May 3, 2002
Next On Tap: The Pioneers will close out the 2002 regular season this weekend when they travel down I-25 to face Air Force in a Great Western Lacrosse League game on Saturday. Denver is 8-25 all-time against the Falcons, but has won the last three meetings by a combined score of 35-15.
Scouting Report: The Air Force Falcons will attempt to snap a three-game losing streak on Saturday (May 4) when they host Denver in the final game of the season. The Falcons have struggled in the Great Western Lacrosse League this season dropping three of four league contests. Air Force is, however, 2-1 at home this year by a combined score of 22-20. Air Force earned its first league win in two years when they upset Fairfield, 8-5 last month. Greg Dangler leads the team with 20 points on the season (5g, 15a), followed by Matt Dudderar with 17 points, including a team-high 13 goals and Kevin Hill with 16 points (12g, 4a). Air Force has struggled on special teams, scoring just 16 extra-man goals on 54 attempts (29.6%), while killing 38 man-down situations on 56 tries (67.9%). For the season, the Falcons have been out-shot 356-349 and out-scored 102-70, but have out-hustled for groundballs 340-263.
Last Time Out: Freshman Darren Sasaki-Scanlon (Norwalk, Conn.) scored a career-high four goals and junior netminder Jeff Nunziato (Latham, N.Y.) stopped 14 shots but it was not enough as the University of Denver men's lacrosse team fell to Delaware, 9-8 in overtime on Saturday night (Apr. 27) at Rullo Stadium in the first meeting ever between the two schools in men's lacrosse.
Colossal Canadian Contribution: Freshman Matt Brown (Burnaby, B.C.) has been held scoreless just twice this season and has been tearing it up on attack for 39 points. Brown leads the team with 31 goals and tallied seven consecutive hat tricks to open the season. Currently Brown is 15th in the nation in scoring and needs just five goals in the final game of the season to move into fifth place all-time on Denver's single season scoring list.
Nunzi-minder: Junior netminder Jeff Nunziato (Latham, N.Y.) has been solid in goal this season for Denver. In his first full season between the pipes, Nunziato has recorded a .593 saves percentage and a 7.99 goals against average.
Freshman Phenoms: Denver's freshman class (Christian Anderson, Matt Brown, Scott Davidson, Ben Dougherty, Blake Evans, Greer Hanlon, Sean McDonagh, Darren Sasaki-Scanlon, Erik Swanson and Craig Pastor) has been phenomenal this season for the Pioneers and have combined for a team-leading 125 points (74g, 51a). The next closest class total is the sophomore quartet with 44 points (34g, 9a), followed by the junior class with 37 points (24g, 13a) and the senior duo with 19 points (13g, 6a).
Swan Song: Freshman attacker Erik Swanson has performed very well for Denver's offensive unit dishing out a team-high 17 assists. Swanson is currently second on the team with 30 points (13g, 17a).
Special Ops: Denver's man-up squad has tallied 14 goals on 43 attempts (32.6%); while the man-down unit has allowed just 16 goals to the opposition in 46 situations, killing penalties at a 65.2% clip.
Offensive Opulence: The Pioneer offensive unit, ranked 14th in the nation, has been potent this season averaging 11.23 goals per game. Denver has out-scored opponents 146-109, out-shot them 471-385 and has dominated in the face-off circle 170-138 (55.2%). Through 13 games this season (146g) Denver has already eclipsed the offensive output from a year ago when the 2001 squad finished the season with just 115 goals.
Dominant Defense: Denver also boasts the 16th-best scoring defense in the nation yielding just 8.38 goals and 29.6 shots per contest. In addition, the Pioneers have denied nearly 26% of opponent clear attempts. The Pioneers, who have allowed just 109 goals this season, are on pace to tie the best scoring defense in the program's history, the 2000 team allowed 109 goals.
Breakdown:
Air Force
Record: 3-8, 1-3 GWLL
Coach: Fred Acee
Last Game: Lost to Villanova, 8-7 last weekend
Streak: Lost three straight
Notes: The Pioneers defeated Air Force 11-6 last season in Denver.
Streaks:
Goals: 2 games: Chad Wittman (6g)
Assists: 2 games: Erik Swanson (2a)
Points: 7 games: Jeff Biggs (15p); 2 games: Erik Swanson (2p), Chad Wittman (6p), Matt Brown (2p)
