March 6, 2004

Box Score

FAIRFIELD, CONN. - Junior Erik Swanson (Glenview, Ill.) tallied a season-high four goals to lead the University of Denver men's lacrosse team to a 12-6 win over Sacred Heart on Saturday, March 6, in Fairfield, Conn. The win marks the Pioneers first road victory of the year, and boosts their record to 3-0 on the season, while Sacred Heart falls to 0-3.

Sacred Heart struck first as Christian Lynch buried a pass from Peter Greco at 11:54. Denver wasted little time in answering, scoring twice in the next 43 seconds. Junior Matt Brown (Burnaby, B.C.) picked-up his sixth goal of the year, followed by junior Darren Sasaki-Scanlon (Norwalk, Conn.) who scored on the man-up advantage. Lynch scored his second goal of the game and pulled SHU even, 2-2.

Swanson gave Denver the lead for good with just 22 seconds left, burying a feed from Sasaki-Scanlon. The Pioneers kept the momentum going into the second quarter, extending their lead to 5-2 on Swanson's second goal of the day and freshman Drew Sherman's (Dublin, Ohio) third of the season.

SHU answered with a man-up goal by Jonathan Corto but two more goals by Swanson over the next three minutes gave Denver a solid 7-3 advantage. Sacred Heart was able to draw within three at the half as Matt Robideau scored on a feed from Jorge Bravo. Sacred Heart cut the led to just two goals twice in the third quarter but Denver came right back and scored off the stick of sophomore Greg Weigel (Port Republic, Md.), unassisted at 9:33. SHU answered the call once again as Greco scored.

Unfortunately for the SHU Pioneers, Greco's goal would be the last of the day as Denver ran off two-straight to end the third, with Geoff Snider (Calgary, Alberta) and Adam Swain (West Simsbury, Conn.) scoring 30 seconds apart late in the quarter to build the lead back to four, 10-6. Denver shutout Sacred Heart in the fourth quarter and tacked on a pair of goals to put the game out of reach.

In addition to Swanson's four goal day, Weigel finished with two goals and an assist for three points. Sasaki-Scanlon tallied two assists to go with his goal for three points while junior Scott Davidson (Guilford, Con.) finished with a goal and an assist. Junior goalie Brian Sanders (Columbus, Ohio) was outstanding in goal for Denver, making 11 saves to pick-up his third win of the year.

The Pioneers return to action next Tuesday, March 9, when they host North Carolina at 1:30 p.m.

Box Score:            1   2   3   4   FDenver (3-0)        3   4   3   2   12Sacred Heart (0-3)      2   2   2   0   6Scoring:GoalsSacred Heart -Lynch (3), Greco, Corto, RobideauDenver - Swanson (4), Weigel (2), Sasaki-Scanlon, Davidson, Snider, Swain, Brown, ShermanAssistsSacred Heart - Greco (2), Kimball (2), Bravo, DelmonicoDenver - Sasaki-Scanlon (2), Davidson, Hanlon, MacDonnell, Miller, WeigelGoaltending:Sacred Heart - Hind, 10 savesDenver - Sanders, 11 savesShots:SHU - 29; Denver 32