It felt like 2016 again and DU men’s lacrosse (4-3) let the good times roll. Peter Barton Stadium was packed, lacrosse alumni lined the balcony of the Cable Center and Denver played with skill and speed, demolishing Ohio State, 17-12. A team many insiders doubted at the start of the season has now defeated #15 Ohio State, #12 North Carolina and came up just a late goal short on the road against #4 Duke. Bill Tierney’s final edition may have more surprises in store before the end of this season.
In the first four and a half minutes, DU’s JJ Sillstrop had a hat trick. That was all Denver needed to hold a 3-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. In a game of “can you top this?” midfielder Stephen Avery countered with four goals in the second quarter for DU, blistering the Buckeyes, while building a 10-4 lead at the break.
Sillstrop wraps up his third hat trick of the season and the 13th of his career to double our lead.#GoPios pic.twitter.com/tPDAqt3C0t
— Denver Men’s Lacrosse (@DU_MLAX) March 19, 2023
Sillstrop and Avery opened the second half for a 12-4 lead. The Buckeyes countered with four goals in a row before Avery stopped the bleeding. OSU scored two more goals before Avery capped the third with a goal. The Buckeyes narrowed Denver’s lead, 14-10, adding intrigue to the final 15 minutes. Denver was resilient in the fourth quarter, scoring the first three goals by Mic Kelley, JJ Sillstrop, and Andrew Atchison to create some breathing room. Denver coasted from there to the final score of 17-12.
“What are they feeding the d-poles at Denver?”
3 #PoleGoals in a 3:26 span in the second quarter in-front of a sold out crowd at PBLS. @NCAALAX https://t.co/s38hJ1IZFk pic.twitter.com/iFkitXvNJw
— Denver Men’s Lacrosse (@DU_MLAX) March 20, 2023
#6 DU women’s lacrosse (9-0) is just the opposite of their male counterparts. Expectations are sky-high for a squad that continues to defeat some of the best programs in the country. Sunday afternoon at Rock Lacrosse Field on the campus of Jacksonville University against #4 Boston College was no different. Denver started on fire with five players scoring en route to a 6-1 first-quarter lead. BC’s Courtney Weeks opened the scoring in the second quarter but DU star Julia Gilbert countered with a man-up goal and Reagan Wilson followed with an insurance goal. Denver went to break with an 8-3 lead.
Reagan Wilson and Ellie Curry opened the third quarter with goals but BC countered with two goals before the end of the quarter. Denver held a five-goal lead heading into the fourth quarter and matched the Eagles goal-for-goal to close out the game, 13-8. Seven players for Denver scored in the win, led by three goals each by Ellie Curry and Reagan Wilson.
The win for DU women’s lacrosse should elevate Denver into the top five and solidify their status as Championship Weekend contenders. DU faces Jacksonville Wednesday at 11:00 am MT before starting BIG EAST play Saturday, April 1st against Villanova.
Denver men’s lacrosse begins BIG EAST play next Saturday on the road in a game against #16 Georgetown.
As a reminder, our lacrosse store is open until the end of this month with caps, hoodies and T-shirts. This store is the launch of our first female lacrosse mascot Denver Bonnie. Order HERE.
Congratualtions! Fantastic wins by the DU Men’s & Women’s teams. Each dominated play in the early going which puts their opponents on their heels playing catch-up. Looking forward to more of the same as league play begins.
I’m happy DU men’s lax is improving again but we should be giving so much more credit and hype to the women’s program which is absolutely killing it and making history. Take away the headline and the women’s part of the story is a complete afterthought.
Congrats to both lax teams!
Between the hockey team in the tournament, the gymnastics team getting ready for the regionals, and the lax teams, it should be a very exciting spring around here!
DU W Lax is now in the national top 5 for the first time in its history at #4. Beating Michigan, Maryland and BC over the past few weeks is a huge confidence booster.
This zone defense that coach Liza Kelly is running is very hard for opponents to solve, and the Pios are also getting some balanced scoring on the offensive end.
And nice to see the men getting big offensive production. Stephen Avery’s recent emergence as a goal scorer out of the midfield gives the Pios the ability to take some of the load off Sillstrop. It would be great to see the Pios knock off Georgetown in their next game.