DENVER – The [1/1] University of Denver men’s lacrosse team, the No. 1 seed in the BIG EAST tournament, fell to No. 2 seed [19/19] Marquette 10-9 on Saturday at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Marquette earned the automatic bid, and Denver will host either Towson or Hobart on Sunday May 15 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
See the link to our photo gallery of the BIG EAST Championship game: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1295828740430654.1073741877.121135597899980&type=1&l=d95bbdad14
The Pioneers and Golden Eagles took the field at 3 p.m. MT following a lightening delay before team warm-ups. The game was short-lived as another strike of lightening halted play just 2:59 into the game.
The impact of the conditions was apparent from the first faceoff. It took 0:37 before Denver sustained a possession after losing the initial battle.
A Pioneer turnover resulted in a Marquette chance on the opposite end. BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year Alex Ready (Lancaster, Pa.) made a save on the Golden Eagles’ first shot of the game before Tanner Thompson found the back of the net for the 1-0 Marquette lead with 12:01 remaining in the first quarter.
Both team exited the field following the goal for the mandatory lightening delay.
After a 36-minute delay, the teams returned to the field to resume the BIG EAST Championship game.
Freshman Colton Jackson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) tied things up 1-1 with 8:14 remaining in the first quarter as he beat Marquette’s Cole Blazer on the run, scoring Denver’s first goal for the second-straight game. Senior captain Jack Bobzien (Littleton, Colo.) gave the Pioneers the lead, picking up a pass that was sent in front of the crease and converting with 3:57 to play in the first half.
For the second game in a row, the Pioneers used a big second quarter to take a 7-2 lead.
Jackson continued his successful afternoon, scoring 0:36 into the second quarter on the run, just as he did for his first goal. The Golden Eagles responded with BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Liam Byrnes scoring in transition to cut Denver’s lead to one goal with 12:56 remaining in the first half.
The Pioneers linked together four goals in a row to earn a 7-2 lead with 5:43 to play in the first half.
Freshman Austin French (Danville, Calif.) kicked off the run, finishing from the back side off an assist by sophomore Brendan Bomberry (Ohsweken, Ontario), 1:02 after Marquette’s goal. Jackson then scored again for his second career hat trick as he proved he could finish from inside off a pass from junior captain Tyler Pace (Coquitlam, B.C.), prompting a Marquette timeout with 10:13 remaining in the first half.
Denver continued its run, capitalizing a Golden Eagle turnover on the clear as sophomore Sean Mayle (San Carlos, Calif.) snagged the groundball and sent it ahead to Bomberry who played a give-and-go with Connor Cannizzaro (Cazenovia, N.Y.) for the goal with 7:08 remaining in the first half. Denver closed out the second-quarter run as Pace assisted his second goal of the game by passing the ball inside to sophomore Connor Donahue (Groton, Mass.), who took a step and scored.
Marquette finished the quarter with a goal 1:22 later as Conor Gately recorded a goal following a restart on the end line. Denver led Marquette 7-3 at halftime.
It was a tale of two halves as Marquette dominated the third quarter. The Golden Eagles outpaced the Pioneers 6-0 in the third quarter. Thompson tied the game 7-7 with back-to-back unassisted goals for the hat trick with 6:10 remaining in the game.
The Marquette run continued as the Golden Eagles found the back of the net twice more in the quarter, gaining the lead 8-7 as Thompson dished an assist to Blaine Fleming 1:00 after his tying goal before closing out the quarter by scoring a timer-on goal with 3:25 to go in the third quarter.
The Golden Eagles carried a 9-7 lead into the final frame of action, but Denver mounted a comeback to tie the game 9-9.
After winning the opening faceoff, Marquette went off sides to turn the ball and the momentum over to the Pioneers.
Zach Miller (Steamburg, N.Y.) scored back-to-back goals for the second-straight game. Miller first
stopped the Golden Eagle run 1:06 into the fourth quarter with his first goal of the game. DU won the next faceoff off a Marquette violation to continue its comeback. Miller then finished off an assist from Bobzien to tie the game 9-9 with 12:19 to play in the game.
But that was it for Denver.
Andy DeMichei scored with 5:55 remaining in the game to put the Golden Eagles back in front 10-9. The Pioneers could not tie the game again despite a caused turnover over by junior captain Christian Burgdorf (Westfield, N.J.) to give the Pioneers possession with 1:10 to play in the game.
Denver outshot Marquette 34 to 28 and picked up 28 ground balls to the Golden Eagles’ 24. Ready made one more save than Blazer, with 10 in the game, including four in the fourth quarter. The Golden Eagles earned the advantage in the faceoff battle, winning 12-of-23. In addition to his 11 faceoff wins, Trevor Baptiste (Denville, N.J.) also grabbed a team-high eight ground balls in the game.
UP NEXT: The top eight seeds in the draw will host NCAA First Round games on May 14 or 15, with all the games being broadcast on the ESPN family of networks. Championship Weekend in 2016 will return to Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field May 28-30.