SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The [16/17] University of Denver men's lacrosse team used a seven-goal run that crossed over halftime to defeat [10/10] Notre Dame 14-11 on Saturday afternoon at Arlotta Stadium.
Senior attack
Ethan Walker (Peterborough, Ontario) led the Pioneers with six points on four goals and two assists, his second-straight four-goal game. Denver's leading scorer
Jack Hannah (Milford, Ohio) added two goals and two assists out of the Denver first midfield. Sophomore midfielder
Alex Simmons (Smithville, Ontario) was the other three-point performer for Denver with a goal and two helpers.
A pair of freshmen specialists also had career days for Denver.
Jack Thompson (Castle Rock, Colo.) made a season-best 12 saves in his second career start, while freshman
Alec Stathakis (Northville, Mich.) won a career-best 22 faceoffs in 28 attempts and picked up 15 ground balls.
Denver hit the pipe three times on its first two possessions, bringing its total at the time to 15 on the season compared to its opponents' five (36-13 in 2019).
After the pipe fest to start the game, Notre Dame opened the scoring with 10:26 to go in the first quarter. Walker responded with back-to-back goals on consecutive possessions with 9:42 and 7:44 to go in the first. Simmons and Hannah picked up assists on Walker's two first quarter tallies.
Following a Notre Dame goal to tie the game at 2-2, Walker completed his second-straight hat trick and the 27
th of his career, this one 12 minutes into the contest to put Denver back ahead at 3-2. Notre Dame made it 3-3 two minutes later before junior
Ted Sullivan (Tucson, Ariz.) made it 4-3 with six seconds remaining in the quarter.
Hannah gave Denver its first two goal lead of the day with 13:08 to go in the second. Notre Dame answered with two straight to even the score at 5-5 with 5:06 to play in the half. Hannah dodged through four defenders and made a one-handed pass to senior attack
Schuyler Blair (Huntington Beach, Calif.) who scored his fifth goal of the campaign to give Denver the lead back at 6-5 with 3:36 to go. Simmons rounded out the first half scoring, converting a feed from Walker by faking going behind the back, and slotting his eighth of the season into an open net.
Stathakis won 11 of the 14 faceoffs in the first half, picking up eight ground balls in the opening 30 minutes.
After killing an ND man-up to open the third quarter, Denver started the third quarter on a 5-0 run with goals from sophomore attack
Johnny Marrocco (Cincinnati, Ohio), Hannah and two from sophomore midfielder
Sam Dwinell (Dedham, Mass.), four goals separated by 1:40. Freshman attack
JJ Sillstrop (Encinitas, Calif.) made it five goals in 3:12 on the man-up to make it 12-5.
Notre Dame responded with a five-goal run from the 4:12 mark in the third quarter to the 7:13 mark in the fourth to trim the lead right back down to two goals at 12-10. Three of Notre Dame's goals came to end the third quarter and after six minutes without a goal by either team in the fourth, Notre Dame got two quick ones, including one on the man-up to make it 12-10.
Walker ended the run and the 16:34 scoring drought with his fourth of the day and his 15
th of the season. Sullivan's sixth of the campaign pushed the lead back to four at 14-10. Wheaton Jackoboice reached a new career high with his fourth of the game to quickly cut the lead back to three at 14-11. Denver's defense made a couple big stops down the stretch, including two saves from Thompson to keep the margin at three to end the game.
UP NEXT:
The Denver men's lacrosse program,
Presented by Your Hometown Toyota Stores, will head to Ohio State next Sunday for a 12 p.m. ET/10 a.m. MT faceoff. The game will air either on BTN or BTN+, and will be broadcast on ESPN Denver 1600.
2020 DENVER ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME RECEPTION: Denver announced its
2020 Athletic Hall of Fame class in January. The inductees will be honored on the DU campus May 16. For more information, registration for the reception and donation information,
click here.
SHOP PIONEERS:
Get dressed for Game Day! Get your Pioneers gear at
ShopPioneers.com, the official online store of University of Denver Athletics.
TICKETS:
For all Denver Athletics ticket inquires, call 303-871-GOAL (4625), or visit
DenverPioneers.com. Season tickets for the 2020 lacrosse season are on sale now, and can be
purchased here.
Fans interested in making a donation to the men's lacrosse program can do so by clicking here. Your contribution will make a direct impact on the success of YOUR Pioneers. Thank you in advance for your unwavering support of our student-athletes and their quest for excellence.
- Our Journey, Our Time –
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 17 of DU's NCAA Division I sports.
Like Denver Pioneers and DU Men's Lacrosse on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_MLAX on Twitter
Follow @denverpioneers and @denvermlax on Instagram
