Men's Lacrosse, Women's Lacrosse

Denver Lacrosse Teams Win at Home & on the Road

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Both Denver lacrosse teams secured wins Sunday. The men started with a win in Columbus, Ohio against the Big Ten Ohio State Buckeyes, 9-6. Denver women’s lacrosse returned to Peter Barton Stadium and earned a 10-6 win over western rival Stanford.

#7 DU men’s lacrosse (6-1) traveled to Columbus, Ohio following their only loss to Yale the prior weekend. The game was a low-scoring contest. Noah Manning and Mic Kelly secured an early DU lead, 2-1, before the Buckeyes scored at the end of the first quarter. Denver outscored OSU 4-3 in the second quarter and headed to halftime leading 6-4.

In the second half, Mic Kelly scored the only goal of the third quarter to carry Denver into the fourth quarter with a 7-4 lead. The teams traded two goals each in the final frame and Denver earned the Big Ten road win 9-6. Naturally, it was Irishman Mic Kelly who led DU scoring three goals on Saint Patrick’s Day.

Alex Stathakis (not Irish) had a great game at the ‘X’ going 13-of-19 and picking up nine ground balls, including going 5-for-5 in the fourth quarter. Next up is a home game against #2 Duke next Sunday at noon in Severn, Maryland.

It was a defensive struggle also for DU women’s lacrosse (5-3) at Peter Barton Stadium. The  #14 Denver Pioneers faced the Stanford Cardinal.

It was a surprisingly low-scoring first half that ended 3-1, Denver. Stanford opened up the scoring but DU reeled off three consecutive goals to hold off the visitors and take a 2-goal edge at halftime.

The teams traded goals in the third period before DU’s Jane Earley nailed a spin and a shot to double up the Cardinal, 6-3. With 2:40 left in the third period, Lauren Black was left wide open in front of the cage and scored her second goal of the game, 7-3. However, Stanford responded with two quick goals in the final minute of the third quarter to make it a game. Thirteen seconds apart, Stanford scored on a free-position win and goal along with a quick draw control and fast break goal to close the score to 7-5.

Three different Pioneer players, Ryan Dineen, Olivia Penoyer & Jane Earley scored to open the final quarter and double up Stanford yet again, 10-5. Stanford stopped the bleeding with 1:34 left in the game when Aliya Polisky scored for the Cardinal, 10-6, but it was too little, too late.

The win concluded a brutal nonconference schedule for DU which was intended to prepare the team for conference play and, hopefully, a long NCAA tournament run this season. The team played well and looks to be in good shape for the Big EAST regular season schedule to begin.

Penoyer led DU with three goals and two assists. DU goalkeeper Emelia Bohi had 8 saves and a save percentage of .571% to earn the win. DU begins conference play at home against UConn next Sunday at noon MT.

 

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