Photo by: Andrew Fielding
The DU men’s lacrosse team pulled off a win for the ages as it defeated then-No. 4 Duke 12-9 in front of a sellout crowd at Bethpage High School Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and earned the highest ranking in school history yesterday as it jumped from No. 10 to No. 7 in the Inside Lacrosse national poll.
With the win over the Blue Devils, Denver claims its biggest win in program history, knocking off a top-five team after faltering against top-ranked Syracuse and No. 2 Notre Dame earlier in the season.
The Pioneers improve to 8-2 on the season and knock off a Duke team that won the national championship in 2010, but has dropped to 8-4 overall and No. 9 in the rankings.
Earlier in the week, head coach Bill Tierney noted that the team and the program had yet to earn its signature win.
“We’ve been able to beat some teams that have gone in and out of the top 20, but haven’t been able to get that win against a top five team, and that’s what this program really needs so we can establish ourselves this year,” said Tierney last Tuesday in a press conference.
Now, with the signature win obtained, the Pioneers can look ahead to the rest of their regular season schedule as well as enjoy some of the national spotlight that comes with their No. 7 ranking.
The Pioneers were ranked as low as No. 19 in March, but have shored up their defense against the Blue Devils after struggling in recent weeks.
“Defensively, we knew we only wanted to give up shots we could save,” said freshman goalkeeper Jamie Faus.
Senior Todd Baxter led the Pioneers to victory with a five-point performance on four goals and one assist.
Baxter stepped up in a game where the Blue Devil defense tried to maintain DU’s top two scoring threats juniors Mark Matthews and Alex Demopoulous.
“When the discussion of most valuable player comes up, names like Alex Demopolous and Mark Matthews come up often,” said Tierney earlier in the week. “But if three words were added-to the team-then Todd Baxter is that guy by far. He’s the glue that holds are attack unit together. He’s the heart and soul of the tenacity that group possess.”
Despite season-ending injuries to two of their best midfielders, seniors Andrew Lay and Patrick Rodgers, the Pioneers were able to find help from their young players many of whom Tierney had said were “waiting in the wings.”
Sophomore Cameron Flint led the midfield unit, notching three goals. Other Pioneer midfielders that made a difference were sophomores Eric Law and Chase Carraro, who each added two goals.
Carraro was also very successful on face-offs as he won 12-of-25, 48 percent, of his attempts against Duke’s CJ Costabile, the player who scored the winning goal in last year’s national championship.
“We’ve been practicing all week, different sets to try and combat Duke’s defense,” said Carraro.
On the other side of the field, Faus was a rock for the Pioneers defense, making 16 saves, a new career high.
“It’s great to get the opportunity to play the best teams,” said Faus. “If we want to be the best we can be—the best in the nation-we [need] to play the top teams to really test ourselves.”
The Blue Devils got out to a hot start as they took a 1-0 lead when senior Terrence Molinari opened up the scoring. Six minutes passed, then Carraro beat Duke goalkeeper Dan Wigrizer, knotting the score at one.
In the final 2:42 of the first quarter, Duke tallied two goals from senior Stephen Coyle and sophomore David Lawson, while DU’s Flint scored once.
As the second quarter began, the Pioneers came out strong scoring two goals as Law scored back-to-back goals in the first six minutes of the quarter. His goals early in the second quarter gave DU their first lead of the game at 4-3.
With only 48 seconds remaining in the first half, which featured three ties and two lead changes, Duke junior Robert Rotanz scored consecutive goals to give the Blue Devils a late 5-4 lead. Thirty-three seconds later Baxter riffled a late shot towards the net that tied the game 5-5 at halftime.
The Pioneers scored five goals in the third quarter, which proved to be the difference maker, giving the Pioneers a 10-8 lead going into the final quarter. Baxter accounted for three of five goals in the third quarter.
In the final quarter, DU tallied twice and allowed only one Blue Devil goal. Matthews gave the Pioneers a three-goal lead with less than six minutes to play in the game.
“This is a great win not only for our program, but for the sport of lacrosse in the area,” said Tierney. “I am so proud of the way our team competed. I think we really showed a lot of people what Denver lacrosse is all about.”
The DU men’s lacrosse team will be back in action for the eighth annual Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Showdown on Saturday as they host No. 18 Ohio State at INVESCO Field at Mile-High.
Last season, the Pioneers topped conference-foe Loyola 12-4 for their biggest win of the season, and clinched the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference’s regular season crown.
Heading into their bout with the Buckeyes, the Pioneers are undefeated in ECAC play.
The game begins at 3 p.m.
