By: Jillian Queri & Calvin Jouard
A raucous, record-breaking crowd of 3,117 fans got a glimpse of Big East lacrosse action at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on March 28. On a beautiful, 70-degree day the Pioneers were able to get their first Big East Conference win of the season.
The no. 5 Denver Pioneers took down the no. 14 Georgetown Hoyas 19-7, moving Denver to 1-0 in conference, with Georgetown dropping to 1-1.
The improbably perfect setting was matched by an equally indescribable performance by Pioneer faceoff specialist and freshman Trevor Baptiste, who went 25-of-26 at the faceoff x.
“Having a guy winning 25 faceoffs certainly doesn’t hurt,” said Denver head coach Bill Tierney.
“It’s tough when you play defense 80 percent of the game against an offense like that,” said Georgetown senior attacker Bo Stafford, last week’s Big East Player of the Week. Stafford was kept in check most of the day by Denver’s aggressive defense and only managed a single goal.
In the first half, Denver’s coaching staff played 26 out of their squad of 47, which proved to be a successful strategy.
The Pioneers initial sloppy play resulted in a quick three-goal run by Georgetown, but Baptiste fueled a school-record 13-1 run for Denver, changing the pace of the game and ultimately leading to the Pioneer’s 13-4 advantage at halftime.
Sophomore Maryland-transfer Connor Cannizzaro finally put Denver on the board ten minutes into the opening frame, coming around the back of the cage and burying a shot past freshman Georgetown goalie Nick Marrocco. Cannizzaro led Denver with seven points, four goals and three assists.
“We were confident [coming in],” Stafford said. “We came off of two pretty good wins for our team, and we were off to a good start, but it just came down to faceoffs. We were sloppy on other parts of the field as well, so you can’t just blame it on the faceoff x.”
The Hoyas would not score again until the 7:12 mark of the second quarter, creating a visible shift in momentum in favor of the Pioneers. Denver tallied 57 total shots, over Georgetown’s 23.
“We got our shots,” said Denver’s senior midfielder Erik Adamson, who finished with four goals and an assist. “Their goalie made some really good saves, [but] we kept going hard and made things happen. Our mindset is to keep shooting and playing hard. The goalie is going to make good saves at this high level and you have to expect that.”
Adamson capped the Pioneers’ two-minute, six-goal first quarter run with a man-up dunk on Marrocco’s doorstep. Despite the loss, Marrocco finished with a season-high 23 saves.
“Every win is kind of a ‘must win’ at this point. If we can win all these games, it will put us at a good position in the end. We are trying to take it one game at a time,” Adamson said.
Colorado native and Georgetown sophomore midfielder Eduardo White recorded two goals against the Pioneers, the only Hoya to score more than one goal.
“I think all season we’ve been a super efficient offense and with a team like DU, if you don’t have at least half or more of the same amount of shots as they do, you’re not going to win the game,” White said.
After substituting starters at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Denver freshmen Connor Donahue and Colton McCaffrey recorded their first career goals.
Denver now holds a 7-2 season record with four games remaining before the conference tournament begins.
“The regular season of the Big East puts you in position for the Big East Tournament. To get a good seed, to have some confidence,” Tierney said. “So beating a good Georgetown team who beat Marquette last week, we feel good about that. It’s only one game, we’ve got four more in the league, but it’s nice to have one win in the bank. We still have a long way to go.”
