The DU Pioneers defeated St. John’s 15-6 in their BIG EAST home opener, a game which was the 27th straight sellout at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Senior Joe Reid (Petaluma, Calif.) completed his first hat trick, junior attackman Austin French (Danville, Calif.) scored a career-high five goals and senior faceoff specialist Trevor Baptiste (Denville, N.J.) finished 19-of-24.
Reid opened scoring in the first quarter at 11:55 with an assist from French. Reid scored again at 8:34, off an assist from senior Colton McCaffrey (Parker, Colo.). Saint John’s scored, bringing the score to 2-1. This would be the closest that Saint John’s would get to matching Denver’s score. The final score for Denver in the first quarter was a goal from French, off an assist from Reid.
In the second quarter, Reid was the first scorer again, finishing his hat trick off an assist from McCaffrey. Reid was the first scorer in a 6-0 Denver run that saw five different Pioneers score. Redshirt senior Connor Flynn (Charlotte, N.C.) scored at 9:34, followed by freshman Ted Sullivan (Tucson, Ariz.) at 7:51, junior Colton Jackson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) at 7:27 and French at 7:19 and 2:18.
In the third quarter, Denver extended its lead to 11-1 before Saint John’s answered. French was the first Pioneer to score, with an assist credited to Jackson. He was followed by senior Zach Runberg (Centennial, Colo.), who was assisted by sophomore Ethan Walker (Peterborough, Ontario). Although Saint John’s answered with two goals to bring the score to 11-3, the Pioneers were not deterred. French and senior Nick Phillips (Denver, Colo.) scored to bring the score to 13-4 at the end of the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Walker and junior Nate Marano (Tustin, Calif.) scored, bringing the final score to 15-6.
With this win, Denver is now 24-0 in all time BIG EAST regular season play, and 3-0 in this season’s BIG EAST play.
Denver closes out its road schedule against Providence on April 21, at 11 a.m. M.T. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network and ESPN Denver 1600.
