After dodging, re-dodging and throwing in a swim move for good measure, senior Cole Nordstrom finally found a seam through the wall of blue jerseys and beat Marquette’s Jimmy Danaher between the legs with 1.2 seconds remaining in the game to score his first collegiate goal.
The blue wall turned white as Nordstrom’s fellow Denver teammates mobbed around him in celebration.
Nordstrom’s goal was by no means essential. Third-ranked Denver (12-2, 6-0 Big East) was on its way to a ninth straight win and an outright Big East regular season crown, holding a 16-9 advantage over the visiting Marquette Golden Eagles (6-9, 4-2 Big East).
That did not mean his goal was any less special.
“One goal doesn’t sound like a lot, but for that guy it’s a memory forever,” said Denver Coach Bill Tierney. “I’m really proud of Cole Nordstrom, [after] being out a year and a half with a concussion, various injuries, playing with a tumor on his shin right now. He’s just been a great leader for us.”
“I’ve been waiting for four years, waiting to get my chance,” said Nordstron. “It was a great team play, really just a product of the offense, and I was lucky enough just to be at the end of it.”
Denver had plenty of other things to celebrate on Senior Day at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on the way to a 17-9 rout of Marquette, a team in search of a share of the Big East regular season title.
Nine different players tallied goals for Denver with attackman Jack Bobzien leading all scorers with five points on four goals and one assist. The Pioneers also held the advantage in shots (38-30), ground balls (32-19) and faceoffs (17-28).
Marquette’s top scorer in Tyler Melnyk did not register a point, despite averaging 3.00 goals per game, good for fifth in Division I.
“We got beat by a better team,” said Marquette Coach Joe Amplo. “They’re tough to stop. Not that we have to play perfect, but we have to play certainly close to perfect to be able to compete with these guys.”
Amplo’s squad looked to be on the right track early on. After giving up the first goal to Denver’s Tyler Pace, Kyle Whitlow scored the first of his team-leading three goals off of a feed to the crease from Conor Gately. Just 46 seconds later, Marquette’s Bryan Badolato came from behind the net, weaving between two Denver defenders before sneaking a low shot past Ryan LaPlante to give the Golden Eagles a 2-1 edge.
Denver’s Zach Miller responded with some slick moves of his own, tying up his defender behind the cage and running above goal line, extended to place a shot just over the head of Danaher. Miller’s goal highlighted a three-goal Denver run to give the Pioneers a 4-2 advantage.
Whitlow used some low-high heat to beat LaPlante with seven seconds left in the quarter to help Marquette pull within one, going into the second quarter down 4-3.
Aside from a diving goal by Andy DeMichiei at 12:38 in the second quarter, Marquette would not score again until the fourth quarter. During that time, Denver went on 10-1 run before Marquette reeled off three goals to start the fourth.
“They dominated us on the ground,” said Amplo. “That and the faceoff game never allowed us to be comfortable, and never allowed them to be uncomfortable.”
Denver had won 16-of-20 faceoffs through three quarters, giving way to a 28-9 ground ball advantage and a 14-4 lead.
“It’s really nice playing a game when you got the ball most of the time,” said Tierney.
The fourth quarter, however, belonged to Marquette. Badolato’s jump shot found the back of the net at the 13:02 mark of the quarter to end Marquette’s nearly 30 minute scoring drought. The Golden Eagles outscored the Pioneers in the fourth 5-3 and also held an advantage in the shot department (16-6) and also in ground balls (10-4).
Despite the loss, Marquette locked up the No. 2 seed for the Big East Tournament this Thursday and will play tourney-host Villanova. Denver will take on fourth-seeded Rutgers in conference semifinal play. The winner of the conference tournament will automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament.
“Anybody we play in the next week is somebody we’ve beaten, and it’s always harder to beat somebody twice in a year,” said Tierney. “I think we have to win, or at least have a great showing, and I know our guys want that. They want that more than anything.”
