The [1/1] University of Denver men’s lacrosse program used 14 different goal scorers to up-end visiting Cleveland State 19-6 on Saturday afternoon at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
2016 Tewaaraton Finalist Connor Cannizzaro (Cazenovia, N.Y.) and freshman Ethan Walker (Peterborough, Ontario) led the Pioneers in points on Saturday afternoon with five apiece. Walker stretched his hat trick streak to three to go along with two assists. Cannizzaro finished with two goals and three assists, while sophomore Austin French (Danville, Calif.) had four points on two goals and two helpers.
Freshman Danny Logan (Upper Arlington, Ohio) added two first quarter goals, one of 10 different goal scorers in the first three quarters, the 15th time that the Pioneers have had double-digit goal scorers since associate head coach Matt Brown joined the staff in 2008. DU’s 14 different goal scorers is its most under Brown.
Junior faceoff man Trevor Baptiste (Denville, N.J.) finished 17-of-21 from the dot on Saturday, the 28th game out of 38 career games that the junior faceoff man has finished with 15+ faceoff wins. Baptiste is 23rd in NCAA history in faceoff wins with 631.
Cannizzaro got the Pioneers on the board 58 seconds in with his ninth tally of the season to give Denver an early lead. Cleveland State answered with a 3-0 run in 48 seconds, capped off by a Jake Lewis man-up goal following a Dylan Gaines two-minute penalty.
Denver followed up the Cleveland State run with its 12th 10-1 run or better under head coach Bill Tierney to balloon the halftime lead to 11-4. French, Cannizzaro and Walker all had four points in the opening 30 minutes.
Walker is the first freshman since Brown in 2002 to open his career with hat tricks in each of his first three games (Brown netted hat tricks in his first seven).
Logan, senior Max Planning (Alexandria, Va.) and sophomore Nate Marano (Tustin, Calif.) also scored in the first-half run, with the Denver freshman scoring two goals in the run.
Denver scored eight of the game’s 10 goals in the second half. Baptiste stretched his goal-scoring streak to three, while junior Connor Donahue (Groton, Mass.), senior defender Christian Burgdorf (Westfield, N.J.), junior Grant Gravitt (Las Vegas, Nev.), junior Colton McCaffrey (Parker, Colo.), sophomore David Funes (Seattle, Wash.) and freshman Kyle Smith (New Canaan, Conn.) all scored their first goals of the season in the second 30 minutes.
Featured Image Credit: Denver Pioneers, Facebook