The then-No. 11 Pioneer men’s lacrosse team opened its 2013 home schedule over the weekend, hosting the Frontier Airlines Face-Off Classic and defeating both Lehigh and Canisius.
After Denver posted an 18-10 victory over No. 8/12 Lehigh on Saturday and Air Force topped Canisius 10-8, the tournament was relocated to the Air Force Academy for Sunday’s games after Winter Storm Rocky blanketed Denver in several inches of snow.
“You know, you plan all year for this tournament and you bring three teams in, and Peter Barton Stadium is just such an incredible venue,” said head coach Bill Tierney. “But then you get weather like this, and there’s nothing you can do about it. We are lucky and blessed that Air Force was able to host us in their facility.”
On Sunday, Denver (3-1) recorded their second win of the weekend against Canisius, topping the Griffins 11-4 after Air Force defeated Lehigh 15-10 in Colorado Springs. With the victories, the Pioneers advanced to No. 10 in the national rankings.
While Denver’s offense started off slow on Saturday, trailing the Mountain Hawks 6-7 at half, the Pioneers dominated the second half, outscoring Lehigh 12-3 and outshooting them 34-28.
It was a game of hat tricks, with senior attackman Eric Law, sophomore midfielder Wes Berg and freshman attackman Gordie Koerber recording their seventh, fifth and second career hat tricks, respectively. Law added four assists to finish the game with seven points, while Koerber tacked on an additional goal for a career-high four goals.
After his performance over the weekend, Law was named the Eastern College Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.
A number of Pioneers stepped up on offense during Saturday’s game, as senior midfielder Cameron Flint added two goals and two assists and sophomore attackman Eric Adamson and junior midfielder Jeremy Noble added two goals each. Sophomore Garret Holst and freshman Tom Moore both scored their first collegiate goals for Denver.
On the defensive side, junior goaltender Jamie Faus represented the Pioneers in goal in his first game back since tearing his Achilles tendon last year, recording eight saves for Denver.
“Lehigh was a really good team coming in, and Jamie did a great job,” said Tierney. “I thought he played extremely well in the second half.”
Senior midfielder Chase Carraro, Denver’s go-to face-off man, was absent from his second consecutive game. Senior midfielder Chace Calkin, however, picked up a career-high 17 face-offs for Denver, topping Lehigh’s 14.
The Mountain Hawks were led by sophomore attackman Dan Taylor with three goals, followed by sophomore midfielder Kurtis Kaunas with two goals.
“It was a really important game because of both the top-10 ranked team, and coming off such a disappointing loss against Penn State last week,” said Tierney. “I’m really proud of the effort and the guys that stepped up on both ends of the field and of our ability to bounce back.”
DU carries momentum to Colorado Springs
The Pioneers returned to action Sunday afternoon against Canisius, who opened the 2013 season with two consecutive losses in the tournament.
Seven DU athletes scored in the win, including Berg and Koerber with three goals apiece, posting their sixth and third career hat tricks, respectively. Law recorded one goal and three assists, while Adamson, seniors Sean Snodgrass and Colin Scott and sophomore Connor Pagnani added a goal each.
The Canisius offense struggled to get past both Denver’s defensive line and sophomore goaltender Ryan LaPlante, who recorded 10 saves in his second win of the season. Vince Gravino scored Canisius’ lone goal of the first quarter, and the Griffins were unable to find the back of the net again until the fourth quarter, when Brandon Bull, Steve Bernston and Joe Rautenstrauch each recorded a goal.
“Ryan, today, was just fantastic,” said Tierney. “It was a tough venue to play goalie in, with the white walls and light coming in, but he had several important point-blank stops.”
Junior goaltender Erik Carter also recorded eight minutes in goal over the weekend, recording a save against Canisius in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
Up next, the Pioneers prepare to take on the University of Pennsylvania, who will enter the contest coming off a 14-9 victory over No. 14 Duke from Feb. 22., at Peter Barton Stadium. Penn will host Saint Joseph’s on Tuesday before traveling to Denver.
Senior captain Tim Schwalje led Penn with seven points off three goals and four assists against Duke after recording 18 goals and 13 assists last season. Tierney said he expects a solid performance from Penn’s goalie, junior Brian Feeney, who has recorded 233 career saves.
“They’ve been building this team for two years now,” said Tierney. “It’s going to be another tough one, and we’ve got our hands full.”
