Denver Repeats As BIG EAST Men's Lacrosse Champion
May 2, 2015
BOX SCORE (PDF) | PHOTOS | Championship Central
VILLANOVA, Pa. - Connor Cannizzaro had five goals and three assists and Wesley Berg added four goals to lead top-seeded Denver to a 16-8 victory over second-seeded Georgetown to win the BIG EAST Men's Lacrosse Championship Presented by New York Life. Denver earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship for the second straight year. The semifinals and final was played at Villanova Stadium.
Cannizzaro was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Berg made the All-Tournament Team.
"It means a lot (winning the BIG EAST title), especially because this a new league for us. It is a lot sweeter when you win your way in (into the NCAAs). It was important that we got this one," remarked Berg.
Georgetown drew the first blood as Reilly O'Connor scored on a Bo Stafford assist. Denver replied with four consecutive goals to take a 4-1 lead halfway through the period. Stafford broke the scoring draught as he put in his only goal of the game with an assist by Craig Berge. Georgetown's Stephen Quinzi shortened Denver's lead to one, 4-3, with four minutes to go in the period, but the Pioneers wanted the last laugh as Erik Adamson scored with 45 seconds left in the stanza.
In the second, Denver tried to pull away by scoring three in a row within the first three minutes, with two goals scored by BIG EAST Attack Player of the Year Berg. However, the Hoyas scored three to the Pioneers one in the final nine minutes. Similar to the first period, Denver scored the goal as Cannizzaro put one in unassisted with 10 seconds left on the clock.
At the half, Denver led by four, 10-6.
In the second half, the Pioneers extended their lead and scored six goals to Georgetown's two. The third period was the deciding factor as Denver went up 14-7, helping the Pioneers take home their second BIG EAST Championship title in as many years.
"One of the great things about playing in the BIG EAST is the name recognition of the universities that are in the conference. And the league is getting better by the minute," said Denver head coach Bill Tierney, who recorded his 351st career victory on Saturday night.
As the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, Cannizzaro tallied 15 points for the weekend, with five goals and three assists in the Championship game. Along with Cannizzaro and Berg, Trevor Baptiste and Adamson were named to the All-Tournament team for Denver. For Georgetown, Stafford and Berge, who combined for eight points in the Championship game made the team, with keeper Nick Marrocco, who tallied 20 saves for the tournament.
Early in the first period, Baptiste broke Denver's single-season face-off wins record. The rookie needed three wins coming into the Championship game to break it. Baptiste finished the game with 19 face-off wins, breaking the NCAA record for face-off wins by a freshman, set by Kevin Massa of Bryant in 2012.
Despite the loss, Georgetown could still earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship as the Hoyas have been ranked consistently for nearly seven weeks. Both teams will learn their fate tomorrow night at 9 p.m. ET when the NCAA Tournament selection committee announces the field for the 2015 Championships.
2015 BIG EAST Men's Lacrosse Championship All-Tournament Team
Johnny Gallaway, Villanova, Jr., A
Danny Seibel, Villanova, Fr. A
Dan Mojica, Marquette, RS-Jr., D
Conor Gately, Marquette, Jr., A
Craig Berge, Georgetown, Fr., M
Bo Stafford, Georgetown, Sr., A
Nick Marrocco, Georgetown, Sr., GK
Erik Adamson, Denver, Sr., M
Trevor Baptiste, Denver, Fr., M/FOS
Wesley Berg, Denver, Sr., A
Connor Cannizzaro, Denver, So., A
2015 BIG EAST Men's Lacrosse Championship Most Outstanding Player
Connor Cannizzaro, Denver, So., A