No. 17 Denver hosted No. 4 Cornell at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium in a top 20 men’s lacrosse showdown. Cornell entered 1-0, while the Crimson and Gold came in undefeated at 3-0. A packed crowd set the tone for a high energy and physical game.
Cornell won the opening faceoff, but Denver secured the ground ball and struck first, less than two minutes in. Senior midfielder Chase Bruno passed the ball across the defense to sixth year attacker Rory Graham, who finished to give Denver the early lead. Cornell responded quickly with a goal from AJ Nikolic to even the score.
After a Cornell timeout in the first quarter, the Big Red went on a run. They scored from close range, and less than 30 seconds later added another goal to make it 3-1. Denver’s sophomore goalie Grayson Manning came up with an impressive save but Cornell continued to apply pressure.
Graham answered with a strong dodge down the right side of the crease, slipping a shot off the post and in. Cornell countered with a long outside shot from Willem Firth. Following that, DU’s Bruno battled through contact and finished with an over the shoulder shot to keep Denver within reach. Cornell continued to capitalize, scoring another goal and closed the quarter ahead 6-3 despite a late save from Manning.
The Crimson and Gold opened the second quarter with momentum. Junior faceoff specialist Luke Smeader pushed through midfield and ripped a long range shot to reduce Cornell’s lead. After a Cornell player broke his stick, Denver looked to take advantage, but Cornell’s Luke Robinson bounced in a low shot that just barely slipped past Manning.
Denver responded with sharp ball movements, passing it across to redshirt junior midfielder Cheyne Repp for a top self finish. A key save from Manning with five minutes left in the half kept Denver close. Sophomore attacker Watt Muir capitalized with a straight on shot at Cornell’s goal, finishing to make it 7-6. A delay of game penalty on Cornell energized the home crowd, and Denvers’s defense held firm to send the teams into halftime with Cornell leading 7-6.
The Crimson and Gold fed off the crowd to start the third. Cornell appeared to score, but the goal was waved off. After a review, the referees kept their no-goal call. Denver’s redshirt junior defender Russell Overly and redshirt senior defensive-midfielder Patrick Reilly, broke up Cornell’s plays as Manning made another amazing save that ignited Denver’s bench.
Denver fed off this energy. Quick passing from redshirt junior attacker Cody Malawsky to Muir set up junior attacker Marek Tzagournis on the crease, where he buried the tie-breaker to make it 7-7. Less than a minute later, Malawsky found Tzagournis again from behind the cage, and he finished his second of the quarter to give Denver an 8-7 lead. Despite a 30-second offsides penalty on Muir, the Crimson and Gold held their advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Cornell increased its physicality in the final quarter. After an unnecessary roughness penalty on Cornell’s Matt Dooley, Tzagournis completed his hat trick with a quick crease finish, off a pass from Graham to extend the lead 9-7.
Cornell answered to make it 9-8 and continued to press the pace. A 30-second penalty on Denver shifted the momentum, and the Big Red capitalized. Cornell continued scoring on fast breaks, stretching the lead to 13-9.
Despite the energy from the crowd and bench, Denver couldn’t recover and Cornell closed out with a 13-9 victory.
Denver’s next game will be at home against Michigan on Feb. 28.
