No. 17 Men’s Lacrosse Team Upsets No. 11 Notre Dame To Improve To 8-0 At Home

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 14, 2006
MEN’S LACROSSE NEWS

No. 17 Men’s Lacrosse Team Upsets No. 11 Notre Dame To Improve To 8-0 At Home
Pioneers upset Notre Dame for the second consecutive season

DENVER- Playing in front of a record 2376 fans at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium the No. 17 Denver Pioneer men’s lacrosse team upset No. 11 Notre Dame, 8-5 in Great Western Lacrosse League action tonight. The win is DU’s second-consecutive win over the Irish and marks the first time in program history the Pioneers have defeated Notre Dame in consecutive seasons. DU improves to 8-4 (2-0 GWLL) and 8-0 at Barton Stadium, while the Fighting Irish fall to 7-3 (1-1 GWLL). Ryan Zordani (Littleton, Colo.) and Michael Goltra (Washington, N.C.) led the Pioneers with two goals each. Brett Koll (Fort Collins, Colo.), Brandon Barcus (Dublin, Ohio) and Adam Goodwin (Columbus, Ohio) each added one goal. Koll also added two assists. Goalie Jeb Hollingsworth (Darien, Conn.) made 15 saves in 60 minutes of action.

“I’m really excited for our team,” head coach Jamie Munro said. “The guys came together to win a hard-fought, tight, ball game. They played well together and picked up a great win tonight.”

The game was evenly matched early on with both teams taking several early shots. Notre Dame had the games first shots but Hollingsworth held his ground and came up with several huge saves to keep the game scoreless. Notre Dame struck first but the goal was overturned after the Notre Dame player was ruled in the crease. The Pioneers took advantage and Adam Miller (Columbus, Ohio) connected with Koll who put a rocket past Notre Dame goalie Joey Kemp for the 1-0 DU lead. Moments later the DU stuck again, Goltra put back-to-back goals past Kemp to give DU a 3-0 lead after one period of play. Notre Dame wouldn’t be down for long and really took it to the Pioneer offense in the second period. The Fighting Irish recorded three unanswered goals, two by Ryan Hoff, to tie the game at 3-3 heading into the break.

Notre Dame used the momentum they picked up near the end of the half and came out shooting taking a 4-3 lead on a goal by Drew Peters. DU answered at the 9:27 mark of the period when Zordani picked up his 14th goal of the season to notch the game at 4-4. DU had a chance to regain the lead when a bullet by Joe Murray (Denver, Colo.) hit the inside of the crossbar and bounced out just enough for Kemp to make the save. The Pioneer defense set the tone near the end of the period, shutting down the Irish on crucial man-up opportunity to keep the game tied. In the fourth quarter DU took a 5-4 lead on another goal by Zordani, which ended a nearly 12 minute scoring drought by both teams. Senior Geoff Snider (Calgary, Alberta) put his stamp on the game seconds later by taking the ball straight to goal from the face-off to give the Pioneers a two-goal lead with just over eight minutes left to play. Notre Dame fought hard and managed to sneak one by Hollingsworth to cut the lead to 7-5 but Goodwin put the game away with an unassisted goal with a little over two minutes remaining. The Pioneer defense held and DU pulled out the 8-5 victory.

Statistically speaking the game was very evenly played. The teams each had 33 shots and Notre Dame picked up 35 groundballs to the Pioneers’ 32.

The Pioneers conclude the 2006 home schedule Sunday when they take on the Bucknell Bison. Face-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. (MT). Sunday is also the final home game for eight DU seniors who will be honored for their contributions before the game.


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