The Denver Pioneers won the inaugural ECAC lacrosse tournament in 2011 and have a chance to make it two in a row, but first they will need to defeat the No. 1 seed Loyola (Md.) Greyhounds. Denver finished fourth in league, setting up this rematch from the regular season. Loyola defeated Denver, 12-9, on April 14 at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium, which is where the ECAC Tournament takes place.
Denver went 8-5 during the regular season, averaging 12.23 goals scored and 8.46 goals allowed. Senior attacker Mark Matthews scored 37 goals and 53 points for the team lead in both while freshman Wes Berg has turned in a solid first season with 20 goals (third-best on the team). Freshman goaltender Ryan LaPlante has filled in pleasantly for the injured Jamie Faus, putting up an 8.75 GAA in seven games.
Loyola lost its first game of the season by dropping the regular season finale to the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, 10-9. They are 12-1 entering this contest. The Greyhounds put up 12-plus goals per game while surrendering just 7.31 goals. Mike Sawyer and Eric Lusby are the two main offensive threats for the Greyhounds, scoring 41 and 34 goals, respectively.
The winner awaits either No. 2 Ohio State or No. 3 Fairfield on Friday night.
Game time/date: 5:00 p.m. MT, Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Location: Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium, Denver, CO
Broadcast: Pioneer Vision on DenverPioneers.com
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