VILLANOVA, Pa. — Connor Cannizzaro tallied eight points on five goals and three assists, and Trevor Baptiste won 19-of-24 faceoffs, powering the University of Denver men’s lacrosse team to a 16-8 victory over Georgetown in the Big East Conference championship game Saturday night at Villanova Stadium.
Baptiste, from Denville, N.J., set an NCAA record for most season faceoff victories (259) by a freshman.
DU’s Wesley Berg contributed another five-point performance, matching his four goals and one assist tally from Thursday night, while teammate Erik Adamson notched another hat trick with three goals.
Senior goalkeeper Ryan LaPlante, from Fort Collins, had a five-save fourth quarter for the second game in a row and finished with seven saves against the Hoyas.
After a Reilly O’Connor goal opened the scoring for Georgetown (10-6), the Pioneers (13-2) responded with a four-goal run in 3½ minutes to take a 4-1 lead. They never trailed again.
Baptiste was 12-of-17 on faceoffs in the first half, and the Pioneers put 16 of their 20 shots on goal in the opening 30 minutes.
Berg and Cannizzaro completed first-half hat tricks, the 11th of the season (15th career) for Cannizzaro. The win gave DU its third conference tournament title, and second in two seasons in the Big East.
Cannizzaro, Baptiste, Berg and Adamson were named to the all-tournament team. Cannizzaro was selected the MVP.
Next stop for the Pioneers is the NCAA Tournament; the selection show will air on ESPNU at 7 p.m. Sunday. DU will host a first-round game May 9 or May 10. A quarterfinal game will be played at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on May 16.
