Men’s lacrosse defeated Cleveland State 17-8 on Feb. 25 in front of their 23rd straight sellout at the Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Senior Trevor Baptiste (Deville, N.J.) was a perfect 22-for-22 at the faceoffs and had 13 ground balls. Eleven different Pioneers scored, and sophomore attackman Ethan Walker (Peterborough, Ontario) had a first-half hat trick.
Walker opened up scoring at 9:25 in the first period, assisted by junior attackman Austin French (Danville, Calif.) followed by an unassisted goal from junior Nate Marano (Tustin, Calif.). Walker scored again at 6:39 assisted by junior Colton Jackson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.). Senior Zach Runberg (Centennial, Colo.) and French, assisted by Walker, continued the Pioneers’ dominance in the first period.
In the second period, Denver began scoring with a goal from senior Sean Mayle (San Carlos, Calif.), assisted by senior Colton McCaffrey (Parker, Colo.). Cleveland’s first goal of the game came at 9:24 in the second quarter, but was immediately answered by an unassisted goal from junior Drew Supinski (Collegeville, Pa.), followed by Walker’s third goal of the first half, off an assist from McCaffery. This is the second consecutive week in which Walker has had a first-half hat trick. Senior Connor Donahue (Groton, Mass.), French, Supinski, Walker, McCaffery and senior Joe Reid (Petaluma, Calif.) all scored in the second quarter, extending Denver’s lead to 13-1.
Cleveland State opened up scoring in the third quarter and scored twice before Denver answered. Reid had an unassisted goal at 5:12. Cleveland then scored three times before the quarter ended to bring the score to 14-6.
In the fourth quarter Walker, Flynn and freshman Riley Curtis (Brampton, Ontario) scored while Cleveland State scored only twice. The final score was 17-8.
Baptiste’s perfect game of 22-for-22 on faceoffs is the second-most faceoffs won without losing one in a single-game in NCAA Division I. The game was the 18th game with 20 plus faceoff wins of Baptiste’s career. Eight of these games have been in the Pioneers’ last 13 games. He is also tied for eighth for faceoff wins in single-games in Denver’s history, holding 11 of the top 19 faceoff win performances in the record book.
Walker had six points, with four goals and two assists, extending his active point streak to 20 games. French had five points with two goals and three assists, scoring on half his shots. Supinski had his first two goals for the Pioneers after transferring from John Hopkins.
The Pioneers will travel away on March 3, playing Furman on Saturday, then traveling to play North Carolina on March 5. Following that, they will head to Notre Dame on March 10 for the last of a three game road series.
