Top-Seeded Denver Returns To BIG EAST Championship Final With 17-8 Win Over Providence
GAME 2 LINKS - DENVER VS. PROVIDENCE
BOX SCORE | GAME HIGHLIGHTS
DENVER QUOTES | DENVER PRESS CONFERENCE
PROVIDENCE QUOTES | PROVIDENCE PRESS CONFERENCE
DENVER – BIG EAST regular season champion Denver will return to the league tournament final for the third time in three years after defeating fourth-seeded Providence, 17-8, in the second semifinal of Thursday’s BIG EAST Men’s Lacrosse Championship presented by Jeep at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
The energy was electric as Denver welcomed 2,466 fans to the lacrosse-only stadium for the two championship semifinals, the 30th sellout in stadium history.
Providence (7-9) made its first trip to the BIG EAST Championship.
“This was an incredible experience for us,” said head coach Friar Chris Gabrielli. “It really is exciting. We really appreciated our seniors last night in our meeting. We only have five seniors. That is not a lot in Division I. This is the first year that our program has been fully funded in way of scholarships and we had amazing renovations made to our facilities, and our stadium. Our seniors set a new path and gave us a taste of what it is like to be here. We were relevant in May for the first time in a long time; first time since being a member in the BIG EAST.”
Denver (13-1) is 5-0 in the BIG EAST Championship games so far and is looking for a title three-peat as the Pioneers will face Marquette for the second time in seven days for a championship title – this one will be for an automatic shot at the NCAA Tournament. The BIG EAST Championship final is set for 2:30 p.m. local/4:30 p.m. ET Saturday on FS2.
Against Providence on Thursday, the Pioneers broke out from a 4-4 tie with 9:33 remaining in the second quarter to take a dominant 9-4 lead at halftime.
Denver featured two six-point scorers on the night, with Tewaaraton Award nominee Zach Miller recording three goals and three assists and All-BIG EAST Second Team member Jack Bobzien scoring a goal and dishing out five assists. BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year Connor Cannizzaro led the Pioneers with four goals in the victory and also added a helper.
Denver jumped out to a 3-0 lead with 5:01 remaining in the first quarter but Providence powered back to cut Denver’s lead to 3-2 at the end of the stanza with two unassisted goals in the final 2:09 of the opening quarter.
The Pioneers got on the board first in the second quarter as Cannizzaro notched his first of the night 0:58 into the quarter. The Friars linked a pair of goals by senior midfielders Michael Perrettine and Nolan Fillet 1:20 apart to tie the game 4-4.
Denver sophomore Trevor Baptiste facilitated the 5-0 Denver run to close out the first half as he won the final six faceoffs of the second quarter. Baptiste finished 21-of-26 from the X with 15 ground balls.
Miller sparked the Denver run with a natural hat trick in 1:56. The junior scored his first goal with the timer on as Colton Jackson returned the favor and dished the ball to Miller with 6:40 remaining in the second quarter. Miller continued his run with an unassisted goal before finishing off of a Bobzien assist for the hat trick and 7-4 Denver lead with 4:44 to play in the first half.
A pair of Pioneers scored their second goals of the game to continue the momentum as Woolford tallied an unassisted goal with 3:30 to go in the first half and Pace recorded his second of the night off of Bobzien’s third assist of the game 1:19 later.
Denver continued its scoring streak in the third quarter, notching three goals in the first 3:49 to increase its lead to 12-4 before the Friars found the back of the net to end the Pioneers 8-0 run. Baptiste also won the first two faceoffs of the game for eight wins in a row.
The Pioneers and Friars played to an even 2-2 in the final 7:41 of the third quarter, but the Pioneers outscored Providence 3-2 in the final quarter. Providence senior attackman Will Mazzone netted one with 19 seconds left in the game, leaving him one shy of Providence’s single-season point record (61 points).
Nine different players scored for Denver.
Saturday afternoon at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium, the stage will be set for #RumbleInTheRockies Part II between the title contenders Denver and Marquette.