The No. 8/10 University of Denver men’s lacrosse team ends its three-game home stand with a visit from No. 4 Loyola in a sold-out game starting at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Pioneers will look to stay perfect in their series with the Greyhounds, as DU holds a 2–0 all-time record against Loyola.
The Crimson and Gold have competed against the Greyhounds once at home — Denver defeated Loyola 12–4 at Invesco (now Sports Authority) Field at Mile High on May 2, 2010. The Pioneers have not allowed more than eight goals in their series with the Greyhounds during the Bill Tierney era.
Senior Mark Matthews leads the Pioneers with 43 points on 30 goals and 13 assists. The Tewaaraton Award nominee is on a 39-game goal-scoring streak, ranking him second in the nation, behind Joe Resetarits from Albany. Matthews is also on a 39-game point-scoring streak that ranks him tied for fifth in the nation. Matthews ranks eighth in the nation in points per game and sixth in the nation in goals per game. The senior also ranks second in the nation among active goal scorers with 138 career goals and fourth in the nation among active point-getters with 195 career points.
Senior Alex Demopoulos is second on the team with 30 points, while junior Eric Law has recorded 29 points. After tallying two assists this past weekend against Bellarmine, Demopoulos extended his point-scoring streak to 45 straight games, ranking him second in the nation. Demopoulos has scored 78 goals and recorded 70 assists during the streak. Demopoulos is tied for sixth in the nation among active assist makers with 73 career assists and is fifth in the nation among point-getters with 159 career points.
Junior Chase Carraro leads the DU face-off corps with a 63.3 face-off percentage, having won 133 of 210 face-offs, ranking him seventh in the nation. Carraro also ranks 10th in the country for ground balls per game (5.9). Denver has outscored its opponents 127–80 through 10 games so far and holds a 209–119 advantage in points. The Pioneers are ranked third in face-off winning percentage (.616), fourth in shot percentage (.341), fifth in scoring margin (4.7) and points per game (20.9), sixth in assists per game (8.2) and seventh in the nation in scoring offense (12.7).