Feb. 29, 2004

Box Score

DENVER - Junior Scott Davidson (Guilford, Conn.) recorded his first hat trick of the season and captured the Classic Most Valuable Player (MVP) award while leading the University of Denver men's lacrosse team to a 9-7 upset over No. 1 Virginia on Sunday, Feb. 29, in front of 1,319 people. With two wins in the tournament, Denver's record improves to 2-0 on the season, while Virginia falls to 1-2.

Davidson tallied three goals and an assist to lead the Pioneers in scoring while junior Matt Brown (Burnaby, B.C.) (2g) and sophomore Geoff Snider (Calgary, Alberta) (2g) also provided offensive support with two points each. Davidson's aggressive play helped him win eight of 12 faceoffs on the day.

Denver was the first to score, with senior Jeff Biggs (St. Louis, Mo.) sending a quick pass to Snider, who drilled it past UVa's Tillman Johnson, just 41 seconds into the game. Only 18 seconds later, junior Matt Brown (Burnaby, B.C.) broke through the Cavalier defense and put the Pioneers up 2-0 with 19:01 left in the first quarter. The Cavaliers added their own tally with 2:13 remaining, with a goal from Jared Little, to cut Denver's lead to one heading into the second quarter.

The Pioneers attacked just 30 seconds in the second quarter, as Davidson won the face off and then took it upon himself to score Denver's third goal of the game. UVa's Kyle Dixon answered with his own unassisted goal just nine seconds later to put the score at 3-2 with 14:21 remaining in the second quarter. Snider again stepped up for the Pioneers, scoring his third goal of the tournament to extend the Pioneers' lead to two. The one-two punch of Davidson and Brown created Denver's fifth goal of the game after Davidson sent a backhanded pass to Brown, who stuffed it in for the score. The Pioneers led 5-2 heading into the second half.

Davidson continued his offensive dominance and scored his second unassisted goal of the game with 13:52 remaining in the third quarter. A little over a minute later, Denver received its first short-handed goal of the season from sophomore Adam Miller (Columbus, Ohio) to put the score at 7-2 with 12:26 remaining. The Cavaliers responded with two goals of their own from Matt Poskay and John Christmas, assisted by Matt Ward. Although the Cavaliers cut Denver's lead to three, the Pioneers controlled possession of the ball for most of the quarter and headed into the fourth leading, 7-4.

UVa's Christmas opened the fourth quarter with two goals to close the gap to one with 14:21 remaining in the game. Davidson took the ball off the faceoff and completed his hat trick to put the score at 8-6, with 11:13 remaining in the game. The Cavaliers continued to attack, as they received their seventh goal from Ward to close the gap to one with 6:48 remaining. A power-play goal by sophomore Adam Swain (West Simsbury, Conn.) clinched Denver's 9-7 win over the Cavaliers and second win of the tournament.

Junior goalie Brian Sanders (Columbus, Ohio) was unstoppable in the goal, making 17 saves and facing 39 shots in the game. His record now stands at 2-0.

Air Force continued its weekend winning streak, defeating Vermont in earlier action 8-4. Air Force outshot Vermont 33-24 and collected more ground balls, 43-32. William Keleher added three goals for the Falcons and goalie Justin Pavoni made nine saves and faced 24 shots.

The Pioneers will return to action on March 6, when they travel to Fairfield, Conn., to face Sacred Heart at 10 a.m. MT.

2004 Pioneer Face-Off Classic All-Tournament Team

ATTACK
Matt Brown - DU
John Christmas - UVA
William Meister - AFA
 

MIDFIELD
Scott Davidson -  DU
Geoff Snider - DU
Jeff Biggs - DU

DEFENSE
Stephen Wittenberg - AFA
Cory Vann - DU
Brett Hughes - UVA

GOALIE
Brian Sanders - DU and Justin Pavoni - AFA

LONG STICK MIDFIELDER
Timothy Hade - AFA

MVP
Scott Davidson - DU