The Denver Pioneers improved to 4-1 on the lacrosse season following its 14-6 victory on Saturday afternoon. A seven-goal second quarter fueled the Pioneers to a 10-goal first half, and a late run such as the one the Hartford Hawks had one week earlier did not happen this time around.
Senior attacker Mark Matthews led the offense with four goals and five assists, but Eric Law and Alex Demopoulos were right behind him with four points each (Law spitting those points evenly, Demopoulos picking up three points). Freshman Wes Berg continued his strong rookie season with two goals and three assists.
Cameron Flint, Jeremy Noble and Chase Carraro each contributed a goal as well, but Carraro's biggest impact came on winning 12-of-21 faceoffs. Goalie Jamie Faus played all but three minutes of the game and made 12 saves on 33 shots.
The Lions did score half of their six goals in the fourth quarter, but it was far too little to amount to anything.
Matthews and Law are now tied for the Pioneers lead in goals with 15 each, but Matthews' seven assists provide him with a four-point lead over Law in points, 22-18.
The Pioneers will likely move ahead of the Nittany Lions in the polls this week with this victory over a top 10 team, but, as we saw earlier in the season, Denver can fall in the polls even with winning. Yet, this is a win against a ranked team, making it weightier for the voters.
Denver is back in action next Sunday with a game against Notre Dame, which will be televised on ESPNU.
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