St. John’s Falls Short in Close Contest to No. 15/13 Denver, 15-12

Saturday, April 13

Queens, N.Y. (DaSilva Memorial Field)

1 P.M.

St. John's University

4-8 (0-3BIG EAST)

No. 13/15 University of Denver

7-4 (2-1BIG EAST)

DENVER

ST. JOHN'S

St. John’s Falls Short in Close Contest to No. 15/13 Denver, 15-12

4/13/2019 7:08:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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Declan Swartwood and Mike Madsen each finished with three goals and two assists

By: Nicholas Diamantis

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's lacrosse team dropped its third BIG EAST contest of the season on Saturday, falling to the Denver Pioneers in a close contest, 15-12, at DaSilva Memorial Field.

The Red Storm (4-8, 0-3 BIG EAST) honored its 10 seniors prior to the contest, highlighting the multiple achievements accomplished on-and-off the field during their four-year careers.

Declan Swartwood and Mike Madsen led the St. John's offense, each finishing with three goals and two assists. Joe Madsen scored two goals, increasing his active goal-scoring streak to 31 games. Four other Johnnies tallied goals in the contest, including Colin Bosak, who scored his first career goal in the third quarter after winning a faceoff.

Freshman goalkeeper Brody Agres kept the Red Storm in the game throughout the entire contest, recording 15 saves in the loss against Denver.

St. John's started the game on a positive note, scoring the first goal of the game for the ninth time this season. Two minutes after Joe Madsen scored the first goal of the contest at the 14:50 mark, twin brother Mike Madsen doubled the lead at 2-0 with an unassisted goal.

Despite giving up the first two goals of the game, Denver responded by tallying three-consecutive goals, two coming from their leading scorer Ethan Walker. Both teams would trade two more goals to close out the first quarter with the Pioneers ahead 5-4.

The Johnnies would tie the game at five goals apiece early in the second period after Swartwood fired a shot past Denver netminder Alex Ready with 13:32 left in the half.

Swartwood added his second goal of the period less than two minutes later, forcing Denver Head Coach Bill Tierney to replace his starting goalkeeper for Cole French. The Pioneers finished the first half scoring four of the last five goals to increase their lead to 10-7 heading into the break.

The Red Storm and the Friars commenced the second half, each trading a goal in less than four minutes of action. After each team held each other without scoring a goal for over seven minutes of play, the Pioneers earned their largest lead of the game at 12-8 when midfielder Quinn McKone scored an unassisted goal with 4:14 left in the period.

St. John's refused to let the game get out of reach in the third as Bosak tallied his first-ever goal as a Johnnie seconds after the McKone strike. Joe Madsen added his second goal of the contest with 3:17 left in the quarter, cutting the deficit to 12-10.

Both teams traded goals to start the fourth quarter in less than three minutes of play. The Red Storm struggled to cut the deficit within one goal to give themselves a chance in the remaining minutes of the game.

Denver diminished the Johnnies' comeback attempt late in the fourth quarter when Ethan Walker scored his sixth goal of the game to give his team a 15-11 lead with 1:45 remaining. Colin Duffy scored his lone goal at the 1:23 mark but it was a little too late as the Pioneers closed the game with a three-goal advantage.

Despite the loss, St. John's capitalized on two of its three extra-man opportunities.

The Pioneers outshot the Johnnies 54-34, only marking the fifth time that they fired fewer shots than their opponent this season.

St. John's will look to avenge Saturday's loss next weekend in Pennsylvania as the Red Storm will square off with BIG EAST rival Villanova on Saturday, April 20, at 1 p.m.