The University of Denver men’s lacrosse team finished its season by flying high over the Air Force Falcons with a 9-5 win May 3 at Pioneer Field.
The victory earned Denver a 9-5 season record and a 4-1 Great Western Lacrosse League record, which ties the team with nationally ranked No. 19 Notre Dame and No. 15 Ohio State for the conference title. The OSU Buckeyes win the tiebreaker and a NCAA playoff seed with the least amount of goals allowed.
Denver’s offense was led by freshman Adam Swain who scored two goals and had one assist for three points against the Falcons.
The Pioneer defense played the game by shutting down each of Air Force’s power-play opportunities.
The Falcon’s started well by scoring two quick goals in an effort to spoil “Senior Day,” but Denver answered back before the end of the first quarter with goals by freshman Adam Miller and sophomore Scott Davidson.
Swain received a pass from sophomore Greer Hanlon shortly into the second quarter for a long range goal and the lead. Air Force tied the game, but then freshmen Greg Wiegel, Adam Goodwin and junior Jeff Biggs each marked the scoreboard, showing the Falcons that they would never see the lead again.
The Pioneers were out shot 12-3 in the third quarter, but defense prevailed only allowing one Air Force goal to tighten the score 5-4.
Biggs and Davidson scored back-to-back goals to fire up the final quarter.
The Falcons threaded the needle one last time at 8:17, which was followed by Swain’s unanswered goal at 5:29 to draw the scoring to a close.
“We had a good attitude all season long and a number of guys simply played their best lacrosse” said head coach Jamie Munro when commenting on the team’s success.
Next year’s team will miss the talents of midfielder Glenn Berglund, defenseman Glenn Gorden, midfielder Mike Kenlay, goalie Jeff Nunziato, midfielder Mike Petrucci, and midfielder John Sanders who are graduating next month.
Nunziato, this season’s Most Valuable Player, kept the team in the game all season long. He became the Pioneers’ fifth all-time leader in saves with 339 career saves.
“He lead us to the best season we’ve ever had” said Munro.
Even with the loss of some key players, Denver has a strong returning class and should expand on this season’s achievements in the quest for a bid to next year’s NCAA tournament.
