The University of Denver division I men’s lacrosse team defeated in-state rival, the Colorado College Tigers 15-2, in non-conference action April 4.
The victory improved the Pioneers’ season record to 4-4 and 0-1 in the Great Western Lacrosse League. For the second time this season, an impressive 11 Pioneers contributed by offensively shooting the ball past the opponent’s goaltender.
Freshman Adam Miller led all Denver scorers with two goals and two assists for four points, and sophomore goaltender Brian Sanders made 18 saves limiting CC to only two tallies.
Freshman Greg Wiegel started Denver’s massacre by slipping a shot past the Tigers’ goalie at 11:27 while being checked from behind. Freshman Adam Swain followed shortly after with a goal on a man-up opportunity.
Sophomore Scott Davidson received a pass from senior Glenn Gorden scoring a point 47 seconds into the second quarter.
After a 10-minute scoring drought, Davidson and sophomore Darren Sasaki-Scanlon netted a couple to give Denver a 5-0 lead before the Tigers could capitalize on two shots.
The third quarter was rather quiet until Denver sophomore Matt Brown caused chaos in the offensive zone by scoring a close, low shot on a man-advantage. Miller concluded third quarter scoring with 3:00 remaining and brought Denver’s lead to 7-2.
Denver ran up the scoreboard in the final quarter, outscoring Colorado College 8-0 with an onslaught of goals from Mike Kenlay, Brown, Swain, Miller, junior Andrew Huelskoetter, sophomore Erik Swanson, freshman Geoff Snider and junior Mike Hadden.
As one of the 16 independent squads in division-three lacrosse, Colorado College remains second behind No. 3 Whittier.
The Tigers hold a 22-18-1 edge in the all-time record against Denver. Even so, this Denver win came without surprise following the two teams’ previous meeting around the same time last season, which was a 19-5 blowout in favor of the Pioneers.
“The team played well and finished the game the way we had hoped. We expected that we would be able to dominate,” said Head Coach Jamie Munro.
Following Denver’s victory over Colorado College, the Pioneers improved becoming the sixth-best scoring team in the nation with an average of 11.88 goals per game.
Kenlay and Brown currently lead the team in scoring with 17 points each. Denver’s defense also improved to 10th in the NCAA by allowing an average of 7.25 goals per game.
“Kenlay is playing his best lacrosse. He’s passing well and shooting better than he ever has, and Brownie’s presence makes such a difference in every game,” said Munro.
“Teams will try to take him out of it because he is such a prolific goal scorer. They pay so much attention to him that it eliminates some of his opportunities, but it gives the team more opportunities,” he said.
The Pioneers will face off in two of their four final conference games of the regular season April 18-19 at Pioneer Field.
Friday at 7:30 p.m., Denver will take on the Butler University Bulldogs who hold a record of 5-4. The Pioneers will then return to the field Saturday 12 p.m. against No. 14 nationally ranked Ohio State, 5-2, 1-0 GWLL.
The Buckeyes are 4-0 in their last four games, as of April 6, and Ohio State University junior goalie Tony Russo was named as the league’s Player of the Week April 7.
“The teams ahead are all going to be great challenges for us. I think that I speak for the whole team when I say that I sense some frustration, but definite optimism from the season so far, because we are playing a tough schedule and we’ve been up and down and have played in really close games,” said Munro. “We have a good attitude and we know that we can win.”
