ESPNU announcers Quint Kessenich and Eamon McAnaney began to talk about the possible semifinal matchup between Duke and Denver at the beginning of the fourth quarter in Denver’s quarterfinal match with Drexel.
It was as if the Denver’s match with Drexel was already over.
It was that kind of day for the Pioneers. After trailing early, DU scored ten straight goals on the way to a 15-6 romp of the Drexel Dragons and to effectively solidify a Pioneer championship weekend appearance for the third time in four years.
The Pioneer dominance had a face. A few faces, to be exact. Junior midfielder Erik Adamson led the way on the offensive end, tying his career-high of six goals along with seven assists.
Despite an advantage on paper in the faceoff department, Drexel’s Nick Saputo, who helped the Dragons rank fourth in the NCAA in faceoff win percentage, was stymied all day by the Pioneers’ Chris Hampton. Hampton won 17 of 23 faceoffs (69.6 win percentage) and picked up 11 ground balls.
Denver also held the advantage in shots (32-28) and ground balls (41-21) and cashed in on 4-of-8 extra-man opportunities (compared to 2-for-5 for Drexel).
Drexel struck first on a mid-range rip from All-American midfielder Ben McIntosh. The Dragons would score again at the 12 minute mark of the first quarter to increase the lead to 2-0.
Freshman attacker Zach Miller’s 36th goal of the season put Denver on the board, and senior Harrison Archer’s strike from the wing tied the game with nine minutes left in the first quarter.
Drexel took the lead back three minutes later, but it would be the last time the Dragons would lead all day, and the last time they would score until the 6:12 mark of the third quarter. Adamson sparked Denver’s 10-goal run with back to back man-up goals.
The Pioneers will take on the Duke Blue Devils in the tournament semifinals next Saturday in Baltimore. It will be the second time that the two teams have met this year. Duke claimed the teams’ first meeting, 14-10, in early February.
The game will advertise high-powered offenses like those displayed in each team’s respective quarterfinal wins. Denver was able to put up 15 on Drexel, while Duke won 19-11 against Johns Hopkins.
Duke may be without one offensive weapon come Saturday. Senior attackman Josh Dionne suffered what appeared to be a lower body injury in the second quarter and did not return. Dionne tallied four goals in the first half before leaving the game.
