April 7, 2002

DENVER - The St. Mary's (Calif.) women's lacrosse team ran into a three-headed monster Sunday afternoon at Pioneer Field, as first-year attacker Tanya Fuchs (Bay Shore, N.Y. / Bay Shore HS), sophomore attacker Patience Baldwin (Baltimore, Md. / Vermont Academy) and senior midfielder Dominique Cook (Morrison, Colo. / Colorado Academy) accounted for a whopping 13 goals to lead the University of Denver to a 17-8 win over the Gaels.

Fuchs had 5 goals and Baldwin and Cook scored four each for the Pioneers (4-7, 3-3 Mountain Pacific Lacrosse League), who won their first MPLL game since March 3 in dominating SMC (4-7, 0-5). Baldwin and Cook also each had an assist, giving the trio five points apiece on the afternoon.

"We were much hungrier to play today," said head coach Abby Burbank. "It seemed that we won each loose ball today, and everyone was much more aggressive on the attack and challenging the cage [than in Saturday's loss to Stanford]. Megan Bader did an outstanding job defending their top attacker off the ball, and she only scored one goal on us today, when she was averaging over three a game. Courtnay Gerl did an excellent job on the draw today in the situations where we put her in. It was a solid effort all around."

Baldwin got the Pioneers on track just 2 minutes, 14 seconds into the game, and junior Mariana Spry (Nashua, N.H. / Nashua HS) put Denver up 2-0 exactly 5 minutes later. When Allison Back scored with just over 10 minutes left in the first half, it pulled the Gaels within three goals at 7-4. Yet the Pioneers went on a scoring binge - much like they faced against Stanford the day before - when they tallied five unanswered markers to end the half and take a 12-4 lead at the break.

The Pioneers put the game away - and prevented the clock from stopping during play once they garnered a 10-goal advantage - midway through the second half when Fuchs scored her final tally off a nifty spin move to put Denver up 16-6. First-year Ryan Crowley (Sudbury, Mass. / Lincoln-Sudbury HS) closed Denver's scoring with her first career goal with 10:05 to play.

Senior Sarah Hazard (Owings Mills, Md. / Maryvale Prep) and first-year Steph Schneider (Leesburg, Va. / Loudon County HS) split time between the pipes, each allowing just four goals.

The Pioneers hit the road this weekend for their final MPLL games at these same St. Mary's Gaels on Saturday, April 13, and Stanford on Sunday, April 14. Denver returns to Pioneer Field for its final home game, and to honor its seniors, on Friday, April 26.

DENVER WOMEN'S LACROSSE
at Denver, Colo. (Pioneer Field)
DENVER 17, St. Mary's (Calif.) 8

                          1  2  -  FSt. Mary's (4-7, 0-5 MPLL)  4  4  -  8Denver (4-7, 3-3 MPLL)     12  5  - 17

Goals: SMC - Back 2, Spencer 2, Roberts 2, Moore, Bryan, DEN - Fuchs 5, Baldwin 4, Cook 4, Holecheck 2, Spry, Crowley.
Assists: SMC - Davidge 2, Bryan, Guzman, DEN - Spry 2, Baldwin, Cook, Sexton.
Goalkeeping: SMC - Ceccotti (44 mins., 14 GA, 5 Svs.), Augustine (16 mins., 3 GA, 1 Sv.), DEN - Hazard (30 mins., 4 GA, 7 Svs.), Schneider (30 mins., 4 GA, 3 Svs.).
Shots: SMC 25, DEN 34. Ground Balls: SMC 33, DEN 34. Caused Turnovers: SMC 4, DEN 2. Turnovers: SMC 20, DEN 18. Draws Controlled: SMC 15, DEN 12. Fouls: SMC 25, DEN 30.