March 4, 2007

Box Score

DENVER - Michael Goltra (Washington, N.C.) had two goals and a pair of assists, as the No. 20 University of Denver Pioneers knocked off No. 19 UMBC 13-8 in the final game of the 2007 Pioneer Face-Off Classic at Peter Barton Stadium on Sunday.

 

Denver (3-2) spread the scoring around, as Goltra and Jon Paulson (Fleminton, N.J.) each had two goals, the only Pioneers with more than one.

 

Joey Murray (Denver) picked up where he left off Saturday by sparking a 5-0 Pioneer run to begin the game. Brad Patterson (Allentown, Pa.), Brett Koll (Fort Collins, Colo.), John Dickenson (Dallas) and Brad Richardson (Langley, British Columbia) also scored in the first period.

 

UMBC's Andy Gallagher scored twice to put the Retrievers (2-1) on the board.

 

Ilija Gajic (Burnaby, British Columbia) and Paulson answered to push DU's lead back to five, as the Pioneers headed to the locker room with a 7-2 lead.

 

Gallagher closed the gap with two more goals in the first 3:06 in the third period.

 

Goltra added another for the Pioneers, but UMBC answered with two more, cutting DU's lead to just two heading into the fourth quarter.

 

In the final quarter, the Pioneers outscored the Retrievers 5-2 to ice the victory.

 

Murray was the unanimous selection for the 2007 Pioneer Face-Off Classic's Most Valuable Player, as well as heading the All-Tournament Team:

 

2007 Pioneer Face-Off Classic All-Tournament Team

 

ATTACK

Joey Murray - Denver 

Drew Westervelt - UMBC

Andy Gallagher - UMBC

 

MIDFIELD

Griffin Nevitt - Air Force

Eric Heidenberger - Villanova

Michael Goltra -Denver

 

DEFENSE

Dillon Roy - Denver

David Hahn - Denver

Safi Najdawi - Villanova

 

GOALIE

Andrew DiLoreto - Villanova

 

LONG STICK MIDFIELDER

Dan Gnazzo - Air Force

 

MVP

Joey Murray - Denver

 

The Pioneers will play Stony Brook at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday, Mar. 10 at 1:30 p.m. MT.