Led by hat tricks from freshman Tyler Pace, junior Erik Adamson and sophomore Jack Bobzien, the No. 5 University of Denver men’s lacrosse team defeated St. John’s 16-9 Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Denver improves to 10-2, (4-0 Big East), while St. John’s falls to 6-6 (2-3 Big East).
The win also secures the Pioneers a spot in the Big East Tournament hosted by Villanova, beginning on May 1.
The Pioneers’ record crowd of 2,702 fans surpassed the previous mark of 2,621 that was set last season in Denver’s 19-14 win over Albany in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This is the 16th time since Peter Barton Stadium opened in 2005 that the Pioneers have had sold-out crowds and the 13th time under head coach Bill Tierney.
“You win a game like this against a really good opponent and you’ve got to feel good about it,” Tierney said. “We’re still on the journey, though. It was a tale of two different games. The first half, I thought we played great defense. In the second half, I thought we played great offense and we were able to score some goals. I’m disappointed in the second half in defensive production and disappointed maybe a little bit in the overall score of how many they got, but in general, this is a good team win.”
Denver returns to action Saturday, April 19, when it travels to Providence, R.I., to take on the Friars in another Big East matchup. Faceoff is set for 10 a.m. MDT.
Read more about Saturday’s game on DenverPioneers.com