QUEENS, N.Y.  – The [10/11] University of Denver men's lacrosse team improved to 3-0 in BIG EAST play with a 20-6 win over St. John's on Saturday afternoon at Dasilva Memorial Field.
 
Inside the Box Score:
Alex Simmons had five goals and four assists to lead the Denver offense with nine points, while Jackson Morrill added two goals and five assists in the opening three quarters. Jack Hannah had a first half hat trick and finished with four goals and a helper, while Lucas Cotler got his first hat trick in Crimson and Gold. Ethan Walker had two goals to round-out Denver's multi-goal scorers.
 
Alec Stathakis finished 19-of-23 from the faceoff dot with 16 ground balls
 
First Quarter:
St. John's opened the scoring 1:18 into the contest with Joe Madsen's first of a first-half hat trick. The Pioneers responded with a 12-goal run, including nine in the first quarter to pull away from the Red Storm.
 
Simmons started the Denver scoring, followed by goals from Cotler, Morrill and Simmons again to make it 4-1 at the midway point of the first quarter.
 
Cotler's second and Simmons' hat trick goal made it 6-1. Hannah got in on the scoring to make it 7-1, followed by goals from Simmons and Walker to push the lead to 9-1 after the first.
 
Second Quarter:
After drawing an offside penalty on St. John's to end the first quarter, Morrill finished a feed from Walker on the man-up to make it 10-1. Morrill's second-straight tally and Hannah's second of the day made it 12-1.
 
Following two goals from Madsen to complete his hat trick, Hannah capped off his first-half hatty and Simmons' fifth of the first half came with 10 seconds to go to send the teams to the intermission with Denver leading 14-3
 
Third Quarter:
Denver outscored the Red Storm 4-1 in the third frame. Hannah and Walker got goals in the first half of the quarter and long stick midfielder AJ Mercurio scored the second goal of his career to make it 17-3 Denver with 5:52 to go in the third.
 
Fourth Quarter:
The Pioneers ended the 14-goal win with a 3-2 final quarter. Denver's goals came from Johnny Marrocco, Jack Tuttle (first career) and Drew Erickson.
 
Significant Stats:

• Jackson Morrill increased the nation's leading point streak to 63 games.
• Following St. John's opening goal, Denver went on a 12-0 run, its 22^nd 10-1 run or better under head coach Bill Tierney.
  • The Pioneers started last week's win over Providence on an 11-1 run.
• Jack Hannah, Alex Simmons and Lucas Cotler all completed first half hat tricks, the 24^th time since the start of the 2014 season that Denver has had at least three players record a hat trick in a single game.
• Alex Simmons' nine points were the most by a Pioneer since Ethan Walker had nine in a win at Villanova in 2018. Simmons has 12 goals and eight assists in Denver's last three games.
• Morrill's five assists tied for the third-most in a single game in Denver's DI history. Morrill has three or more assists in three of Denver's last four contests.

 
Up Next: The University of Denver men's lacrosse team, presented by Your Front Range Toyota Stores, will return home next Saturday to take on [4/4] Georgetown at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Faceoff is set for 12 p.m. MT and will be broadcast live on Altitude TV and ESPN Denver 1600.
 
For the latest University of Denver updates on the coronavirus, click here.
 
DONATE:
Fans interested in making a donation to the Pioneers Athletic Fund can do so by clicking here. Your gift will transform the lives of our student-athletes by giving them the first-class resources needed to excel in the classroom, in competition and beyond. Thank you for Building Pioneers for Life!
 
- 5280 Together –
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