Jan. 25, 2016 Buy Tickets | Denver Ranked No. 1 in Preseason Poll| 2016 Schedule | BIG EAST Release
NEW YORK - The [1] University of Denver men's lacrosse team has been picked to win the BIG EAST Championship for the third-consecutive season in a poll of the league's six head coaches, the conference office announced on Monday. Denver received all five of the possible first place votes (coaches were not able to vote for their own program).
Denver's single-season points record holder (90) junior Connor Cannizzaro (Cazenovia, N.Y.) was a unanimous selection for the BIG EAST's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Award, while two-time USILA All-American Christian Burgdorf (Westfield, N.J.) was tabbed the BIG EAST Co-Defensive Player of the Year, sharing the award with Marquette LSM Liam Byrnes.
In addition to the specialty awards, the Pioneers placed four on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team that was also announced on Monday. Joining Cannizzaro and Burgdorf on the list are USILA First Team All-America selection Trevor Baptiste (Denville, N.J.) and junior midfielder Zach Miller (Steamburg, N.Y.), a third-team All-America pick a year ago. All four players were unanimous preseason team selections.
A 2015 Tewaaraton Award Nominee, Cannizzaro tallied 90 points on 57 goals and 33 assists in his sophomore season. Cannizzaro's 57 goals were the second most in DU's Division I single-season history. The Maryland transfer recorded 12 hat tricks in the campaign, including inking four or more goals in seven games, helping lead the Denver offense to the program's first National Championship.
Burgdorf is the reigning BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year. The DU close defenseman has started 37 games in the first two years of his collegiate career. In 2015, Burgdorf tallied 25 ground balls, picking up multiple ground balls in seven games, while forcing 12 caused turnovers, including seven in the NCAA Tournament.
Baptiste joined Cannizzaro as a Tewaaraton Award Nominee and a First Team All-America pick during his rookie season. The NCAA All-Tournament Team selection finished 310-456 (.680) at the faceoff dot and added 13 points on eight goals and five assists. Baptiste finished first in the country in faceoff winning percentage and first in faceoff wins. The Denville, N.J., native's 310 faceoff wins were the most by a freshman in NCAA history and were the fourth most overall in the NCAA record books.
Miller, the 2014 Inside Lacrosse Freshman of the Year, earned his first USILA All-America honor in 2015. The DU junior was third on the team in points a season ago with 61 on 26 goals and a team-high 35 helpers. At the midway point of his career, Miller is already 10th in the DU Division I Record Books in career points (119), and is just three goals off the top 10 in that department.
2016 Preseason Men's Lacrosse All-BIG EAST Team and Awards
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Connor Cannizzaro, Denver, Jr., A^
Preseason Co-Defensive Players of the Year
Liam Byrnes, Marquette, Grad Student, LSM
Christian Burgdorf, Denver, Jr. D
Preseason All-BIG EAST *
Nick Marrocco, Georgetown, So., GK ^
Connor Cannizzaro, Denver, Jr., A^
Eric DeJohn, St. John's, Sr., A^
Craig Berge, Georgetown, So., M
Conor Gately, Marquette, Sr., A^
Peter Conley, Georgetown, Jr., M ^
Zach Miller, Denver, Jr., M ^
Kyle Whitlow, Marquette, R-Sr., M ^
Christian Burgdorf, Denver, Jr., D ^
B.J. Grill, Marquette, Grad Student, D ^
Jarrod Neumann, Providence, Jr., D ^
Liam Byrnes, Marquette, Grad Student, LSM ^
Trevor Baptiste, Denver, So., FO ^
Preseason Coaches' Poll
First place votes in ( )
- Denver - 25 pts. (5)
- Georgetown - 21 pts. (1)
- Marquette - 16 pts.
- Villanova - 13 pts.
- Providence - 8 pts.
- St. John's - 7 pts.
^ - denotes unanimous selectionĂ‚ÂĂ‚ÂĂ‚ÂĂ‚Â
UP NEXT: Denver will host No. 5 Johns Hopkins in its final exhibition ahead of the 2016 season on Saturday, January 30. Faceoff is set for 11:30 a.m. DU is hosting a free fan fest event in the Ritchie Center prior to the exhibition, beginning at 10:30 a.m. For details, click here.
TICKETS: Single game tickets can be purchased online here, by calling 303-871-2336, or in person at the Ritchie Center Box Office. Group tickets of 20+ and a limited number of remaining season tickets are on sale and can be purchased by calling 303-871-2336 or in person at the Ritchie Center Box Office.
Season ticket holders interested in a parking pass for the season in Lot C (corner of S. High and Buchtel Blvd) can acquire a pass with minimum $110 donation to the Pioneer Movement Annual Fund. Your donation will directly support the men's lacrosse program. To make your donation in support of the men's lacrosse student-athletes please contact Ryan Lowe at (303)871-3720 or Ryan.Lowe@du.edu.
ABOUT DENVER: 2015 USILA Head Coach of the Year Bill Tierney enters his seventh season in 2016 after not only leading Denver to its first National Championship in 2015, but also becoming the first NCAA Men's Lacrosse Division I head coach to win National Championships at two different institutions. The Levittown, N.Y., native also has an NCAA-record seven National Championships.
Denver returns three of its top four point getters from a 2015 team that finished the campaign on a 13-game winning streak en-route to a National Championship. Junior Connor Cannizzaro (Cazenovia, N.Y.) shattered Denver's single-season points record in his first season with the program, finishing with 90 points on 57 goals and 33 assists. Classmates Zach Miller (Steamburg, N.Y.) and Tyler Pace (Coquitlam, B.C) return in the Denver midfield after finishing with 61 (26G, 35A) and 49 (22G, 27A) points, respectively in 2015.
Two-time USILA All-American, including 2015 second-team selection, Christian Burgdorf (Westfield, N.J.) and 25-game starter Pat Karole (Glen Ridge, N.J.) will return for the Pioneers defense in 2016.
At the X, Denver returns sophomore Trevor Baptiste (Denville, N.J.), who won the most faceoffs in the country in 2015, and set the single-season faceoff win total by a freshman with 310.
Denver had five Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-Americans represented in the 2016 Face-Off Yearbook. The Pioneers also checked in at No. 2 in the 2016 Face-Off Yearbook Top-20 and No. 2 in the Lacrosse Magazine Preseason poll and on January 11 were picked atop the USILA/Nike Preseason Coaches' Poll for the second-consecutive season.
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