Roy, Denver Dominate Pioneer Face-Off Classic
from press release
DENVER - The No. 16 University of Denver men's lacrosse team
(3-1) defeated the Towson Tigers (1-2) 9-4 in the championships
game of the Harrow Face-Off Classic in front of a crowd of 1,098
fans at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. The Pioneers improve
to 13-3 overall in Face-Off Classic history.
The Pioneers were led by senior Joey Murray (Denver, Colo.), who
had two goals on the day, and junior Charley Dickenson (Dallas,
Texas), who tallied two assists.
"I am so happy with our performance this weekend," said head coach
Jamie Munro. "We played a solid game defensively against a very
aggressive team. We had some great looks on goal and we controlled
the ball. Our offense played smart and they did what we wanted them
to do."
For the Classic, Dickenson finished with a team-high nine points as
he tallied one goal and eight assists during the two days, while
freshman Alex Demopoulos (Canton, Conn.) tallied five goals and one
assist for six points. Junior Dillon Roy (Denver, Colo.) was named
the Harrow Face-Off Classic MVP for his efforts on defense as he
was responsible for five caused turnovers by both Towson and Sacred
Heart.
"We got pushed around hard yesterday and I'm very happy with the
way our team bounced back and continued to play mentally and
physically tough," Munro said.
Denver took a 1-0 lead into the break after one period of
relatively scoreless play. The Pioneers opened the scoring
with 3:57 left in the first period when Murray scored on an
unassisted strike, his eighth goal of the year.
Murray scored his second goal of the game with 8:14 remaining in
the second period, assisted by freshman Mark Matthews (Oshawa,
Ontario) to put the Pioneers up 2-0. Just minutes later,
Denver extended its lead when senior Cliff Smith (Surrey, B.C.)
found the back of the net for his fourth goal of the
season.
With just 1:40 remaining before the half, Demopoulos scored his
fifth goal of the Face-Off classic of a pass from freshman Alex
Gajic (Burnaby, British Columbia). Towson was able to breathe some
life into its offense when it scored with just 19 seconds remaining
in the second period. Though the Tigers outshot the Pioneers 16-14
in the first half, Denver held a 4-1 lead after two periods of
play.
Towson's Peter Mezzanotte scored his first career goal just 14
seconds into the second half, but sophomore Todd Baxter (Eden
Prairie, Minn.) answered right back for the Pioneers with his
fourth goal of the season just seconds later. Towson cut the
margin to two when senior Bill McCutcheon scored on an unassisted
strike with 10:36 remaining in the third period.
Dickenson extended the Pioneers' lead with an acrobatic unassisted
goal, his fifth of the year, with 3:51 remaining to give Denver a
6-3 lead. Just minutes later his brother, junior John
Dickenson (Dallas, Texas), made it 7-3 when he put a pass from
Smith in the back of the net.
Towson's Will Harrington added the final score for the Tigers when
he scored early in the fourth period to cut Denver's lead to three,
but Denver continued the trend of quickly responding to the Tiger's
offensive threat when Gajic put the Pioneers up 8-4.
Freshman Patrick Rogers (Portland, Ore.) made the final mark on the
scoreboard for Denver when he scored his first career goal, giving
Denver a 9-4 victory to clinch the Harrow Face-Off
Championship.
The Pioneers hit the road this week to take on Penn in Philadelphia
on Friday Mar. 6.
ATTACK
1. Alex Demopolous, Denver
2. Bill McCutcheon, Towson
3. K.J. Landgraf, Air Force
MIDFIELD
1. Charley Dickenson, Denver
2. Joey Murray, Denver
3. Eric Evans, Air Force
DEFENSE
1. Dillon Roy
2. Joe Wascavage, Towson
3. Brian Gilbreath, Air Force
GOALIE
1. Peter Lowell, Denver
LONG STICK MIDFIELDER
1. Jamie MacDonald, Denver
MVP
1. Dillon Roy, Denver
