Thirteen different goal scorers shattered Denver men’s lacrosse’s previous record of collective, individual tallies to deliver a convincing 17-7 win over the Providence College Friars on April 23. The Denver Pioneers closed out their final road game of the BIG EAST conference and extended their record to 4-0 with Saturday’s victory.
Denver’s dominating performance was led by sophomore Brendan Bomberry (Ohsweken, Ontario), who earned his second career hat trick along with an assist. United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) First Team All American Connor Cannizzaro (Cazenovia, New York) finished with four points, two goals and two assists. Faceoff specialist Trevor Baptiste (Denville, New Jersey) dominated the X with 20-of-23 faceoff wins. The sophomore also scored his second goal of the season and picked up 11 ground balls. Freshman goalie Alex Ready (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) contrived 12 saves, marking the fifth time in his rookie career that he recorded double-digit saves.
Last season, Denver struggled to combat Providence’s tenacity as the Friars shut the Pioneers out during the first quarter.
“We’re trying to get our guys into the mindset, not Providence per say, but just the type of team we’re going to face. The hard and tough. It’s going to be a battle,” said head coach Bill Tierney.
The Pioneers continued their 2016 campaign pattern of scoring early on. Denver took a 2-0 lead within the first three minutes of play, distancing the rough start from its last meeting against Providence in 2015. Back-and-forth goals concluded the opening quarter 3-3. Senior captain Jack Bobzien (Littleton, Colorado), freshman attack Austin French (Danville, California) and freshman defender Dylan Johnson (Englewood, Colorado) delivered Denver’s conversions.
The second quarter saw similar play, as the Pioneers outscored the Friars 3-2 heading into the locker room. Freshman midfielder Colton Jackson (Highlands Ranch, Colorado), Cannizzaro and Bomberry added to the scoreboard.
The third quarter—notoriously a weaker period for the Pioneers this season—was controlled as Denver scored the three, sole goals and would continue to outscore the Friars 11-2 during the second half. Junior Zach Miller (Steamburg, New York) found the back of the net for the first time since his absence of contributing to the scoreboard in Denver’s last game against St. John’s. Bomberry and Cannizzaro provided the Pioneers a 9-5 edge heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
Bomberry completed his hat trick by converting on the man-up to instigate Denver’s offense. Senior Chris Hampton (Bethesda, Maryland), junior Max Planning (Alexandria, Virginia) and Jackson extended Denver’s lead 13-6 with 5:08 remaining in regulation.
Providence captured its two tallies of the second half within one minute, cutting Denver’s lead 13-7 with 4:52 on the clock. The Pioneers finished the game on a four goal run sparked by senior Colin Woolford (Norwalk, Connecticut) and Baptiste. Woolford and Baptiste’s contiguous tallies were five seconds apart, tying as the third-shortest margin in NCAA history between goals.
Sophomores Colton McCaffrey (Parker, Colorado) and Nick Phillips (Denver) completed Denver’s four-goal, fourth quarter run to polish the Pioneers’ victory 17-7.
Denver returns to Peter Barton for its last regular season game on April 30 at 1 p.m. MT. The Pioneers will battle Marquette University for the No. 1 seed of the BIG EAST Tournament which Denver will host on May 5 and 7.
“These games are becoming really really important,” said Tierney. “Each game has its own personality as it develops. Sometimes you can get down by a lot like we did last year against Ohio State or these guys [Providence last year], but you fight your way back. And when you jump on someone early you tend to let up. We just have to see how each plays out and come out with a win.”
