Denver improved to 4-4 with a 14-13 victory over Stony Brook

by Chris Vaccaro, Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online

STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Charlie Dickenson scored one of those picture perfect goals in the final minute of the University of Denver’s game against Stony Brook.

The sophomore midfielder’s diving sprawl and release of the ball past goalie Alex Kajencki was the game-winner with 46 seconds left in No. 20 Denver’s 14-13 win over Stony Brook at LaValle Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

“We called Dickenson’s name during the timeout and he came through,” said Denver head coach Jamie Munro. “You really can’t ask for anything better than that. It was pretty special.”

Perhaps the most interesting part about the goal was that it was one of the few tallies not involving a Canadian player. There were seven Canadian born players combined on both rosters and at least five on the field at any given time.

Stony Brook’s leading scorer, Jordan McBride, who had two goals in this game, as well as teammates Rhys Duch and Kevin Crowley were involved with seven of the goals scored, while Denver’s Ilija Gajic, Brad Richardson, Cliff Smith and Jamie Lincoln were involved with five of their scoring drives. They’re all from British Columbia, except for Lincoln, who is from Ontario.

“They’re pretty darn good aren’t they?,” said Stony Brook head coach Rick Sowell of his players that hale from north of the border. “Canadian players are part of the development of college lacrosse. They bring a little bit of a different element to the game. They have outstanding stick skills with the ability to put the ball in the net.”

Five of the top seven scorers in the nation are from Canada, including Duke’s Zack Greer, the University of Virginia’s Garrett Billings and Delaware’s Curtis Dickson.

During the first half of the game, both teams played steady lacrosse with few turnovers and limited scoring opportunities. Stony Brook led 7-6 at the half and was fired up in the third quarter.

Even with a 9-7 lead after the third, thanks to goals by Bo Tripodi and Duch, the Seawolves couldn’t grab that third goal for more insurance.

“Denver kept fighting,” Sowell said. “We had more than a few chances and some great opportunities to go up three. It was ugly lacrosse for a while. They were giving us the chance and we just weren’t seizing the moment.”

Denver tied the score on two occasions in the fourth quarter, first at 10 on a goal from Gajic directly in front of the cage at 9:40, then at 12 on a score from Brett Koll at 5:36.

Sean LeFloch scored at 5:20 to put Stony Brook ahead, 13-12, but Joey Murray scored on off a crisp pass form Gajic at 1:53 and then Dickenson followed shortly after with his highlight reel tally.

“We were a little rattled there towards the end,” Sowell said. “Next thing you know I saw the back of the net wrinkle and that was all she wrote.”

McBride, a freshman, who was held down well in the man-to-man defensive coverage, is still getting used to the rudiments of the field game after playing box in Canada his entire life.

“Box is really fast and you’re getting rocked all the time,” he said.

Munro said the box game is a main reason why the Canadian players are so skilled.

“It teaches things about finishing, stick handling and play making,” he said. “You just can’t really learn it as well by playing the field game.”

Notes:
-This snapped Denver’s two game road losing streak and was the first time the Pioneers beat the Seawolves in their six meetings together.

-Lincoln (Langley), McBride (New Westminster), Richardson (Coquitlam) and Duch (Langley) were all drafted in the second round of the Canadian Western Lacrosse Association this season. While McBride said he doesn’t know any of the Canadian born Denver players personally, and this wasn’t a reunion for them, he did say he looks forward to getting to know them more in the future because of playing in the same league.

-McBride, who leads the team with 25 goals and the country with a 4.25 goals per game average, scored a school record 10 goals in Stony Brook’s 19-16 win over No. 7 Delaware on March 15.