Denver wraps-up regular season at home against [15/15] Marquette (4-0) April 30 at 1 p.m. MT for regular season title
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The [2/2] University of Denver men’s lacrosse team never tailed and used an 11-2 second half to separate itself from Providence 17-7 on Saturday April 23, at the new Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium. Denver had 13 different players score its 17 goals on Saturday.
“Providence is a really good lacrosse team, and very well coached,” head coach Bill Tierney said. “They gave us fits in the first half, but I’m really proud of the second half performance from our guys today. We had to make some adjustments at halftime, but I think the team responded well to John Orsen and Matt Brown’s messages in the locker room. When you see scoring spread around like that it tells you as a coach that the guys really care about each other. I thought that Alex Ready had his best game as a Pioneer today, and Trevor [Baptiste] of course was fantastic yet again for us.”
Freshman netminder Alex Ready (Lancaster, Pa.) made 12 saves for the Pioneers (11-1, 4-0 BIG EAST), the fifth double-digit save total in Ready’s young career. Sophomore Trevor Baptiste (Denville, N.J.) went 20-for-23 from the faceoff dot and scored his second goal of the campaign. Baptiste also picked up 11 ground balls. Sophomore Brendan Bomberry (Ohsweken, Ontario) led Denver in scoring with his second career hat trick to go along with an assist for a four-point afternoon, while junior Connor Cannizzaro (Cazenovia, N.Y.) also had a four-point day with two goals and a pair of helpers.
The Pioneers raced out to an early 2-0 lead inside the first three minutes, after being held scoreless in the first quarter a year ago against the Friars (7-7, 1-3 BIG EAST) at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Senior captain Jack Bobzien (Littleton, Colo.) and freshman Austin French (Danville, Calif.) netted the first two goals, both assisted by a pair of Connors in Cannizzaro and sophomore Connor Donahue (Groton, Mass.). Will Mazzone scored two of three first quarter Providence goals as the Friars turned a 3-1 Denver lead into a 3-3 tie at the end of one. Freshman defender Dylan Johnson (Englewood, Colo.) netted the Pioneers third goal of the opening frame, beating the 10-man ride from beyond midfield.
Denver outscored Providence 3-2 in the second quarter, with goals from freshman Colton Jackson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Cannizzaro and Bomberry.
DU scored the only three goals of the third period to extend its halftime lead to four at 9-5. Junior Zach Miller (Steamburg, N.Y.) netted his first goal since the game-tying goal in the Villanova blizzard game. Bomberry added his second of the day, and his ninth man-up goal of the campaign with 11:57 to go in the quarter, and Cannizzaro capped off the scoring in the frame with 7:19 to go.
Bomberry opened the fourth quarter scoring by completing his second career hat trick on the man-up to make it 10-5, and senior defensive midfielder Chris Hampton (Bethesda, Md.) netted his second career goal. Junior Max Planning (Alexandria, Va.) got the third midfield a goal with 10:16 to go in the final stanza off a great feed from senior Bryce Parietti (Centennial, Colo.). Jackson got his second of the day to extend the DU second-half run to 7-0 with 5:08.
Providence got its first goal of the second half with 5:49 to go in the fourth to cut the Denver lead back to seven at 13-6. The Pioneers ended the game on a 4-0 run after Providence got the DU lead down to 13-7 with goals from senior Colin Woolford (Norwalk, Conn.), Baptiste, sophomore Colton McCaffrey (Parker, Colo.) and sophomore Nick Phillips (Denver, Colo.). Baptiste’s and Woolford’s goals were five seconds apart, tied for the third-shortest margin in NCAA history.
UP NEXT: Denver will play its final regular season game of the 2016 season on Saturday, April 30, against [15/15] Marquette at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. MT on CBS Sports Network. Denver will honor its nine seniors prior to the Saturday afternoon faceoff. The winner of the Marquette/Denver matchup next Saturday will be the No. 1 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament to be played at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium May 5 and 7.