Following the Hofstra against UMass matchup, the Nittany Lions of Penn State and Pioneers of University of Denver took the field at James M. Shuart Stadium to play their game. This was a fierce battle between two great programs, and it’s a shame only one team could come out victorious, but in the end, the Pioneers held on to win by the score of 10-8.
From the start of the first quarter, spectators knew they were in for a great game. Penn State got out to an early two-goal lead thanks to goals by sophomore and junior attackers Dan Craig and TJ Sanders. Denver would respond with two goals of their own by leading goal-scorer sophomore Connor Cannizzaro. The Nittany Lions would get a man-up opportunity and Mike Sutton would capitalize for them to put them back in the lead. Zach Miller would score for the Pioneers to end the first quarter in a 3-3 tie.
Penn State would look to get the lead back, and stay in the lead in the second quarter. They would achieve this with Sutton’s second goal of the game and Nick Aponte contributing to the effort as well. Erik Adamson would try to keep Denver within striking distance of the Nittany Lions with his 15th on the season, but TJ Sanders would score a second time late in the quarter to put Penn State 6-4 before halftime.
It didn’t take long for Denver to get back to within one goal of Penn State at the beginning of the third quarter. Freshmen FOGO Trevor Baptiste won the faceoff and passed the ball to Wesley Berg, who would score his 15th on the 2015 campaign just five seconds into the second half and trim the deficit to one goal. The Nittany Lions would try to keep their lead at two goals with Matt Florence’s 10th goal of the season, but the Pioneers would answer back with another goal from Erik Adamson.
The Pioneers may not have lead in the entire game up to the fourth quarter, but they led the game in the quarter that mattered most, and did it in convincing fashion. The Pioneers opened the fourth quarter with a goal from Tyler Pace, his ninth on the season, and tie the game at seven. Denver would then grab the lead for the first time with Berg’s second goal of the game. The real dagger in the chest came from Connor Cannizzaro, who would score the next two goals and extend the Pioneers’ lead to three goals. Penn State tried to rally late with Aponte’s second goal of the match, but like Hofstra, it was simply too little, too late.
With the win, Denver improves their record to 6-2 and look to move up in the rankings. They will play host to the Hoyas of Georgetown next Saturday at 1 pm MT. The Nittany Lions drop to 3-5 with this loss. They will begin their Big Ten-conference play next Saturday at 3 pm as they play host to the Buckeyes of Ohio State.
