No faceoff specialist has ever been a Tewaaraton finalist. Denver’s Trevor Baptiste could soon change that.
Baptiste did it all in the Pioneers’ 16-11 win over Villanova on Sunday. Not only did he 23-for-28 to raise his faceoff winning percentage to 75.3 percent — Towson’s Mark Goers holds the NCAA Division I single-season record of 77.6 percent set in 1994 — but he also scored his first career hat trick, doled out an assist and scooped up 17 ground balls. He is the Epoch/US Lacrosse Player of the Week.
Baptiste was a closer Sunday. He won a faceoff and fed Connor Cannizzaro for a goal with five seconds left in the first quarter after Denver had just scored with 14 seconds remaining. Then after Villanova pulled within two goals at 7-5 with 17 seconds left in the second quarter, Baptiste won the ensuing faceoff and took it to the house himself for the first of his three goals. The Pioneers won all seven fourth-quarter faceoffs.