May 4, 2002

Air Force Game Summary
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COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - The University of Denver men's lacrosse team suffered a disappointing end to its season, losing to in-state rival Air Force, 6-5 on Saturday afternoon (May 4) in Great Western Lacrosse League action at Falcon Lacrosse Stadium. The loss, Denver's second in a row, drops the Pioneers to 6-8 on the season, 1-4 in league play, while Air Force improves to 4-8, 2-3 in the GWLL.

Despite experiencing their second straight loss, the Pioneers showed promise for the future with outstanding performances from the freshman class. Five rookies combined for six points against Air Force, including all five of Denver's goals. Denver jumped on the board first when freshman Scott Davidson (Guilford, Conn.) swiped the opening face-off and stormed down the field for the first goal of the game, his fourth of the season, to give the Pioneers an early 1-0 lead. The Pioneers continued to pressure the Falcons, but got caught off guard on the defensive end and allowed Air Force to score the equalizer minutes later. The Pioneers added an extra-man tally by freshman Matt Brown (Burnaby, B.C.) twenty-one seconds into the second quarter and took a 2-1 lead into the halftime recess.

Air Force regrouped during the break and came out in the third quarter with guns ablaze. The Falcons reeled off four unanswered goals to open the second half and pull ahead 5-2 midway through the frame. Freshman Erik Swanson (Glenview, Ill.) recorded Denver's second extra-man goal of the afternoon, his 14th of the year, to end the Falcon scoring barrage and give new life to the Pioneer attack unit. Freshman Blake Evans (New Caanan, Conn.), who led the team with two points on the afternoon, answered a fast-break tally by the Falcons to cut the deficit to just two goals, 6-4 heading into the final period.

The Pioneers maintained the intense pressure and took advantage of the momentum swing early in the fourth quarter when freshman Greer Hanlon (Libertyville, Ill.) struck from 15 yards out to cut the Falcon lead to just one goal, 6-5 with 12 minutes remaining. Denver's potent attack, which has averaged 11.23 goals per contest, was unable to capitalize on multiple scoring chances down the stretch and was held scoreless for the remainder of the game before falling to the in-state rival, 6-5, for the first time since 1998.

For the game, Denver out-shot Air Force 41-23, out-hustled for ground balls 38-36 and dominated the face-off circle 12-2, but fell short in the scoring column. Junior netminder Jeff Nunziato (Latham, N.Y.) stopped eight shots for Denver while his counterpart Bill Arnold turned away 15 chances for the Falcons, including three game-saving stops in the final minute of play.

The Pioneers finished sixth in the Great Western Lacrosse League with a 1-4 mark in league play, which is the worst finish for Denver since joining the league in 1998. Denver will announce the annual team awards later this week.

Goals:
DENVER - Scott Davidson, Matt Brown, Erik Swanson, Blake Evans, Greer Hanlon
AIR FORCE - Kevin Hill, Dave Brown, Greg Dangler, Nathan Koss, Adam Gaudinski, Michael Colosimo

Assists:
DENVER - Andrew Huelskoetter, Chad Wittman, Blake Evans
AIR FORCE - D.J. Benzing, Dave Brown, Michael Colosimo