Photo by: DU Media Relations
The No. 12 DU men’s lacrosse team struggled last weekend in a pair of road games against national powers the University of North Carolina and Duke University.
Playing No. 14 UNC Saturday in Chapel Hill, N.C., the Pioneers dropped a hard fought 11-8 contest, despite a strong second half comeback on Saturday.
In Sunday’s match-up, the Pioneers lost for the second straight day, falling to the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils 13-9.
The Pioneers started Saturday’s game slowly, allowing UNC to score the game’s first five goals.
Then, after trailing 6-1 at halftime, the Pioneers fired back against UNC with four straight second half goals to even the score at 7-7.
The first was scored by freshman midfielder John Dickenson. Then the Pioneers received goals from senior Ryan Zordani, junior Jon Paulson, and sophomore Brad Richardson.
The comeback was quickly thwarted, however, as UNC rattled off three straight goals to close out the game and the Pioneers 11-8.
In the loss, goalkeeper Jeb Hollingsworth made 14 saves for the Pioneers, earning his first loss of the young season. Dickenson netted his first career hat trick for the Pioneers, and Richardson added a goal and two assists.
Despite a five-point effort from junior Brett Koll, the Pioneers dropped their second straight game Sunday to the Blue Devils.
Once again falling behind early, the Pioneers didn’t score their first goal until the second quarter when freshman attacker Ilija Gajic fired home a shot to get put the score at 2-1.
Then, after the Blue Devils scored two more unanswered goals, Richardson’s shot found the back of the net to decrease Duke’s lead to two. The Blue Devils would once again add two more goals before Gajic scored his second goal of the game late in the second quarter to send the Pioneers into halftime trailing 6-3.
The Pioneers started well in the second half, when Koll netted his first goal to cut the lead back down to two goals. That would be as close as the Pioneers would ever get in the game, as the Blue Devils and DU alternated goals for the rest of the game to finish with a 13-9 loss for the Pioneers.
To go along with Koll’s two goals and three assists, Gajic had his first three-goal game in a Pioneer uniform, while adding an assist for a four-point afternoon. Zordani continued his strong play, as he was the only other Pioneer to score multiple goals in the game. Hollingsworth once again started between the pipes, making 12 saves in thelosing effort.
The Pioneers (1-2) look to get back above .500 this weekend with a pair of home games in the annual Denver Face-Off Classic. First, the Pioneers take on Villanova at 1:30 p.m. MT on Saturday, before playing the University of Maryland- Boston County on Sunday.
