DU Wins 7th Straight; Matthews A Hero Again
from press release
HARTFORD, Conn. -- For the second straight
week, sophomore Mark Matthews (Oshawa, Ontario) used a late
fourth-quarter goal to seal the win as the No. 18/20 University of
Denver men's lacrosse team (10-4, 5-0 ECAC) defeated No. 17/18
Fairfield University (8-4, 4-2 ECAC) 9-8 in the first game of the
Inaugural ESPNU Warrior Classic at Rentschler Field in East
Hartford, Conn. Denver has now won seven straight games.
Also scoring for the Pioneers was senior John Dickenson (Dallas,
Texas), juniors Andrew Lay (Denver, Colo.) and Todd Baxter (Eden
Prairie, Minn.), sophomores Alex Demopoulos (Canton, Conn.) and
Patrick Rogers (Portland, Ore.) and freshman Colin Scott
(Ridgefield, Conn.).
"I thought we played a much better game after the first quarter,"
said head coach Bill Tierney. "Fairfield really made it difficult
for us and took advantage of a lot of our mistakes in the first
half, but in the style that we have played in all season long, we
found a way to win down the stretch when it counted. A lot of
credit for this win needs to go to Chase Carraro, who did an
excellent job winning the ball for us on face-offs and getting our
offense some really good looks."
A freshman from Louisville, Ky., Carraro finished the game winning
12-of-19 face-offs and scooping up four ground balls.
Posting his sixth complete game of the season, senior goalie Peter
Lowell (Freeport, Maine) made nine saves for Denver between the
Pipes, including four in the second quarter.
Denver held the advantage in face-offs, winning 13-of-21, while
Fairfield held the advantage in shots (29-23) and ground balls
(24-16). Fairfield's Sam Snow led the scoring efforts for the
Stags, scoring three goals and tallying one assist for four points,
while Brent Adams added two goals.
Up next, Denver will host No. 7 Loyola University at INVESCO Field
at Mile High on Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 1 p.m. MT. The game will be
held after Denver Outlaws training camp, which will run from 9 a.m.
to 10:30 a.m.
This is the second consecutive year in that the Pioneers will host
a game at INVESCO Field. Last season, Denver took part in the Sixth
Annual Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Showdown, hosting Notre Dame. Since
turning Division I in the 1999 season, the Pioneers have not faced
the Greyhounds.
Tickets for the game are on sale at all Ticket Master locations.
Fans can also purchase them through www.DenverOutlaws.com or by
calling (303) OUT-LAWS. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for
youths (12 and under).
Pioneer Notes
The win stretches the Pioneers' winning streak to seven games and
improves them to a perfect 5-0 in conference play. The streak began
on March 20 with a 13-12 win over Stony Brook and has included wins
over Air Force (9-6), Hobart (17-13), Bellarmine (12-8), Quinnipiac
(14-10), Ohio State (10-9) and Fairfield (9-8).
The Pioneers are 6-0 when allowing fewer than 10 goals and are 8-0
against teams when winning more face-offs.
Matthews provided both goals to tie the game at 5-5 and at 8-8 and
then scored his second game winner of the season with 3:58 left in
the game for his seventh straight game with two or more goals. For
the season, Matthews has six hat tricks.
Finishing with one point, Demopoulos extended his consecutive games
with one or more points to 14 games.
