DENVER – Senior attack Brett Koll (Fort Collins, Colo.) netted the overtime game-winner as the No. 19 University of Denver men's lacrosse team defeated Penn 12-11 in on Sunday afternoon in the final game of the Eighth Annual Face-Off Classic.

"I'm proud of our guys for fighting back," head coach Jamie Munro said. "When you get hit with penalties, hit the pipes, it makes you think you're really struggling. We persevered, and it was a big deal for us to win today."

Junior midfielder Joey Murray (Denver, Colo.) led the Denver (3-3) with three goals while senior attack Jon Paulson (Flemington, N.J.) had two goals and one assist.

Penn (2-2) scored four second quarter goals to take a 6-4 lead heading into the second half of play. The Quakers netted a pair of man-up goals in the first 6:30 of the third quarter to take an 8-4 lead, but sophomore midfielder John Dickenson (Dallas, Texas) brought the Pioneers within three at 8-5 with 2:55 remaining in the quarter.

Sophomore midfielder Ilija Gajic (Burnaby, B.C.) cut the deficit to two with his fourth goal of the season less than four minutes into the fourth quarter. Penn extended its lead back to three with a J.J. Lian goal less than two minutes later, but Paulson netted his second goal of the game to bring DU back within two with 8:42 remaining.

Murray recorded a hat trick in the final 5:15 to give Denver its first lead of the game at 11-10 with 1:18 to play, but Penn's Craig Andrzejewski tied the score at 11-11 with only 26 seconds remaining. Just 53 seconds into the overtime period, however, Koll gave the Pioneers their second consecutive victory on his fifth goal of the season.

"We had to win these two games in a big way," Koll said. "Joey came up huge. Our defense stepped up, and offensively we just got it done."

Penn was led by Andrzejewski, who had two goals and three assists for five points. In net, Chris Casey had 12 saves for the Quakers. Junior goalie Austin Konkel (Aurora, Colo.) registered nine saves. Brown defeated Air Force, 13-7, earlier in the day.

The 2008 Face-Off Classic All-Tournament team included at attack Thomas Muldoon (Brown), Andrzejewski and Pioneer freshman Jamie Lincoln (St. Cathariens, Ontario), at midfield Griffen Nevitt (Air Force), Garvey Heidermann (Penn) and Murray, at long stick midfield Dan Gnazzo (Air Force), at defense Jake Hardy (Brown), DU sophomore Dillon Roy (Denver, Colo.) and Tommy Dodge (Penn), and Chris Casey (Penn) at goalie. Koll was named the tournament MVP.

The Pioneers face Cornell in Dallas, Texas, on Tuesday, March 18 at 6:00 p.m. before traveling to Stony Brook on March 22. DU returns home on Monday, March 24 to face Presbyterian at 7:30 p.m.

Score by Period       1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
----------------------------------------
PENN................  2  4  2  3  0 - 11
Denver..............  2  2  1  6  1 - 12
 
Attendance: 1208
 
PENN SCORING:
GOALS: Andrzejewski, Craig 2; Winkoff, Corey 2; Heiderman, Garvey 2;
       Kohart, Al 1; Weber, Alex 1; Lian, J.J. 1; Bailey, Ryan 1;
       McMullen, Rob 1.
ASSISTS: Andrzejewski, Craig 3; Winkoff, Corey 2; Kohart, Al 1;
         Weber, Alex 1.
 
Denver SCORING:
GOALS: Murray, Joey 3; Paulson, Jon 2; Smith, Cliff 1; Gajic, Ilija 1;
       Koll, Brett 1; Dickenson, John 1; Lincoln, Jamie 1; Wahler, Ben 1;
       Roy; Dillon 1.
ASSISTS: Eichler, Emerson 1; Gajic, Ilija 1; Koll, Brett 1; Paulson, Jon 1;
         Smith, Cliff 1; Widerstedt, Kyle 1.
 
SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
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PENN................  7 12  7  9  0 - 35
Denver.............. 10  7 14 11  1 - 43
 
GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
----------------------------------------
PENN................  8  7  6  8  0 - 29
Denver..............  9  9  8  5  0 - 31
 
FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     OT    Total
----------------------------------------------------------
PENN................  3-5   4-6   1-3   7-10  0-1  - 15-25
Denver..............  2-5   2-6   2-3   3-10  1-1  - 10-25
 
CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     OT    Total
----------------------------------------------------------
PENN................  4-6   3-3   2-4   2-2   0-0  - 11-15
Denver..............  3-4   3-4   4-5   3-3   0-0  - 13-16
 
EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     OT    Total
----------------------------------------------------------
PENN................  0-3   0-2   2-4   0-1   0-0  -  2-10
Denver..............  0-1   0-0   0-3   0-1   0-0  -  0-5
 
SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
----------------------------------------
PENN................  5  1  5  1  0 - 12
Denver..............  3  4  2  0  0 -  9
 
TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
----------------------------------------
PENN................  6  3  5  6  0 - 20
Denver..............  5  4  4  4  0 - 17
 
PENALTIES - PENN 6/5:00; Denver 10/8:00.
 
SCORING SUMMARY:
    Prd  Time Team Type Goal Scorer             Assists                   H-V
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. 1st 14:18 DEN  EVEN Smith, Cliff (9)....... Widerstedt, Kyle (3)....  1-0
 2.     13:36 PENN EVEN Heiderman, Garvey (1).. Andrzejewski, Craig (8).  1-1
 3.     10:32 PENN EVEN Heiderman, Garvey (2).. Unassisted..............  1-2
 4.      9:10 DEN  EVEN Lincoln, Jamie (12).... Gajic, Ilija (4)........  2-2
 5. 2nd 11:38 PENN EVEN Andrzejewski, Craig (6) Winkoff, Corey (4)......  2-3
 6.     11:27 DEN  EVEN Paulson, Jon (7)....... Eichler, Emerson (1)....  3-3
 7.      9:16 PENN EVEN Kohart, Al (6)......... Andrzejewski, Craig (9).  3-4
 8.      6:45 PENN EVEN Bailey, Ryan (2)....... Unassisted..............  3-5
 9.      3:33 PENN EVEN Winkoff, Corey (6)..... Weber, Alex (1).........  3-6
10.      3:01 DEN  EVEN Roy, Dillon (2)........ Unassisted..............  4-6
11. 3rd 13:53 PENN UP   Weber, Alex (7)........ Kohart, Al (3)..........  4-7
12.      8:32 PENN UP   McMullen, Rob (1)...... Andrzejewski, Craig (10)  4-8
13.      2:55 DEN  EVEN Dickenson, John (3).... Unassisted..............  5-8
14. 4th 11:07 DEN  EVEN Gajic, Ilija (4)....... Unassisted..............  6-8
15.      9:31 PENN EVEN Lian, J.J. (5)......... Unassisted..............  6-9
16.      8:42 DEN  EVEN Paulson, Jon (8)....... Unassisted..............  7-9
17.      5:15 DEN  EVEN Murray, Joey (5)....... Koll, Brett (2).........  8-9
18.      3:42 PENN EVEN Winkoff, Corey (7)..... Unassisted..............  8-10
19.      3:39 DEN  EVEN Wahler, Ben (1)........ Paulson, Jon (2)........  9-10
20.      2:38 DEN  EVEN Murray, Joey (6)....... Unassisted.............. 10-10
21.      1:18 DEN  EVEN Murray, Joey (7)....... Smith, Cliff (5)........ 11-10
22.      0:26 PENN EVEN Andrzejewski, Craig (7) Winkoff, Corey (5)...... 11-11
23. OT   3:17 DEN   EVEN Koll, Brett (5)....... Unassisted.............. 12-11

2008-03-09