Pioneer Men’s Lacrosse Team Hits The Road For Two Crucial Great Western Lacrosse League Games

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 20, 2006
DU MEN’S LACROSSE NEWS

Pioneer Men’s Lacrosse Team Hits The Road For Two Crucial Great Western Lacrosse League Games
DU takes on Ohio State April 21 and Butler April 23

DENVER- The No. 16 Denver Pioneer men’s lacrosse team hits the road for two important Great Western Lacrosse League games this weekend. DU heads to Columbus, Ohio for a first-place showdown with Ohio State Friday April 21. Face-off is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. (MT). The Pioneers will conclude their road trip April 23 when they take on the Butler Bulldogs Sunday April 23 in Indianapolis. The first face-off is scheduled for 10 a.m. (MT).

The Pioneers enter the weekend with a No. 16 national rank and a 9-4 (2-0 GWLL) record after defeating No. 11 Notre Dame and Bucknell last weekend. DU concluded its home schedule undefeated for the first-time in program history, boasting a perfect 9-0 home record. The Pioneers defeated Notre Dame 8-5 April 14 to claim back-to-back wins over the Irish for the first-time in school history. Ryan Zordani (Littleton, Colo.) and Michael Goltra (Washington, N.C.) each scored two goals in the win. DU closed out the home season April 16 with a 11-8 win over Bucknell. Brett Koll (Fort Collins, Colo.) tallied his first hat trick of the season in the win.

Zordani leads the DU offense in points with 31 on 15 goals and 16 assists this season. Geoff Snider (Calgary, Alberta) leads the nation in groundballs per game with 11.69 per game and is second in face-off win percentage, winning 68 percent of all face-offs he’s taken. Jeb Hollingsworth (Darien, Conn.) and Austin Konkel (Aurora, Colo.) have both seen action in goal this season. Hollingsworth owns a 7-4 record with a 8.03 goals against average and a .566 saves percentage. Konkel has a 2-0 record on the season and boasts a 6.65 goals against average and a .636 saves percentage. DU is nationally-ranked as a team in several categories. They rank fifth in scoring offense, averaging 11.15 goals per game, 13th in scoring defense (7.69), second in face-off win percentage (.658), ninth in man-down defense (.776), sixth in scoring margin (3.46) and 11th in win percentage (.692).

Ohio State enters the weekend with a 5-4 (2-0 GWLL) record after defeating Butler, 10-14 Friday April 14. The Buckeyes are led by Joel Dalgarno and Andrew Bender. Dalgarno leads the team with 28 points on 18 goals and 10 assists. Bender is next with 27 points on 13 goals and 14 assists. In the cage is John Bolen who is 4-1 on the season and boasts a 7.55 goals against average.

Butler is 3-8 (0-2 GWLL) after dropping a 10-14 game to Ohio State on Friday April 14. Cliff Smith leads the Bulldogs in points with 24 points on 20 goals and four assists. Next for Butler is Jeremy Sieverts who has 18 points on 13 goals and five assists. Ryan Kaiser is in goal for the Bulldogs and owns a 3-7 record with a 9.87 goals against average. The Bulldogs will take on Air Force Friday April 21 before hosting DU April 23.

The Pioneers will close out the 2006 regular-season on the road against instate rival Air Force April 29. Face-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. (MT).


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