MEDIA RELEASE
DENVER – On Saturday February 27, 2016 the [1/2] University of Denver men’s lacrosse team defeated Sacred Heart 18-7 in the second game of the Faceoff Classic Saturday afternoon at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium in front of a crowd of 2,497, the 25th sellout in stadium history.
2015 USILA First-Team All-America pick Connor Cannizzaro (Cazenovia, N.Y.) led the Pioneers with five goals and six points, while sophomore Brendan Bomberry (Ohsweken, Ontario) had a career-high four goals in the game.
Sacred Heart came out to a hot start with two goals from Matt Posch. Posch finished 0:11 into the game off a faceoff win, then scored his second with 7:36 remaining in the first quarter. The Pioneers evened the score at two with 5:43 remaining in the first quarter with unassisted goals by freshman Austin French (Danville, Calif.) and Bomberry. 2015 NCAA faceoff statistical leader Trevor Baptiste (Denville, N.J.) gave DU the lead seven seconds after Denver’s second goal with his first goal of the season. Cannizzaro extended the lead with his first goal of the game off an assist from Bryce Parietti (Centennial, Colo.) with 1:44 remaining in the first quarter.
The Pioneers earned a power play opportunity on the first possession of the second quarter as Sacred Heart committed its third faceoff violation. Denver converted on the opportunity after working the ball around as Bomberry scored his second of the game off an assist from Connor Donahue (Groton, Mass.). DU scored its second fast-break goal off a faceoff win as Baptiste dished the ball to Cannizzaro who finished from 15 yards out.
Denver continued its second quarter offensive onslaught. Joe Reid (Petaluma, Calif.) finished a pass from Cannizzaro to give the Pioneers a 7-2 lead with 10:08 remaining in the first half. Bomberry completed his first career hat trick with his second man-up goal of the game off an assist from 2016 Tewaaraton Watch List selection Zach Miller (Steamburg, N.Y.), giving the Pioneers an 8-2 lead with 3:39 to play in the second quarter.
The Pioneers scored three goals in the final minute of the second quarter to gain an 11-2 lead at halftime. Junior captain Tyler Pace (Coquitlam, B.C.) sparked the final-minute run with an unassisted goal with 0:54 to play. Cannizzaro completed his 18th career hat trick with 0:11 remaining in the first half on an unassisted goal, and senior Jack Bobzien (Littleton, Colo.) finished off an assist from Donahue with just 0:02 to go in the second quarter to give Denver the 11-2 lead. After losing the first faceoff, Baptiste won 13 in a row in the first half.
Just as Sacred Heart began the first half, it scored the first two goals of the second half. Once again, the SHU Pioneers scored an early goal and followed it up with a goal halfway through the quarter to cut Denver’s lead to 11-4. Cannizzaro was penalized for a trip with 7:11 to play in the third quarter and returned to the field to score his fourth goal of the game after Denver’s defense killed the penalty. Sacred Heart closed out the third quarter with two more goals to cut Denver’s lead to 12-6 at the end of three quarters.
Cannizzaro notched his fifth goal off an assist from Miller as the first of a four-goal run by the Pioneers to begin the fourth quarter. Parietti picked up a hard fought rebound and scored his first goal of the game, and less than a minute later Bomberry scored his third power play goal, with Miller earning his third assist of the game. Donahue closed out the run with a goal from Bomberry with 8:16 to play in the game to make the score 16-6.
Sacred Heart snuck one more goal in the game before Denver closed out its home opener with tallies from freshman Nate Marano (Tustin, Calif.) and Colton McCaffrey (Parker, Colo.). McCaffrey was the 11th Pioneer to score in the game, with his goal coming off an assist from Grant Gravitt (Las Vegas, Nev.), in the final minute of the contest.
Freshman goalie Alex Ready (Lancaster, Pa.) finished with six saves in the game, and senior Joey Gigantiello (Shamong, N.J.) made a save in the win. Baptiste had a dominant day at the faceoff X with 20 wins (20-of-24); the Pioneers were 21-of-27 on the day. Denver nearly doubled Sacred Heart with 29 groundballs to SHU’s 15. DU killed all extra-man opportunities for Sacred Heart, while the Pioneers converted on 5-of-6.
POSTGAME NOTES:
– The Pioneers improved their winning-streak to 16 games on Saturday, winning their final 13 of the 2015 season en route to the program’s first National Championship (last loss 3/14/15 at Ohio State).
– Denver has won 17-consecutive home openers (17-1 since turning DI in 1999).
– At least 10 different players scored for Denver for the fifth time since the start of the 2015 season, and the 11th time since offensive coordinator Matt Brown joined the coaching staff full time in 2008. Denver had at least 11 different players score for the third time since 2008.
– The Pioneers are 75-14 at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium, since it was built in 2005, including 44-5 under seventh-year head coach Bill Tierney.
– Denver now has a 17-game home winning streak, the longest active in the country and tied for 17th in NCAA history.
– Saturday’s sellout is the 25th in the stadium’s history, and the 12th since the start of the 2014 season. Denver is 20-4 in sellouts at Peter Barton (not including exhibition vs. Johns Hopkins on Jan. 30).
– Denver is now 42-9 as a top-5 team since turning Division I, including 6-2 as the No. 1 team in the USILA Coaches’ Poll.
– Head coach Bill Tierney (seventh season) is now 86-25 at DU and 358-118 in his career (32nd season).
– Zach Miller extended his consecutive-game point streak to 40 games (entered this weekend 2nd in the nation). Miller has 124 points (66G-59A) during that stretch. Miller has had a point in every collegiate game he has played in (missed one game in 2014).
– Connor Cannizzaro extended his consecutive-game point streak to 28 games (entered the weekend 8th in the nation). Cannizzaro has 116 points (77G-39A) in that stretch.
– Cannizzaro also extended his consecutive-game goal streak to 28 games (entered the weekend tied for 2nd). Cannizzaro has 77 goals in that stretch. This is Cannizzaro’s fourth game with five or more goals.
– Sophomore Trevor Baptiste has double-digit faceoff wins in all 22 games of his collegiate career, including 15+ faceoff wins in 16 games.
– Denver has reached 10 goals in 24 consecutive games.
– This is Denver’s first 11-goal run since March 28, 2015 against No. 14 Georgetown and 10th 10-1 run or better since the start of the 2011 season.
– Brendan Bomberry’s three man-up goals ties for the second most in a single-game in Denver’s Division I history.