Denver (8-1) opened up Big East play in Washington, DC against a young one-win Georgetown (1-9) team. Denver, following a loss to Penn State in Dallas last week, responded with a dominant road performance.

To start the game, Trevor Baptiste won the faceoff but DU’s freshman goalie Alex Ready missed an open net, firing from near mid-field. The Hoyas countered but Ready made a nifty save after a deliberate Hoyas possession. The game’s first goal was registered by the Pioneer’s  Connor Donahue with an assist from Jack Bobzien. Several minutes later, a Chris Hampton assist to Brendan Bomberry made it 2-0, tucking a shot in the upper right hand corner of the goal. Austin French had an unassisted shot and goal at 7:47 of the first quarter to make it 3-0 off a rub. A Georgetown pipe-shot from the Hoyas Devon Lewis somehow missed finding the inside of the goal and Denver counter attacked with a Zach Miller drive to the circle and stuff to make it 4-0. A penalty on Georgetown put Denver a man up at 4:17 of the first. A nifty  Connor Cannizzaro pass from behind the net to a charging Zach Miller resulted in a Pioneer goal – 5-0 Denver. Joe Bucci finally fired in a goal for the first Hoyas point at 2:53 of the first. DU quickly countered with a Connor Cannizzaro feed to Brendan Bomberry  who registered a transition goal  to extended the margin to 5 again. The first quarter ended 6-1.

The second quarter started slowly with misses by both sides. DU finally broke the ice when Connor Cannizzaro drew two defenders and fed the ball to an open Jack Bobzien for an easy goal. Georgetown went a man-up at 5:50 on a slash but DU gained possession off a pipe shot and ran out the penalty. Jack Bobzien scored again at 1:44 to break the backs of the Hoyas. The half ended 8-1. Ready looked sharp in goal along with Denver’s entire defense. While the 2nd period featured only two goals, the period was a defensive clinic by the Pioneers.

To start the second half,  a Connor Cannizzaro goal was called off when he entered the crease. Alex Ready made another point-blank save to rob the Hoyas of a near certain goal. Chris Donovan scored the second goal for the Hoyas – charging from behind the net and bouncing a shot past Ready to make it 8-2. Denver quickly responded with a Cannizzaro pitch from behind the goal to a charging Austin French to make it 9-2. Bryce Parietti took the advantage to 10-2 with an unassisted goal. The Hoyas Eduardo White (from Denver) scored a goal at 5:58 to narrow the Denver margin to 7, 10-3. Again, Denver quickly took control when Connor Cannizzaro charged the goal with a defender taking him down and tucked the ball into the net to make it 11-3 at 3:57 of the third. Following the faceoff, a marked Connor Cannizzaro pitched the ball to Colton Jackson who fired a rocket shot make it 12-3. A back to front assist from Jack Bobzien to Connor Connizzaro concluded the third quarter scoring, 13-3.

The clinic continued with a Connor Cannizzaro assist to Tyler Pace to make it 14-3. A Georgetown slash at 7:13  led to a Zach Miller to Tyler Pace goal at 6:55 to make it 15-3. An unassisted windmill goal from Colton McCaffrey extended the lead to 16-3. Georgetown finally got on the board with a goal from Daniel Bucaro against Denver’s back-up goalie Joey Gigantiello. The Denver scoring ended with a beautiful goal at the  2:10 mark – a Colton McCaffrey behind the back pass to a charging Nate Marano resulted in another goal to make it 17-4.

Despite the final numbers, Trevor Baptiste was dominant at the X (14-11). Baptiste was pulled the 4th quarter and may have been banged up earlier in the game. The Pioneers took 48 shots on goal.

Following the game, Bill Tierney said, “Really proud how the guys stuck to it…the best game of the year. We were aggressive throughout. We were worried – anybody can beat anybody (in the Big East).”