The No. 8 Pioneers captured the Faceoff Classic as they defeated NCAA Men’s Lacrosse newcomer Utah and foe Cleveland State 15-6 and 16-8, respectively.
On Saturday afternoon, the Pioneers took on Utah for the first time in team history. The Pioneers had a red letter day as multiple players performed to their highest potential. Freshman faceoff specialist Brett Boos (Parker, Colo.) claimed his first 15 faceoffs on the game and finished with a record of 20-of-23 on the day in his third career game. Between the pipes, senior goalie Alex Ready (Lancaster, Pa.) stopped 10-of-14 shots on cage, with six saves coming in the first quarter. On the offensive half, three players were able to record hat tricks on the day. Junior attackman Ethan Walker (Peterborough, Ontario) accounted for three goals and two assists on the afternoon, a game-high five points. The freshman duo of Ellis Geis (Tustin, Calif) and Drew Erickson (Danville, Calif.) finished off the hat tricks for the Pioneers with three-straight goals and first career goals for Erickson in the fourth quarter. Other players to contribute on the day were freshman Alex Simmons (Smithville, Ontario) with two goals and an assist, sophomore Riley Curtis (Brampton, Ontario) with two assists and a goal and sophomore Jack Hannah (Milford, Ohio) with three assists.
The first quarter began with a zinger from Walker to senior Colton Jackson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), which was his second on the season. The Pioneers continued to push with goals from Simmons and Geis. However, the NCAA’s third-leading scorer, Utah’s Josh Stout, dumped one in to make the score 3-2. Geis would help the Pioneers begin their 6-1 run in the second quarter extending the score to 9-3 at the half with Boos going 14-for-14 in the first 30 minutes. Stout scored his 17th goal on the season for Utah to open up the second half before the Pioneers went on another 6-1 run until the 1:22 mark in the fourth quarter. Erickson helped the second unit of the Pioneers with his hat trick. However, Utah was able to get a goal late in the fourth to make the final score 15-6.
On Sunday afternoon, the Pioneers were able to utilize a 12-5 second half to push past Cleveland State by a score of 16-8. The defense for the Pioneers held strong as their 16 caused turnovers, tied for the fourth-most in a single game in Denver’s Division I history, to preserve their 4-3 lead going into the half. Ready ended the game with nine saves while Walker passed both Eric Law and Tyler Pace on the Denver career points list, moving to 156 total points.
Walker began the game with the opener followed by a Cleveland State equalizer just a minute after scoring his fifth on the season. The Pioneers would tally three more goals behind Simmons and Geis before Cleveland State got two more goals to make it 4-3 going into the half. Cleveland State took seven of the nine faceoffs in the first half. Denver was able to change their mindset and came out hot from the locker room. Walker scored his second of the day just 11 seconds into the second half and followed a Cleveland State goal with a 6-1 run. The fourth quarter saw junior Kyle Smith (New Canaan, Conn.) got his first goal since 2017 and freshman Johnny Marrocco (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Sam Dwinell (Dedham, Mass.) got their first career goals for the Pioneers.
The Pioneers had a successful weekend and will look to continue their hot-hands in Chapel Hill where they will take on No. 20 University of North Carolina on Saturday, March 2 at 9 a.m. MST.
