Men's Lacrosse, Women's Lacrosse

Marquette Weekend Lacrosse Games Critical for Denver Men & Women

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The Denver Men’s and Women’s lacrosse teams’ respective regular seasons will conclude this weekend in Milwaukee, Wisconsin against the Marquette Golden Eagles. The men take to Valley Field tonight at 5:00 pm MT and the women take on MU at 11:00 am MT Saturday morning. With wins, DU Women’s lacrosse can secure the BIG EAST regular season title while the men can cement a #2 seed for the BIG EAST tournament.

#3 DU women’s lacrosse (15-0, 5-0) can wrap up their fourth-straight BIG EAST conference regular-season title tomorrow. They are hunted by home team #24 Marquette (15-1, 5-0) who could snatch the title with a home win. One slight misstep on Saturday by Denver will push them to the #2 seed at the BIG EAST Tournament in Storrs, Connecticut next weekend. The Golden Eagles will also be looking to snap a seven-game slide to the Pioneers, having never defeated the Crimson and Gold. However, a win would be the Pioneers’ sixth victory over a top-25 opponent this season.

DU rolls out nine players with double-digit goals, led by Julia Gilbert (42g/6a). Lauren Black (28/4), Ellie Curry (25/12), Ryan Dineen (23/16), and Sloane Kipp (22-9). Goalie Emilia Bohi, backed by a stout zone defense, has a 6.07 GAA, leading the number-one scoring defense in the nation.

#10 Denver men’s lacrosse (8-4, 3-1), on the other hand, is a surprise team at this point in the season, reeling off four straight wins after falling to Gergetown 13-6 on April 1st. If Denver slips past Marquette (6-7, 3-2) tonight, the Pioneers will secure the two-seed for the BIG EAST Tournament in a return trip to Milwaukee next weekend.  Georgetown (9-3, 4-0) plays Villanova (10-3, 3-1) tonight and the Pioneers hold the tiebreaker against Villanova should both finish with the same conference record.

To the delight of head coach Bill Tierney, the DU men’s team will rely on its own stout defense, ranked sixth in the nation in terms of goals against average, to scratch out a road win. While not loaded with offensive stars, the Pioneers are balanced.  JJ Sillstrop leads the attack (32g/5a) followed by Noah Manning (17/14), Michael Lampert (14/15), Stephen Avery (23-4), and Richie Connell (10-16). Ultimately, this team is a scrappy bunch, exceeding expectations in Bill Tierney’s final season at the helm. A win would bolster DU’s NCAA Tournament chances while a loss would likely put them on the outside looking in heading into the BIG EAST Tournament and require a conference title to go dancing in May.

Photo of Emilia Bohi Courtesy of USA Lacrosse Magazine

One thought on “Marquette Weekend Lacrosse Games Critical for Denver Men & Women”

  1. Michigan and Rutgers loses tomorrow will help our AT-Large chances. Yale loss might help. UNC loss next weekend might help. Some possible loses might hurt our top wins. Nova better not lose to Gtown tonight. We want nothing to do with Gtown until BE finals. We need to beat Marquette tonight or what I wrote above is moot. Winning at Marquette won’t be easy. Dunker nervous.
    Go Pios

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