Sports Network.
After their victory, OSU jumped to No. 11 in both polls, improving to 3-0 overall, 1-0 in the Eastern College Athletic Conference. Sunday marked the Pioneers’ first loss to an unranked team since February 2010, when they lost 13-12 to Jacksonville in head coach Bill Tierney’s second game.
“All the credit needs to go to Ohio State because they did a great job of shutting us down and being smart with the ball,” said Tierney. “Although we’re young on defense, our offensive veterans are going to have to carry us in games like this. This was a great learning experience for us.”
Players of all ages stepped up for the Pioneers on Sunday, including freshman midfielder Wes Berg, who, along with senior attackman Mark Matthews, led the team with two goals and one assist. After his first collegiate performance, Berg was named the ECAC Rookie of the Week on Monday.
In total, six players scored for the Pioneers, representing all four classes. Senior attackman Alex Demopolous contributed two assists and one goal, while junior attackman Eric Law tacked on two goals. Junior Cameron Flint and sophomore Jeremy Noble also recorded one goal each.
“We feel like we finally have depth,” said Tierney last week. “We feel like with the depth we have now that we’ve been waiting on for two years, we finally have a lot of guys who can step in and give us valuable moments.”
Outside of scoring, several players stepped up for the Pioneers. Junior midfielder Chase Carrero led the team with seven groundballs, finishing the game 10-of-20 from the face-off. Sophomore goalie Jamie Faus recorded four saves against the Buckeyes.
Ohio State was led by Logan Schuss, who scored five goals, and goalkeeper Scott Spencer, who recorded eight saves. Schuss opened the scoring with 12:19 remaining in the first period, followed by three unanswered goals from Noble, Berg and Matthews in less than six minutes.
OSU’s Dominique Alexander and Schuss each retaliated with a goal, but Flint and Law answered back with their own points, sending the Pioneers into the half leading 5-3.
OSU tied the game with 4:25 remaining in the third quarter, leading into an intense remainder of the quarter that included four goals from each team. The third quarter ended with the fifth tie of the game at 8-8.
The Buckeyes regained the lead for the first time since the beginning of the contest after Schuss scored at the 13:35 mark of the fourth quarter, followed shortly by a goal from Alexander.
Demopolous brought the Pioneers back within one point with a score of 10-9 with 1:46 remaining, but a costly turnover prevented Denver from tying the game.
The Pioneers will return to the field this weekend as they host the DU Face-Off Classic at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Denver will take on Michigan at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and Robert Morris at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.
