The #5/6 Denver University men’s lacrosse team pulled out a 10-4 road win over Lehigh on Tuesday evening. The game featured a little bit of everything.
Here are five takeaways from the game.
A victory for both defenses
Who would have imagined that with five minutes to go, Denver would hold a 5-4 lead? Year in and year out, the Pioneers feature one of the nation’s best offenses. Entering into last night’s game, they were averaging 12.50 goals per game while allowing 9.83 per contest. The Lehigh defense, which has been among the nation’s best over the last few years, has struggled so far this season, but looked like its old self in long stretches on Tuesday night. The Mountain Hawks held Denver scoreless for the game’s first 17:34, then again for 28:13. A pair of 5-0 spurts accounted for the Pioneers’ 10 goals and the 10-4 victory. Only six of the goals were scored on six-vs.-six as Denver was 4-for-5 on the extra man.
On the other side, the Pioneers allowed a season-low four goals due in large part to the play of big 6-foot-4 Christian Burgdorf who was a physical presence on Lehigh All-American attackman Dan Taylor all evening. Taylor was limited to just a single assist and only three shots as Burgdorf made him work for every inch. Since the beginning of the 2014 season, Taylor has been one of the nation’s top scorers, tallying 76 points last season and 35 over the first seven games this season. He’s the quarterback of the offense and when he goes, so does his team. Denver’s defensive success began with Burgdorf, who shut down the catalyst. Goalie Ryan LaPlante also played a crucial role, making 14 saves (including stopping six-of-six in the third quarter) to keep Lehigh at bay. After taking a 3-0 lead less than nine minutes into the game, the Mountain Hawks were held scoreless for more than 40 minutes and only scored one more goal the rest of the way, despite outshooting Denver 32-25 on the evening.
Patient Offense
Denver showed an extremely patient offense on Tuesday night. The Pioneers passed down several decent looks trying to get even better chance. For the most part, it worked. Denver only had 25 shots for the game (despite averaging 39.8 over its first six games). Eleven shots were saved by Lehigh freshman goalie Adam Sawicki, 10 were goals and only four were off target. Denver waits and waits for that perfect look and turned that patience into several layup goals.
Goalie of the Future?
Sawicki started in goal for Lehigh as All-American Matt Poillon was given the night off. If Tuesday was any indication, the future is bright in Bethlehem, Sawicki made five first-quarter saves, momentum saves that effectively turned the tide in his team’s favor. He was seeing the ball well, making many types of stops. He stopped the long outside shots with screens in front of him, the close-in shots off rebounds and much more. There were few (if any) “soft” goals. Denver’s offense used its patience to create some great scoring chances (see above), which Sawicki had no chance of stopping. There’s talk that Sawicki is a lot like Poillon when he was a freshman and if he was wearing number 30, you may have thought the three-time All-American was in goal Tuesday night. It’s only one game, but against the preseason #1 team in the country, Sawicki passed his first test with flying colors.
Don’t think too much
After the game, a common theme with discussed amongst the head coaches… overthinking. Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese simplified the game plan for his team and wanted his squad to stop overthinking and just play lacrosse. Denver coach Bill Tierney thought his guys may have been overthinking early on after Sawicki made a few stops. As he said, “That young man (Sawicki) made some saves on us early which I think got us thinking too much, and you can’t think when you shoot. You’ve got to just shoot it hard and put it where you put it.” It’s impossible to know how much overthinking may have affected both squads, but it serves as a good reminder to all athletes (regardless of sport) to remember… you’re playing a game. It’s important to do your homework and do your preparation, but sometimes, thinking can become overthinking which is counterproductive. Have an idea of what you want to do, but don’t let the thinking interfere with your natural instincts of playing the game you love.
Parity in lacrosse
On paper, Tuesday night “should” have been a blowout. Then again, Lehigh is much better than its record indicates and still has hopes to make the Patriot League Tournament and compete for its third championship and NCAA Tournament berth in the last four years. Denver “should” have scored more than 10 goals against an up-and-down defense and freshman goalie making his first-career start. On the opposite side, Lehigh “should” have scored more than four goals against a defense that gave up double figures its last three games. But in the end, Tuesday was another reminder that parity is alive and well in the sport of lacrosse. Don’t try to predict; just sit back, relax and enjoy the rest of the college lacrosse season where any team can win on any given day.
