By: Niko Blankenship
Pioneers use a 4-0 fourth quarter to come from behind in another top-10 win at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium
DENVER – The [7/10] University of Denver men’s lacrosse program got a first hat trick of the season from Richie Connell and 10 important stops in net from Malcolm Kleban to secure a 10-8 win over [6/6] Georgetown on Saturday afternoon at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
KEY PERFORMANCES:
Connell shot 3-for-3 on the day to lead the Pioneers offense. Jake Edinger had two goals from his SSDM position, part of a rope-unit hat trick that also included the first goal of the second half from AJ Mercurio. Joshua Carlson was Denver’s other multi-goal scorer, scoring both of his goals in the second half, including the game-winning tally with 4:37 to go in regulation.
Kleban was called on to make 10 saves, including seven in the middle quarters to keep the Georgetown advantage to just two.
Alec Stathakis went 12-for-22 from the stripe, including 4-for-5 in the fourth quarter to help secure the victory. Stathakis picked up seven ground balls in the Pioneers win.
Jimmy Freehill and Adam Hangland had a pair of caused turnovers a piece to lead the Denver defense.
NOTES:
- Denver improved to 9-7 in its Division I history against Georgetown, snapping a five-game losing skid to the Hoyas with the victory at Barton. Denver is 5-2 against Georgetown at Peter Barton.
- The game was played in-front of a sell-out crowd of 2595, the third sellout at Peter Barton this season and the 59th in the history of the stadium (2005).
- Michael Lampert stretched his goal-streak to nine games (15) and his point streak to 10 (33).
- Alec Stathakis improved to 50-10-4 in faceoff match-ups in his career on Saturday.
- The Pioneers improved to 175-32 since Matt Brown arrived on campus in 2008 when scoring double digit goals.
- Denver improved to 123-26 all-time at PBLS.
- The hat trick for Richie Connell was his first of the season and the 13th of his collegiate career.
- Malcolm Kleban got into double digit saves for the seventh time this season and the 10th time in his career.
- Denver is 3-1 against teams ranked in the top-10 this season, all three were ranked No. 6 in the USILA Coaches’ Poll.
- The Crimson and Gold have had to come from behind by at least two goals in the fourth quarter of all three of their wins against top-10 teams this season.
- The Pioneers defense allowed single-digit goals for the seventh time this season (7-0).
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Quarter:
Georgetown got on the board first before Cody Malawsky responded 33 seconds later to even things up at 1-1.
The Hoyas got back-to-back goals three minutes apart to take their first two-goal lead of the day before Michael Lampert beat his man to the top of the crease to cut the deficit in half heading into the quarter break. The Lampert goal was his 15th of the season.
Second Quarter:
Richie Connell took a dodge left, re-dodged to the right and then re-dodged to the left before firing home his eighth of the season to even the score with 13:44 to go in the half.
The Hoyas got three of the final four goals in the frame to take a 6-4 lead into the locker room. Jordan Wray, Chase Llewellyn and Graham Bundy Jr. sandwiched goals around a Jake Edinger transition tally.
Third Quarter:
The two teams traded goals in a 2-2 third quarter. Mercurio scored 13 seconds out of halftime to bring the Pioneers back to within one, but Aidan Carrol responded for the Hoyas on the other end to make it a 7-5 game. Joshua Carlson ripped one from his hip from 12-yards out off a feed from Jack Tortolani to make it a one-goal deficit once again.
TJ Haley closed out the scoring in the quarter for the Hoyas, and Denver went back into the huddle down 8-6 heading into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter:
Late game Pioneer magic started in the fourth quarter. Back-to-back goals from Richie Connell that came 50 seconds apart knotted the score up for the first time since it was 3-3 early in the second quarter.
Joshua Carlson cashed in on a man-up chance after Georgetown was flagged offside to give Denver its first lead of the afternoon at 9-8 with 4:37 to play.
Late in the shot clock, Denver came out of a timeout with some of their defensive personal already on the field, and it was the SSDM Edinger that lost his defender and got free for his second goal of the afternoon to push Denver’s lead to two with 92 seconds to go.
Denver’s defense kept Georgetown without a goal in the last 17:48 to secure the two-goal win and add another top-10 win to the resume.
UP NEXT:
Denver will return to the road for the final time in the regular season next Saturday when the Pioneers travel to Providence. Opening faceoff on FloSports is set for 12 p.m. ET/10 a.m. MT.