Following an unsettling thunderstorm resulting in a 36-minute rain delay, the Marquette University Golden Eagles snapped the Denver Pioneers BIG EAST win streak during the conference tournament final. Denver hosted the conference tournament, looking to reclaim the title after dominating the Providence College Friars on Thursday, May 5 and advancing to the championship final on Saturday, May 7.
For the BIG EAST tournament, the No. 1 seeded Pioneers topped No. 4 seeded Providence 17-8. BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year Connor Cannizzaro (Cazenovia, New York) led Denver with four goals and one assist. Tewaaraton Award nominee Zach Miller (Steamburg, New York) and senior captain Jack Bobzien (Littleton, Colorado) each contrived six points throughout the game. Miller finished with a natural hat trick and three assists, while Bobzien dished out five assists and scored once. Junior captain Tyler Pace (Coquitlam, British Columbia) added to Denver’s high scoring with three goals.
The Pioneers took a 3-0 lead with five minutes left in the first quarter before the Friars cut the deficit down to one by the start of the second quarter. With 9:33 remaining in the first half, the score was tied 4-4. Denver regained its electric offensive rhythm, sparking a five-goal run, including Miller’s natural hat trick to lead 9-4 at intermission.
Denver continued its momentum with three quick goals within the first four minutes of the third quarter. The Friars finally broke past Denver’s defense to tally their first in over fifteen minutes of play, which the Pioneers responded to with two conversions. Providence scored one more within the last five seconds of the quarter to trail 7-14 with one quarter remaining.
With a comfortable lead, Denver let up in the final quarter, rotating in its third and fourth lines across the field. The Pioneers outscored the Friars 3-2 in the final stanza to deliver their 17-8 victory, earning a spot in the BIG EAST tournament final against Marquette.
Meeting for the second time within the span of a week, Denver’s unsuccessful faceoff performances and absence of offensive rhythm proved costly, as the Pioneers fell 9-10 to the Golden Eagles. Both teams battled relentlessly until the final seconds of play, but Marquette stormed out victorious, earning a berth to the NCAA tournament.
Marquette scored off of the opening faceoff draw to take a 1-0 lead 2:59 into the opening frame, before the game was delayed.
“I thought it was weird with the whole rain delay. We didn’t [get] in sync with our warmup. I thought the first faceoff showed what game it was going to be. It was war. You could tell it was going to be a high energy game,” head coach Bill Tierney said.
As play resumed, Denver responded with two goals from Bobzien and freshman Colton Jackson (Highlands Ranch, Colorado) to conclude the first quarter leading 2-1.
The Pioneers dominated the second quarter outscoring the Golden Eagles 5-2. Jackson scored Denver’s first 0:36 seconds into the first half off a midfield run. Marquette countered as BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Liam Byrnes scored in transition with 12:65 remaining.
Austin French (Danville, California), Brendan Bomberry (Ohsweken, Ontario), Jackson and Connor Donahue (Groton, Massachusetts) tallied the remainder of Denver’s second quarter goals.
Denver broke its trend of letting up scoring in the third quarter earlier this season, but returned to its detrimental habits following halftime. The Golden Eagles silenced the Pioneers with a six-goal run to overtake the lead 9-7 after the third quarter.
“The third quarter has been our quarter. A week ago we outscored them 6-0 in the third and they turned that around to the exact opposite,” Tierney said.
Denver rallied two goals from Miller within the three minutes into the final stanza to tie the score 9-9. The Pioneers were unable to continue the momentum from Miller’s back-to-back goals, as Andy DeMichiei netted the game-winning goal for Marquette with 5:55 remaining. Junior captain Christian Burgdorf (Westfield, New Jersey) forced a crucial turnover to provide the Pioneers with possession during the final minute of play, but Denver’s attempts proved unsuccessful.
Denver received the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will play the winner of Towson University vs. Hobart and William Smith Colleges. DU’s first game will take place at home on Sunday, May 15.
“The hardest thing for us is going to be shaking this one out of our system to get ready for the next one,” Tierney said. “We have a week to do that and our guys have great fortitude and great desire. They’re hurting in there right now, but I know what kind of young men they are and they’ll be back next weekend.”
