#10 ranked and top BIG EAST Tournament seed University of Denver women’s lacrosse (14-3, 6-0) played the fourth-seeded Villanova Wildcats at Xavier Thursday in a BIG EAST semifinal game. #1 seed DU has never lost to the Wildcats (12-0) and Thursday was no exception as Denver trouced Villanova 19-7.

Denver turned the first quarter into a shooting gallery, outshooting Nova 20-5 while finishing 7 times on 11 shots on goal.  DU opened the game with a goal by Kipp Sloane a minute and a half. A minute and a half later, the Wildcats evened the score, 1-1. This was the last time the Wildcats would sniff the lead. Ryan Dineen who assisted on Denver’s first goal, reeled off two straight goals, 3-1, all within the first five minutes of the game. Julia Gilbert got on the board following a foul and draw control to put the Pioneers up 4-1 with 8:21 remaining in the first quarter. On a free position, Olivia Penoyer pitched the ball to Jane Early who tucked the ball past goalie Makenzie Fisher to forge a 5-1 lead with 4:57 remaining in the quarter. DU continued their domination when Julia Gilbert took a feed from Caroline Colimore and drew net, 6-1, with nearly four minutes left in the first period. Jane Early capped the first quarter run with yet another goal, 7-1 DU, after just 15 minutes.

Nova opened up the scoring in the second quarter but DU responded with goals from Julia Gilbert and Kipp Sloane, both assisted by Olivia Penoyer. Sami Carey scored at 8:28 for the Wildcats but Denver responded with a three-goal outburst by Gilbert, Colimore and Penoyer, 12-3. Villanova’s Carey scored again with less than a minute remaining and the score held until halftime, 12-4.

Nova’s Mary Moore and Denver’s Kipp Sloane each scored a pair of goals in the third quarter. Julie Gilbert was the tie-breaker for the quarter, as Denver outscored Villanova 3-2 and extended their lead to 15-6 heading into the final quarter of play.

Denver dominated the final 15 minutes. Less than a minute into the final quarter, Kipp Sloane scored again on a man-up advantage. Three other Pioneers got in on the scoring action – Julia Gilbert (free position), Olivia Penoyer, and Ryan Dineen all scored in a 4-0 opening run to go up 19-6. VU got a consolation goal with under a minute remaining and the game ended, 19-7.

Kipp and Gilbert led the scoring barrage for DU with five goals each. The shots-on-goal differential was 16 (30-14) and goalie Emilia Bohi had a 50% save rate for the game. Denver continues to display a solid back-line despite the loss of DI Defender of the Year Sam Thacker earlier this season.

Denver is rounding into shape heading into the conference final. Denver will face the winner of the second-seeded UConn and third-seeded Georgetown on Saturday at 10 a.m. MT on FS2. Should Denver win, this would be their fourth consecutive conference title.