Balanced Offense Leads Pioneers Past Buckeyes
(Courtesy of Denver Athletics)
DENVER--Alex Demopoulos, Chase Carraro and Hayden Schuette each scored two goals to power top-seeded Denver past No. 4 Ohio State, 11-4, in the second semifinal of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Lacrosse League Championship on Thursday evening at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
The Pioneers (12-2 overall) will square off against No. 3 Fairfield (8-7), a 10-9 winner over No. 2 Loyola in the other semifinal played earlier in the day, for the first title game in the 11-year history of the ECAC men's lacrosse league on Saturday (1 p.m. Eastern/11 a.m. Mountain). The contest will be televised live on ESPNU and ESPN3.com. In addition, Live Stats and the Pioneers interactive in-game blog through CoverItlive, will also be available through DenverPioneers.com.
Carraro, a sophomore from Louisville, Ky., scored twice and was 10-of-16 on face-offs, leading the Pioneers in the seven-goal victory over the visiting Buckeyes.
"A lot of credit goes to Ohio State. They battled hard all night and gave us a great challenge," Denver head coach Bill Tierney said. "We were able to figure things out and play the game that we know best. Fairfield will be a good match-up on Saturday and we are looking forward to it."
Demopoulos (Canton, Conn.) had two goals and an assist for Denver. Freshman Jamie Faus (Lakeville, Conn.) had 13 saves in the win, making it his fifth-consecutive double-digit save performance. Schuette (Encinitas, Calif.) added two goals and senior Steve Simonetti (Dublin, Ohio) forced four turnovers for the Pioneers.
After 13 minutes of scoreless play, Tyler Frederick gave Ohio State (8-8) a 1-0 lead after the first quarter. The Buckeyes shut-out the Pioneers for just the fifth time in a quarter all season. (84 quarters)
Denver then held Ohio State scoreless in the second quarter while scoring four unanswered goals. Sophomore Cameron Flint (Georgetown, Ontario) tied the game 1-1, followed by junior Mark Matthews (Oshawa, Ontario) who gave the Pioneers their first lead of the night. Schuette and senior Todd Baxter (Eden Prairie, Minn.) followed suit and Denver led 4-1 at intermission.
The Pioneers' momentum carried over into the second half as Carraro scored 12 seconds in, following by sophomore Eric Law (Centennial, Colo.), Demopoulos and Schuette. Logan Schuss scored for Ohio State midway through the quarter, ending DU's goal streak at eight. Carraro bookended the third with his second goal of the quarter and the Pioneers led 9-2 after three quarters.
Ohio State scored twice in the final period, while Demopoulos and freshman Paul Danko (Towson, Md.) scored for Denver.
Denver outshot OSU 28-24 and claimed 28 groundballs, compared to the Buckeyes' 31. The Pioneers were 1-for-5 with the man-advantage. Ohio State was 0-for-4.
Frederick had two goals for Ohio State. Matt Kawamoto caused two turnovers and Greg Dutton had four saves in the loss.
Tickets are available for the championship game in the Ritchie Center Box Office and on TicketMaster.com.
