Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/4/15
From Press Releases
Wesley Berg had a career-high 10 points via seven goals and three assists as Denver powered to a 15-4 win over Villanova on Friday night at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. It was the Wildcats first return to Denver’s home turf since their 2011 meeting in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
With the loss, Villanova falls to 5-5 overall and 0-2 in BIG EAST Conference action while Denver improves to 8-2 overall and 2-0 in league play.
The loss marked the largest margin of defeat for Villanova dating back to a 20-6 loss at Syracuse on March 29th, 2010. With the win, Denver continues their BIG EAST unbeaten record since joining the conference at the beginning of the 2014 season.
Berg opened the contest just 33 seconds into the match to get the Pioneers an early 1-0 lead, but Villanova’s Danny Seibel (Wakefield, Mass.) responded off a feed from Kurtis Naslonski (Randolph, N.J.) exactly eight minutes later with 5:27 remaining in the contest to even the score at 1-1.
The Pioneers would go on to record 10 unanswered goals and powered to an 11-1 advantage prior to the halftime break, including six from Berg with additional help from Jack Bobzien, Tyler Pace, Connor Cannizzaro and Erik Adamson. The Wildcats were held scoreless for 20:26 during that span as the sides headed into the locker rooms.
Following the break, Villanova found renewed energy and broke the Denver scoring streak when Matt McIver (Andover, Mass.) found an open Johnny Gallaway (Middletown, Md.) 47 seconds into the third stanza to make it an 11-2 contest. The Pioneers and Wildcats traded goals by Cannizzaro and Jack Curran (Fair Haven, N.J.) to end the quarter 12-3 in favor of the hosts.
The final quarter saw an additional three scores from Denver’s Zach Miller, Colin Wollford and Cannizzaro before Villanova defenseman Owen Hewes (Chatham, N.J.) tallied his first career goal off a Charlie Horning (Laytonsville, Md.) assist to finish the contest at 15-4.
The Pioneers were assisted by Trevor Baptiste’s 15-of-21 performance at the face-off X and a 31-11 advantage in ground balls. Villanova’s John Moderski (Philadelphia, Pa.) led the Wildcats with three ground balls and one assist.
Women’s
William & Mary 10, Drexel 5
The Drexel women’s lacrosse team fell in its conference opener at Vidas Field. The Dragons scored early and played strong defense throughout, but could not keep the offensive pressure up as the Tribe pulled ahead late in the first half and did not look back.
Emily Duffey (Lenape) had three goals and an assist to lead the Dragons. Joelle Hartke added two goals, while Emily Kellett (Methacton) had an assist. Teresha Bradley (Rancocas Valley) had 10 saves in goal, and Jocelyn Quaile had a game-high three caused turnovers.
George Washington 13, St. Joseph’s 9
Despite a late run that saw the Hawks score three goals in the final 2:20 of regulation, the Saint Joseph’s women’s lacrosse team (5-6, 0-3 A-10) fell to George Washington (4-7, 2-1 A-10) in Atlantic 10 action at the GW Lacrosse Field on Friday afternoon. Junior midfielder Kelly Phelan scored three goals and dished out an assist to lead SJU in scoring.
George Mason 12, La Salle 9
The La Salle lacrosse squad cut a six-goal deficit in half with three late goals, but time expired on the rally as the Explorers dropped a decision at George Mason.
Katelyn Fay (Henderson) led the Explorer attack with four goals, and is now just three points shy of hitting the 100-point mark for her career. Caitlyn Brostrand (Camden Catholic) added two scores; Claire Andrews, Kelly Furman (Boyertown) and Rachel Ceplo added one each for the Explorers (5-5, 1-1 Atlantic 10).
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