It was a full house at Peter Barton Stadium to watch the Big EAST conference beatdown as #8 Denver (8-2, 2-0) clobbered St. John’s 18-8. Denver was never threatened after building a 6-1 first-quarter lead and coasted to the win. One of the most encouraging stats was ground balls as Denver hoovered up 33 balls to only 20 for the Red Storm. Denver’s Alex Stathekis was strong at the X once again, winning 18 of 30 faceoff opportunities.

St. John’s Bobby Seel opened up the scoring,  1-0 St. Johns. It was all downhill from there for the visitors. Denver responded with a ten-goal run that salted the game with ten minutes left in the first half. Richie Connel and Steven Avery led the charge with two goals each and a host of other teammates joined in the scoring streak, 10-1, Denver. The Red Storm countered with two goals in the final ten minutes but it was not enough as DU led at half 10-3.

Any hope of a miraculous second-half comeback was quickly extinguished by JJ Sillstrop and Mic Kelly who scored in the first two minutes after the break. After trading goals, it was 14-6 heading into the final period. Two minutes into the final period, Drew Wasserman scored for St John’s but Denver countered with four consecutive goals and the rout was on, 18-7. With a little more than a minute remaining. St. John’s scored again to make the final score 18-8.

Mic Kelly scored 3 goals with 2 assists and Noah Manning found the back of the net three times to lead the Pioneers. St. John’s is off to a tough year at 4-8 but Denver smothered the Red Storm early to coast to the expected win. DU Head Coach Matt Brown seems to have his team playing with confidence at just the right time as they head into the meat of the Big East conference schedule.

Full highlights from tonight's win over St. John's. #GoPios pic.twitter.com/ilaEDsEtor

— Denver Men’s Lacrosse (@DU_MLAX) April 6, 2024

Next up for DU is a big game next Saturday against Georgetown at Peter Barton Stadium at noon MT.