GRANVILLE, Ohio—The 2019 North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Lacrosse Tournament gets underway on Thursday and 11th ranked Denison is the No. 1 seed in this year's tournament after posting a perfect 8-0 record in league play. The Big Red will host fourth-seeded Wooster at 2 p.m. on Thursday (May 2) at Piper Stadium. The winner of Thursday's semifinal will play the winner of the Ohio Wesleyan-Kenyon semifinal on Sunday (May 5). The start time was pushed up due to potential thunderstorms in the forecast.
Denison enters the postseason with a 14-2 record and winners of 11-straight. Junior attackman Peter Pittroff is second in the nation in assists per game (4.2). He is six assists shy of becoming the program's all-time leader. Spencer Butler leads the team in scoring with 56 goals. He has all-time leading scorer Brady Burton in his sights. Burton scored 189 goals between 2007-10 and Butler needs 14 goals to move into the top spot.
Junior defenseman Richie Bartozzi leads the team with 23 caused turnovers and LSM Chris Broderick paces the squad with 60 ground balls. Senior All-American FOGO Henry DeCamp made his return last week against Ohio Wesleyan. He was won 61 percent of his faceoff's this season and 65 percent over the last three seasons.
Wooster is led in scoring by sophomore attackman Shaun Peirce. He has scored 50 goals while adding 11 assists. Thirteen of Peirce's goals have come while the Fighting Scots were in man-up situations. Junior goalie Wesley Wagner has made 205 saves and boasts a .486 save percentage in 17 starts.
In Denison's 23-9 win over Wooster on April 17, Brooks Davy scored eight goals and Pittroff set a new career high with nine assists.
Tickets will be $7 for adults and $3 for children, 18 and under. Students with a valid ID from an NCAC institution will be admitted free of charge.
Since the NCAC introduced a conference tournament in 2013, Denison has won four of the six tourney championships. The Big Red have taken home the hardware in each of the last three seasons.
