April 15, 2007

Box Score

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -

Despite being tied after the first half of play, the University of Denver men's lacrosse team could not sustain the momentum against No. 11 Notre Dame, falling 14-6 Sunday afternoon in Great Western Lacrosse League action. The Pioneers (7-6, 2-1 GWLL) were outscored 11 to 1 by the Irish (8-3, 3-0 GWLL) in the final 35 minutes of play.

 

Freshman Charley Dickenson (Dallas, Texas) recorded three points in the game, one goal and two assists, while sophomore Joey Murray (Denver) had three points on two goals and one assist.

 

Trailing 8-6, the Pioneers had an opportunity to cut into the Irish's lead but failed to convert on the man-up opportunity early in the fourth quarter, but ND's Lucius Polk tallied a hat trick to put Notre Dame up 9-6. Notre Dame added another five goals for the win.

 

Notre Dame's run continued into the third quarter, as the Irish posted five unanswered goals and held DU without a goal for almost 18 minutes. Freshman Ilija Gajic (Burnaby, B.C.) scored his sixth man-up goal of the season to pull DU within two, 8-6.

 

In the second quarter, after a big save by senior Jeb Hollingsworth (Darien, Conn.), Polk fired one into the corner past Hollingsworth to tie the game, 3-3. Hollingsworth posted two huge saves midway through the quarter to keep the score even. Murray, with the help from Dickenson, gave DU a 4-3 lead on a man-up opportunity. Dickenson added a goal of his own 48 seconds later, to give the Pioneers a 5-3 lead. Late in the half ND recorded two goals in 23 seconds to tie the game, 5-5.

 

Notre Dame got on the board first, scoring just under three minutes into the contest. DU answered two minutes later, as Gajic got past UND's goalie, Joey Kemp, to tie the game. Murray picked up a ground ball and fed junior Dan Nickell (Greenwood Village, Colo.), as the Pioneers took the 2-1 lead on Nickell's first goal of the season. DU added another goal as senior Ryan Zordani (Littleton, Colo.) set up Murray, who whipped it past Kemp. On a man-down situation, DU allowed the Irish to get within one.

 

The Pioneers return home to face GWLL rival Ohio State Sunday, April 22 at 1:30 p.m. in Barton Lacrosse Stadium. The game will be on FSN-Rocky Mountain and can be followed at www.denverpioneers.com.