DU MEN POUND PROVIDENCE 12-2
DENVER 12 PROVIDENCE 2
The predictable University of Denver men’s lacrosse team won its 20th consecutive Big East Conference regular-season game in its 22nd straight sellout at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday, with freshman attack Ethan Walker playing the starring role.
Behind Walker’s eight points — a single-game record for a DU freshman — the third-ranked Pioneers defeated No. 20 Providence 12-2 to clinch the Big East’s No. 1 playoff seed and at least a share of the league’s regular-season championship.
“I’m not going to take all the credit here,” Walker said of his big day. “It’s a whole team effort.” Denver (10-2, 4-0), the 2015 NCAA champion, concludes the regular season at Marquette on Saturday before the Big East Tournament begins May 4 in Providence, R.I. The Pioneers are in excellent position to host a first-round NCAA Tournament game May 13-14.
“We’ve been really searching all year long for a complete effort, and I thought we had it today at both ends of the field,” DU coach Bill Tierney said. “Providence’s defense is really good and their goalie (sophomore Tate Boyce) is spectacular, so to get a 12-2 win against a team like that, I feel really good.”
DU, which scored the game’s first seven goals, led 1-0 after a tight first quarter but rolled to a 6-0 lead at halftime. Providence was its own enemy, making two undisciplined plays that led to two Denver goals.
First, Pioneers attack Connor Canizzaro lost his stick after making a midfield poke check, and the stick fell a few yards on the other side of the midfield stripe. Canizzaro couldn’t reach the stick without going offside, so he was waiting for a teammate — a midfielder or defenseman — for assistance. Instead, Friars defenseman Jarrod Nuemann ran up beside Canizzaro and used his long stick to push Canizzaro’s stick farther away. He was whistled for delay of game, giving DU possession, and the Pioneers scored immediately on a fast break to go ahead 4-0.
Soon thereafter, Providence attacker Brendan Kearns had a heated verbal exchange with an official and was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. Less than a minute later, Tyler Pace scored on the man-up situation to extend DU’s lead to 6-0.
Providence (9-5, 3-1) scored its first goal with 12:49 remaining in the third quarter, and added another to get within 7-2 before DU outscored the Friars 5-0 in the fourth quarter.
Walker’s heroics overcame a tough day for Cannizzaro, who nearly had his NCAA-leading 52game points streak snapped before assisting on Connor Flynn’s goal with 3:26 remaining to make it 10-2. Cannizzaro, who also assisted on DU’s ensuing goal, by Jeremy Bosher, has 224 points in his 53-game streak.
Faceoff specialist Trevor Babtiste was 11-of-17 in draws for the Pioneers, and the junior now has 792 career wins and remains on pace to break the NCAA all-time record of 1,117, held by Bryant’s Kevin Massa (2012-15). Babtiste needs just five faceoff wins to surpass Stoney Brook’s Adam Rand (200811) for sixth on the all-time list.