One week after losing their top-rank to the reigning 2016 national champion University of North Carolina Tar Heels, the No. 1 DU Pioneers took back their ranking by defeating the No. 2 University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish 11-10.
The gusty game wound down to the final seconds of March 12’s thriller before senior captain and 2016 Tewaaraton Finalist Connor Cannizzaro (Cazenovia, New York) scored the game-winner and completed DU’s six-game homestand, in which they finished 5-1.
The storied rivalry between Denver and Notre Dame has required overtime in five of the last seven meetings. The Pioneers received the final possession after two unsuccessful plays following consecutive DU timeouts. Cannizzaro circled around the cage and bounced a shot as he fell down through Notre Dame goalie Shane Doss’s legs as time expired.
“We drew up a play and when that didn’t pan out like we wanted it to, I saw E-Walk (freshman attackman Ethan Walker) get the ball and I was just calling for it,” Cannizzaro said. “It was kind of funny — I dropped it, and I knew there was just like three or four seconds left and I was just going to try to get a shot off. It worked out in the end and it was just a great win for our team.”
The Pioneers jumped to an early 5-3 lead over the Irish, but the score was quickly tied six apiece during the second quarter resulting from sloppy play, where six of their total 13 turnovers were committed.
“Sure, with 3,000 people watching and playing the No. 1 team in the country, they’re going to make mistakes. We don’t dwell on that stuff,” Denver head coach Bill Tierney said. “We dwell on the positives, of 14-of-16 clears, 19-of-24 faceoffs. If I had to start dwelling on turnovers or mistakes that young men make, I’d be nuttier than I already am. I think the idea of this week was to stay positive with the kids, to try our best to support them, no matter what happened.”
Trevor Baptiste (Denville, New Jersey) dominated the X, winning 19-of-24 faceoffs and collecting 12 ground balls to extend his tally to 360, the most by any player in the Crimson and Gold’s program history.
Cannizzarro, classmate Tyler Pace (Coquitlam, British Columbia), junior Connor Donahue (Groton, Massachussets) and sophomores Austin French (Danville, California) and Colton Jackson (Highlands Ranch, Colorado) all recorded two goals. Walker scored one goal and added a team-high three assists. Sophomore goalie Alex Ready (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) made nine saves in his 59:33 minutes of action.
Despite the physical and tactical battle, including a combined total of 11 extra-man opportunities, the Pioneers displayed composure and resilience.
“We just had to know that we were going to win the game,” Cannizzaro said. ”We all believed that right from the get-go. Right when we started out and even when we dropped behind, we never dropped our heads. We never looked back. We knew and believed that we were going to win.”
Denver makes its first road trip of the 2017 campaign to Columbus, Ohio to face Ohio State University on March 19. Faceoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
