DENVER - The No. 16 University of Denver men’s lacrosse team (2-1) defeated the Sacred Heart Pioneers (0-3) 15-8, in front of a home-opening crowd of 888 at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday afternoon on the first day of the Harrow Face-Off Classic.

 

Denver was led by strong performances from Charley Dickenson (Dallas, Texas) who had six assists, and freshman Alex Demopoulos (Canton, Conn.) who had four goals and an assist in the win.  Freshman Alex Gajic (Burnaby, B.C.) also contributed two goals and an assist.

 

Denver opened the scoring early at the 12:03 mark when sophomore Todd Baxter (Eden Prairie, Minn.) found the net after a quick pass from Dickenson.  Sacred Heart responded with three unanswered goals, two from senior Bobby Rushton, to finish the period with a 3-1 lead.

 

Sacred Heart junior Evan Morgan scored an unassisted goal just 2:18 into the second period to open the scoring. However, the Pioneers answered right back with an unassisted strike from junior defenseman Dillon Roy (Denver, Colo.) just 15 seconds later.

 

Denver’s offense came alive during the rest of the second period, fueled by two unassisted scores from senior Cliff Smith (Surrey, B.C.) and two goals from Demopoulos.  Denver outscored Sacred Heart 7-2 in the second period to take an 8-5 lead at the half.

 

Demopoulos continued to dominate the Sacred Heart defense as he scored his third goal of the game just 48 seconds into the third period, and then netted his fourth of the day off an assist from Dickenson with 12:36 remaining. Baxter added his second of the game with 11:24 remaining as he threaded a shot through the Sacred Heart defense on a pass from freshman Mark Matthews (Oshawa, Ontario).

 

Jon Flood and Timmy Katz added the final two goals of the period for Sacred Heart to cut the deficit to four.  However, the Pioneers responded with a goal from Gajic that was assisted by Demopoulos to put the Pioneers up 12-7 after three periods of play.

 

Just forty seconds into the fourth period, sophomore Jamie Lincoln (St. Catharines, Ontario) found the back of the net on another pass from Dickenson, good for his sixth assist of the day.  The goal was Lincoln’s first on the year.  Denver outscored Sacred Heart 3-1 in the fourth period to finish with a 15-8 victory.

 

The Pioneers will host Towson (1-1) on Sunday at 1:30 p.m., immediately following the conclusion of the Air Force against Sacred Heart game that is scheduled for 11 a.m.

 

- PIONEERS -