No. 20 DU Men’s Lacrosse Team Stuns No. 13 North Carolina, 11-8 in Final Game of 2006 Pioneer Face-Off Classic

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – February 25, 2006
MEN’S LACROSSE NEWS

No. 20 DU Men’s Lacrosse Team Stuns No. 13 North Carolina, 11-8 in Final Game of 2006 Pioneer Face-Off Classic
Senior Geoff Snider named MVP; Ryan Zordani, Rory Shepard and Jeb Hollingsworth named to All-Tourney team

DENVER- In front of a crowd of 2,051 at Peter Barton Stadium, the No. 20 Denver Pioneers snapped a five-game losing streak to the No. 13 North Carolina Tar Heels with an 11-8 victory this afternoon in the final game of the 2006 Pioneer Face-Off Classic. The Pioneers improve to 2-1 (0-0 GWLL) on the season while the Tar Heels fall to 2-1 (0-0 ACC). Ryan Zordani (Littleton, Colo.) led DU with three goals and Jeb Hollingsworth (Darien, Conn.) made 17 saves in 60 minutes of action. In other tournament action the Manhattan Jaspers picked up their first win of the season defeating Air Force, 5-4. The Falcons fall to 0-3 on the season, while Manhattan improves to 1-1.

“This was a great win for us,” head coach Jamie Munro said. “It was a back and forth game and for our team to take charge the way that they did in the fourth quarter really says a lot about the caliber of our players. Our juniors and seniors led the way for us. Ryan Zordani and Geoff Snider really stepped up down the stretch and gave us the opportunity to win the game. It was a match-up of two very evenly match teams and for us to come out on top is great for us.”

The Pioneers came out hitting on all cylinders forcing North Carolina to play an up-tempo game on both sides of the field. Zordani put DU on the board at the 13:56 mark of the first period with a rocket that went right past UNC’s Trey Sheain. The Tar Heels answered right back less than a minute later with a Michael Burns goal that tied the game at 1-1. Brandon Barcus (Dublin, Ohio) scored his fifth goal of the season to take the one goal advantage but Burns answered right back with a man-up goal to keep the game notched at two all. DU began to work the clock on each possession and at the 2:52 mark of the first period Barcus found Mike Goltra (Washington, N.C.) for the quick score to push DU ahead, 3-2. The second period belong to the Tar Heels as they scored four unanswered goals to take a 6-3 lead, before Adam Goodwin (Columbus, Ohio) put the ball past Sheain to cut the lead to 6-4, heading into the break.

Zordani started the second half much like he started the game, firing in the first score of the period just 16 seconds in. The third period was evenly played and while both teams had scoring chances UNC held a 14-8 shots advantage in the period but Hollingsworth stymied most of their shots on goal. Still down by two goals heading into the fourth and final period the Pioneers turned to their upperclassmen. Adam Miller (Columbus, Ohio) cut the Tar Heel lead to one with his first goal of the season and Barcus scored the equalizer at the 6:38 mark. Todd Ruport (Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored the go-ahead goal with 2:54 left on the clock and Ryan Shaughnessy (Columbus, Ohio) added to the tally with a goal of his own. North Carolina would score one more to cut the DU lead to 9-8 but the Pioneer defense held and Snider and Zordani each scored goals in the final two minutes as the Pioneers held on for the 11-8 upset victory.

In an evenly match game, North Carolina held a slight 40-39 edge in shooting and committed 21 turnovers to DU’s 22 while the Pioneers collected seven more groundballs than the Tar Heels and collected 12-of-21 face-offs. Snider took all of the DU face-offs and collected eight groundballs in the victory. Zordani and David Hahn (Aurora, Colo.) each picked up five groundballs.

The Pioneers continue their four-game home-stand with a game against the Colgate Red Raiders on March 4. The game is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. at Peter Barton Stadium.

2006 Pioneer Face-Off Classic All-Tournament Team

MVP:
Geoff Snider: Denver

Attack:
Ryan Zordani: Denver
Michael Burns: North Carolina
Ryan Blair: North Carolina

Midfield:
Nick Tintle: North Carolina
Greg Lewis: Manhattan
Griffin Nevitt: Air Force

Defense:
David Breiding: Air Force
Stephen McElduff: North Carolina
Rory Shepard: Denver

Goalkeeper:
Jeb Hollingsworth: Denver

Long Stick Midfielder:
Billy Staines: North Carolina



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Jessica Poole
Media Relations Assistant
University of Denver
Work Phone: 303-871-3392
Home Phone: 734-216-1678
Fax: 303-871-3890
Email: jpoole3@du.edu

GO PIONEERS!