COLUMBUS, Ohio – The [RV/RV] University of Denver men's lacrosse team dug themselves out of an early 6-2 hole with a seven-goal third quarter to take the Pioneers past [7/7] Ohio State 14-12 on Sunday afternoon at Ohio Stadium.
After playing every year between 1999-2018, this was the first meeting between the two programs since, due to a myriad of factors including the first game canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The victory was Denver's fourth in the last five in the series and the Pioneers first win in Columbus since the final regular season game between the two teams in the ECAC in 2013.
Denver's Sunday afternoon win was also its first over a top-10 program on the road since the final game before the COVID-19 pandemic at Notre Dame in March of 2020.
Inside the Box Score:
Richie Connell led the Pioneers with four tallies, his first hat trick in Crimson and Gold.
In his much-awaited return to his home state of Ohio, graduate student and two-time First Team All-American
Jack Hannah scored three and added an assist, including the final tally of the game to stretch Denver's lead back out to two goals with 2:17 remaining.
Denver's leading scorer
JJ Sillstrop, only found the back of the net once on Sunday, but setup his teammates with a game-high three assists.
Ted Sullivan also had a pair of assists to go with a third-quarter tally.
In a highly competitive faceoff battle,
Alec Stathakis won 14-of-27 with six ground balls and a goal, including 13-of-21 in the final three quarters.
Jack Thompson was back in net for the Pioneers, making 11 stops for his fourth double-digit save performance of the season.
First Quarter:
Ohio State scored six of the first eight in the contest, including a 4-2 margin in the first quarter to take the lead through 15 minutes of play in The Shoe. Scott White and Jackson Reid tallied for the Buckeyes inside the first five minutes before
JJ Sillstrop scored his 22
nd of the season to cut the margin in half with 8:10 to go in the opening frame.
Colby Smith and Justin Inacio scored six seconds apart to increase the Buckeyes margin to three, but a late clock goal from
Johnny Marrocco off a feed from
Ted Sullivan brought Denver to within two after 15 minutes.
Second Quarter:
Reid's and Smith's second for the Buckeyes opened the second quarter scoring before Denver went on the only four-goal run of the day to tie things back up at 6-6 with 5:34 to go in the first half.
Riley Curtis hit a deep bouncer to make it 6-3 and then
Jack Hannah picked the top corner from a no-business angle to bring Denver back to within two.
A little more than three minutes later, Connell got on the scoresheet for the fourth time this season with his first of two, capping the run 4:14 later off a feed from Curtis to bring Denver all the way back at 6-6.
Ohio State scored on its next possession to make it 7-6, and the two goalies held strong in the final 4:32 to send both teams into the locker room with Ohio Sate up 7-6.
Third Quarter:
Denver got the first two goals out of the locker room to take its first lead of the day at 8-7 with 10:32 to go in the period. Sullivan struck 90 seconds in to tie things at 7-7 and then
Ryan Giles scored his second pole goal of the season to make it 8-7 Pios.
Smith stopped the run for the Buckeyes, but
Alex Simmons got free in transition to put Denver back in-front and then Connell completed his first hat trick as a Pioneer to give Denver its first two goal lead of the afternoon at 10-8 with 7:20 to go in the quarter.
Ohio State responded with two straight to even things up at 10-10 with 4:28 to play.
Denver then went on a three-goal run in 1:59 to give itself its first three-goal lead of the afternoon in Columbus. Hannah hit twine for the second time in his return to Ohio to make it 11-10 with 3:04 to go, Connell netted his fourth of the afternoon to make it 12-10 with 1:14 to play and then
Alec Stathakis went right in-between the hash marks to net his second of the season and balloon Denver's lead to 13-10.
Ohio State got the final goal of the quarter with two seconds to play, but it was Denver that took a two-goal lead into the final 15 minutes of play in Columbus.
Fourth Quarter:
Following an 11-goal third quarter, the defenses stepped up down the stretch with each team finding the back of the net only once.
The Buckeyes struck midway through the quarter to bring the margin back to one with 8:48 to go, but two saves from Thompson and lockdown defense in-front of him kept Ohio State off the board the rest of the quarter.
Hannah finished another Sillstrop feed from a shallow angle to close out the scoring with 2:17 to play.
Notes
- Jack Hannah had his fourth hat trick of the season and the 16th of his career.
- Richie Connell's hat trick was his first of the season and the 11th of his career.
- Denver scored seven goals in the third quarter, the second time with 7+ in a quarter this season and the first seven-goal quarter (exactly 7) since the fourth quarter of last February's game against North Carolina.
- It was Denver's first top-10 win since March 16, 2021, a 13-7 win over No. 4 Georgetown.
- First top-10 win on the road since Denver won at No. 10 Notre Dame on March 7, 2020 (final game before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the season).
- Denver improved to 28-31 against top-10 teams under Tierney, including 22-25 away from home and 12-14 in true away games.
What's Next
The University of Denver men's lacrosse team,
Presented by Your Hometown Toyota Stores, will return to Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium for its only back-to-back home weekends stretch of the season when the Pioneers welcome Towson to PBLS Saturday at 12 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast live on Altitude TV and ESPN Denver 1600.
For the latest University of Denver updates on the coronavirus, click here.
TICKETS:
Single game tickets for the 2022 Denver men's lacrosse season are on sale now, and can be
purchased here.
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