Denver men’s lacrosse won both games of the annual Faceoff Classic held at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on Feb. 27 and 28. Denver convincingly defeated Sacred Heart University 18-7 and Dartmouth College 16-6. For the third-consecutive game, Denver’s attack generated over 10 different goal scorers following this weekend’s victories.
The Pioneers opened up the weekend on Feb. 27 against Sacred Heart.
United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) First-Team All-American Connor Cannizzaro (Cazenovia, New York) finished the day with five goals and six points, while sophomore midfielder Brendan Bomberry (Ohsweken, Ontario) recorded a career-high four goals. Freshman goalie Alex Ready made six saves and 2015 NCAA faceoff statistical leader Trevor Baptiste (Denville, New Jersey) won 20 of 24 attempts at the X.
Sacred Heart took Denver by surprise with an early lead just 11 seconds into the game with Matt Posch scoring off of the first faceoff win. With 7:36 left in the first quarter, Posch tallied his second goal of the game to give Sacred Heart a 2-0 lead over Denver.
By the end of the first quarter, Denver took a 4-2 lead with tallies from freshman Austin French (Danville, California), Bomberry, Baptiste and Cannizzaro.
On the first possession of the second quarter, Denver received a man-up opportunity from a Sacred Heart violation. Bomberry subsequently converted his second tally of the match on the play. Following the faceoff draw win from Baptiste, Cannizzaro scored his second on a fast-break. Denver continued to generate a successful offense, finishing the second quarter with an 11-2 lead.
Cannizzaro and Bomberry each completed first-half hat tricks. Bomberry earned his career-first hat trick, including two man-up goals. It was Denver’s first 11 goal-run since March 28 of last year, where Denver topped Georgetown 19-7.
“I thought we had some moments of real brilliance,” said head coach Bill Tierney. “The last two minutes of play especially.”
Similar to the first half, Sacred Heart took initiative early on and ended up outscoring Denver 4-1 in the third quarter, cutting Sacred Heart’s deficit down six. Cannizzaro ended the run when he netted his fourth goal of the game, as he rushed out of the penalty.
Cannizzaro sparked the first of a four-goal run in the fourth quarter. Bryce Parietti (Centennial, Colorado), Bomberry and Connor Donahue (Groton, Massachusetts) finished up the surge by Denver before Sacred Heart got their last marker of the game.
Freshmen Nate Marano (Tustin, California) and Colton McCaffrey (Parker, Colorado) added two tallies to finish the 18-7 win for Denver.
Denver took on the Dartmouth College Big Green on Sunday, Feb. 28.
Junior captain Tyler Pace (Coquitlam, British Columbia) earned the weekend honors of tournament MVP, as he led the Pioneers with a career-high (three goals and three assists) and recorded his eighth-career hat trick. Four different goalies shared time in net during the game for a grand total of 12 saves.
Denver stunned Dartmouth in the opening period taking a 7-0 lead and outshooting the Big Green 12-1.
“The first quarter was as good as it gets. However, we still have this thing where we just don’t keep things going,” said Tierney.
Both sides of play from the Pioneers saw a lag in the second quarter. Dartmouth’s Jack Korzelius scored two goals for the Big Green, who would end up outscoring Denver 2-1 in the period.
Following intermission, Denver picked up momentum on two power play opportunities, with two goals as the outcome. Dartmouth countered with two of their own, to which the Pios responded with a four-goal run. With 0.1 remaining in the third quarter, Cannizzaro delivered an astonishing backhanded goal to extend Denver’s lead 14-4 heading into the final 15 minutes.
The Pioneers and Big Green split scoring two apiece in the final stanza. Denver ended the game with a 16-6 victory. Baptiste finished the day with 14-of-20 faceoff wins, while freshman Ryan Harnisch (Huntington Beach, California) added 3-of-5 wins from the X.
Denver is scheduled for two tough matchups back-to-back in the following weeks. Denver will first travel to Chapel Hill to battle No. 11 North Carolina. The following weekend the Pios travel to South Bend, Indiana to face No. 1 ranked Notre Dame.
Despite winning the national championship and earning a successful 17-2 record last year, the team is excited for the difficult matchups in the coming weeks.
“[North] Carolina beat us last year, so it’s redemption time to go back and beat one of the only two teams who got the better of us last season,” said Tyler Pace.
