Suddenly, the Denver men’s lacrosse team is looking like a contender.

Sophomore attackman Mark Matthews scored the game-winning goal with 35 seconds remaining to give the Pioneers a come-from-behind, 10-9 victory over Ohio State in an NCAA Division I ECAC game Saturday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio.

Matthews scored a team-high three goals, including two in the fourth quarter, to lead Denver (9-4, 4-0 ECAC) to its sixth straight win. The Pioneers trail first-place Loyola (8-2, 5-0) by a half-game in the conference standings. It has been quite a turnaround for a team that started the season 3-4, including a loss to fledgling Jacksonville.

But that’s all a distant memory now. The Pioneers are hot and playing with a newfound confidence. Alex Demopoulos continued his clutch offensive play, registering four points on two goals and two assists, and Patrick Rogers finished with three points on two goals and one assist, as Denver erased a four-goal second-half deficit and scored the game’s final five goals.

“I thought Ohio State just totally took it to us early in the game,” Denver head coach Bill Tierney said. “We weren’t playing well defensively. Offensively, we were OK. Halftime came, and I thought the guys came out and just stayed steady.”

In defeat, Logan Schuss had four points on three goals and one assist for Ohio State (6-6, 2-3).

Ohio State led 4-3 at the end of the first quarter, 7-4 at halftime and 9-5 in the third quarter. It was 9-7 after the Pioneers scored back-to-back goal to close the third quarter, the Denver continued to rally in the fourth.

Matthews brought the Pioneers with one with 10:42 remaining, Rogers scored the equalizer with 2:46 to play and Matthews netted the go-ahead goal after taking a feed from Andrew Lay in the final minute.

“I thought the key was getting those two goals at the end of the third quarter to go from 9-5 to 9-7,” Tierney said. “We had the momentum and then won every face-off in the fourth quarter. Credit goes to the guys. Sometimes you win pretty, sometimes you win ugly, and today was certainly an ugly one. But it beats the alternative.”