Men's Lacrosse Drops Season Opener to Denver; Pompo Has Career-Best Five Points

Denver, Colo. - Alex Demopoulos totaled three goals and three assists, as Denver broke away in the second half for a 17-13 victory over UAlbany on Saturday, Feb. 27 at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. The Great Danes were playing their season opener.

Denver (1-2) broke a 9-9 tie in the third quarter by scoring four straight times. Todd Baxter hit the back of the net off Demopoulos' assist with 8:59 left in the period. Charley Dickenson and Patrick Rogers followed with unassisted goals and freshman attack Colin Scott ended the outburst. Demopoulos capped the decisive eight-goal quarter by finishing off a pair of shots in the last 34 seconds of the period.

The Pioneers won for the first time under former Princeton coach Bill Tierney, who took his current position last summer after winning six national titles at his former school. John Dickenson and Cameron Flint broke a 7-7 halftime deadlock by converting in man-advantage situations 26 seconds apart. UAlbany (0-1) rallied behind goals by Dave Brock and Kyle Brunk. The game featured three lead changes and six ties to that point.

"They did a good job of capitalizing on our mistakes," said UAlbany coach Scott Marr, whose team dropped a 10-9 decision to Denver in last year's opener. "They did a better job of scoring off our turnovers than we did on theirs. We had a chance to go up 10-9 in the third quarter and just missed the goal. They came back and scored, got the momentum, and things snowballed."

Denver erased an early 2-0 deficit in its home debut with four consecutive goals. Demopoulos, a sophomore attack, found the cage off Baxter's feed late in the opening period to put his team in front, and Flint scored unassisted with 13:58 left in the second quarter to complete the run.

UAlbany regrouped with three unanswered. Sophomore Joe Resetarits scored twice, including an extra-man goal, in tying the contest. Brian Caufield gave his team a 5-4 advantage on a play that originated off a turnover. The team traded goals the rest of the period. After Denver tied the game at six apiece, UAlbany's Derek Kreuzer tallied 13 seconds later following Matt Mackenzie's face-off win. Mark Matthews drew the Pioneers even with six seconds left before the break off a pass from Charley Dickenson.

Flint finished with three goals for the Pioneers, who were coming off road losses to No. 1 Syracuse and Jacksonville to start the season. UAlbany's Pompo had three goals and two assists, while Brock and Kreuzer each scored three times.

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Paw Prints: Brian Caufield scored his 100th career point on a second-quarter goal ... Caufield has tallied at least one point in 24 consecutive games ... Joe Pompo recorded a career-high five points (3 goals, 2 assists) ... Dave Brock had a career-best four points (3 goals, 1 assist) ... the Great Danes are 4-7 in season openers as a Division I program ... Derek Kreuzer netted three goals, his highest total as a collegian ... UAlbany was receiving votes in this week's USILA coaches poll and was ranked No. 20 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll.


Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information