Feb. 23, 2003

Box Score

DENVER- - The University of Denver men's lacrosse team fell to Duke 11-8 today at Pioneer Field, despite coming back from a 6-0 deficit. After falling behind in the first, the Pioneers scored six of the next eight goals to pull within two, but the Blue Devils proved to be too much in the final minutes. The loss drops Denver to 2-1 on the season while Duke climbs to 2-0.

Junior Andrew Huelskoetter (St. Louis, Mo.) tallied two goals and an assist to lead the Pioneers in scoring while sophomore Scott Davidson (Guilford, Conn.) (2g) and freshman Adam Goodwin (Columbus, Ohio) (1g, 1a) also provided offensive support with two points each. Davidson's aggressive play led to a team-leading seven shots and six groundballs as well. In a clash of the number 44 titans, Denver's season-leading scorer sophomore Matt Brown (Burnaby, B.C.) (6g, 2a) was only able to record one assist while being held in check by the Blue Devils' Taylor Wray.

Duke looked to make an impact early, with tournament MVP Kevin Cassese initiating a 6-0 run in the first 12 minutes. Sophomore Greer Hanlon (Libertyville, Ill.) finally put the Pioneers on the board with a man-up goal from Brown with 2:20 left in the quarter to end the first stanza 6-1.

Cassese again recorded the first goal of the quarter in the second, but Denver began to even the tempo and both teams were held scoreless for the next 11 minutes. The offensive deadlock was finally broken at the 3:20 mark when Huelskoetter collected a loose ball and found net for his second goal of the year. The first half scoring was closed out with Pioneer freshman Geoff Snider (Calgary, Alberta) recording a power-play goal at 2:28 and Davidson scoring eight seconds later after winning the face off and sprinting in alone against the Blue Devil goalie.

Duke kicked off the third with another goal but sophomores Darren Sasaki-Scanlon (Norwalk, Conn.) and Davidson brought Denver back within two after adding goals at 10:41 and 10:24, respectively. The Blue Devils' Matt Rewkowski stuffed the hometeam's comeback though and recorded the next two goals to put Duke up 10-6 at the end of the quarter.

In the last quarter Pioneer Goodwin tried to mount a final rally and scored his first goal of the season off a field-long pass from senior Mike Kenlay (Wilmette, Ill.) but Duke's Cassese moved his team out of reach one minute later after scoring off a Denver turnover. Huelskoetter was able to drive home his second goal of the day with 7:51 left but the Blue Devils' defense stiffened and held off any further tallies.

The Pioneers will next play when they travel to West Point, N.Y. to face off against Army on March 1 (11:30 a.m.).

2003 Pioneer Face-Off Classic All-Tournament Team:
Attack:
    Matt Monfett- Duke    Justin Otto- Manhattan    Matt Rewkowski- Duke
Midfield:
    Kevin Cassese- Duke    Kevin Brennan- Duke    Mike Kenlay- Denver
Long-Stick Midfield:
    Christian Anderson- Denver
Defense:
    Taylor Wray- Duke    Nick Wzientek- Air Force    Cory Vann- Denver
Goalie:
    A.J. Kincel- Duke
2003 All-Tournament MVP:
    Kevin Cassese- Duke