LE MOYNE (1-2) at University of Denver (4-0)
Saturday, Mar. 2 – 9:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. MT
Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium - Denver, Colo.
Video: Pioneer Vision
Live Stats: https://denverpioneers.com/sidearmstats/mlax/summary

Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College men's lacrosse team is in action on Saturday evening at the fourth-ranked University of Denver.

Opening faceoff from Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium between the Dolphins and Pioneers is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. ET and 7:00 p.m. MT.

The Dolphins, who are making their first appearance in The Centennial State since a 2-0 trip in March 2012, are 1-2 through three games and are coming off an 11-9 setback at Siena on Wednesday. Denver, which collected 420 points from the 26 voters in the USILA poll and 426 from the 26 voters in the Inside Lacrosse Media poll to land in fourth place in both polls, is off to a 4-0 start to the season for the first time since 2017. Coming off a 17-16 victory over then-#6 Cornell last Saturday, the Pioneers are looking for their first 5-0 start since 2016, when they won their first seven games.

Senior attackman Joey Pezzimenti (Victor, N.Y./Victory/UAlbany) leads the Dolphin offense with 14 points on a team-best 10 assists and four goals. If he was eligible for the national rankings, he would rank in a tie for ninth in assists per game at 3.33. Redshirt junior attackman Ethan Loun (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) leads the team with six goals and a .600 shooting percentage. Senior swingman Seth Benedict (Stanley, N.Y./Marcus Whitman) is second on the team in points (9), goals (5) and assists (4).

Junior face-off specialist Sam Getty (Orchard Park, N.Y./Canisius HS) has taken all 75 faceoffs for the Dolphins and won 45 for a .600 winning percentage, a mark which would rank 20th nationally if eligible. He also has 25 ground balls and would rank 10th in ground balls per game at 8.33.

Graduate student long-stick midfielder Nick Noel (Fulton, N.Y./G. Ray Bodley) is second on the team with nine ground balls, while junior defenseman Maui Wilhelm (Saint Johns, Fla./Creekside) has eight ground balls and three caused turnovers.

Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Carter Ruhm (Apalachin, N.Y./Vestal/Bridgton Academy/Robert Morris) has played 169 of 180 minutes in net and has a .508 save percentage and a 10.99 goals against average.

The Pioneers are led by first-year head coach Matt Brown, who took the reins of the program after the 2023 season following the retirement of legendary head coach Bill Tierney, for whom he was an assistant for 14 years as the offensive coordinator.

The Pioneers have a trio of players with double-digit points through four games. Graduate student attackman JJ Sillstrop is the team leader in points and goals with 19 and 13, respectively, while adding six assists as a starter in all four games. He has three extra-man goals, while adding eight ground balls. Junior attackman Noah Manning is second on the team in points and goals with 13 and 10, respectively. He has a .526 shooting percentage and a pair of extra-man tallies. Senior midfielder Michael Lampert is the team leader in assists with seven, while adding four goals for 11 points.

Defensively, junior short-stick defensive midfielder Casey Wilson and graduate student defenseman Jack DiBenedetto lead the squad with six caused turnovers apiece, while Wilson has 10 ground balls.

Graduate student Alec Stathakis is winning faceoffs at a .628 clip (71-113) and has scooped up 30 ground balls. He ranks 13th nationally in face-off winning percentage and is tied for 13th with 7.5 ground balls per game.

Senior goalkeeper Malcolm Kleban has played 98-percent of his team's minutes in between the pipes and has posted a .516 save percentage and an 11.35 goals against average. He also has 10 ground balls.

The Pioneers feature a pair of local products. Graduate student short-stick defensive midfielder Jake Edinger hails from Tully and sophomore short-stick defensive midfielder Dan Anderson attended Christian Brothers Academy. Edinger has nine ground balls and two caused turnovers through four games this season and 46 ground balls, 21 caused turnovers, two goals and eight assists over 53 career games. Anderson is coming off a five ground ball performance against Cornell and has eight ground balls this season, while he has scooped up 23 ground balls and caused seven turnovers through 19 career games.