February 28, 1999

Villanova, Pa. - In their 1999 debut, the Villanova men's lacrosse team didn't disappoint. In a hard fought battle, the Wildcats battled back from a 6-3 deficit to take the game, 8-7. In his 17th season, head coach Randy Marks gave a small smile as he glanced at the scoreboard that read, Villanova 8, Denver 7. Denver (0-2) attacked the cage first on a Ross Turco (1G, 2A) goal just 1:54 into the game. Following two of his four goals on the day, Geoff Bieging (4G, 2A) gave the Pioneers a 3-1 lead after the first set. Coming out of the break, the Wildcats fired back with back-to-back goals from juniors Eric Dauer (1G) and Justin Loonie (1G) to bring the game to a 3-3 tie, early in the second quarter. But with 7:40 remaining, Bieing struck again for Denver to put the Pioneer back top. To finish out the half, Denver increased the gap on Chad Wittman's goal as the Pioneers to a 5-3 lead into the locker rooms. In the third quarter, the Pioneers again started up the scoring first as Mike Law's unassisted goal put Denver up 6-3. Showing determination, the Wildcats fired back with five unanswered goals, which included two scores from both Andrew Bogle (2G, 4A) and Tom Hourican (2G). Villanova's defense remained strong to keep the Pioneers away from the cage, taking their season opener, 8-7. Villanova was led by sophomore Andrew Bogle who tallied a game-high six points on three goals and four assists, while Tom Hourican added two goals and one assist. In goal for he Wildcats was sophomore Matt Wilk who recorded seven saves on the afternoon. Geoff Bieging led all Denver scores with six points on four goals and two assists. Villanova travels to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions on Friday, March 5 and return to the Main Line on March 13 to take on Notre Dame.