Women's Lacrosse

Denver Women’s Lacrosse Stifles Furious UConn Comeback Bid to Earn BIG EAST Tournament Title

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10th ranked/#1 seed Denver (15-3, 6-0) capped an undefeated BIG EAST regular season by winning the BIG EAST Tournament against #2 seed UConn,16-14. DU built a 9-1 lead but had to withstand a 4th-quarter tie with the Huskies to escape with the win and the BIG EAST title.

Denver reeled off five straight goals to open the first quarter of play. Caroline Colimore and Sloane Kipp scored for Denver in the first two minutes to race out to a quick lead. Julia Gilbert took a feed from Kipp to keep the run going at 10:33.  Four minutes later, Olivia Ripple found the back of the net for the Pioneers.  Kipp Sloane finished off the first-quarter scoring outburst in the final two minutes to build a 5-0 lead.

Denver followed the same recipe to start the second quarter when Ryan Dineen scored in the first minute. UConn’s Susan Lafountain finally broke the ice at 11:43 to temporarily stop the DU run. Denver responded with three straight goals by three different Pioneers – Jane Early, Gilbert and Kyra Obert to build a 9-1 lead.  Denver was coasting to the title, right? Wrong. In the final 5:11 before halftime, the Huskies woke up with three goals of their own by Kate Shaffer (free position), Shaffer again (man-up) and Madelyn George. The Huskies were chipping away at the massive deficit.

The teams traded goals in the third quarter with both scoring four goals. Denver opened the scoring three minutes into the period when Julia Gilbert found paydirt. UConn scored two minutes later but DU’s Jane Early responded to retain the five-goal edge, 10-5. UConn scored again at 7:13 but Caroline Colimore responded a minute later with a DU tally. Denver countered another Husky goal when Jane Early scored after a Denver draw control and feed a half minute after the UConn goal. Under a minute to go in the third period,  the Huskies Kate Shaffer scored to draw within five goals, 13-8.

Denver looked to be on cruise control heading into the final 15 minutes but UConn had other ideas. UConn started to chip away at DU’s five-goal lead. Abby Charron scored in the first minute to start the ball rolling for UConn. Less than a minute later, Caroline Colimore scored for Denver to regain the 5-goal margin. The Huskies then reeled off two straight goals at 10:16 and 9:16 to cut DU’s advantage to three goals as UConn started to gain momentum and confidence. In the final five minutes, the Huskies buried three more goals, a five-goal run in all, to knot the score 14-14. With under two minutes to go, Denver forced a turnover and called a timeout. The ball went into Ryan Dineen with a feed to Julia Gilbert who buried the shot, 15-14, with a minute to go. Gilbert, the hero of the game for DU, secured the draw control as DU took fouls and ran clock. Colimore added the icing on the cake with a goal as time expired for a final score 16-14.

DU outshot the Huskies 28-18 along with only 7 turnovers to 17 for the Huskies. However, UConn was efficient in the offensive zone to make it a game. Colimore and Gilbert had four goals each. Sloane Kipp had two goals and six assists. Kate Shaffer had five goals and three assists to pace the Huskies.

The NCAA selection show is on Sunday at 7:00 pm MT when Denver will learn their NCAA seeding and opponent.

6 thoughts on “Denver Women’s Lacrosse Stifles Furious UConn Comeback Bid to Earn BIG EAST Tournament Title”

  1. Pingback: LetsGoDU: Denver Women’s Lacrosse Stifles Furious UConn Comeback Bid to Earn BIG EAST Tournament Title | News Pub

  3. DU defense is pretty average without Thacker in the lineup. They are going to get crushed when they face a top 5 team.

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  4. Of course, this time of year, anything can (and will) happen. Fortunate that the Pios held on for the win, but the game should never have been that close.

    If we’re being honest, Brice Queener’s “Pink Hat” defense has been nothing special without Thacker to settle things back there this season. Other teams have figured out how to carve the Pios’ defense wide open, and if UConn can do it, you can bet the other better programs can, too. Nobody is afraid of Denver this year, and the Pios #14 RPI as of Saturday night, the Pios almost certainly won’t be playing at home in the NCAAs this year.

    I hope the Pios can make an NCAA run this year, but even with all those fifth year seniors, and the quality transfers that came in, Denver’s defense is just not what it was last season. A big part of that is Thacker’s injury, but the other part of it is that other teams have obviously put in more film study of Denver, and DU’s weaknesses have been exploited. Denver lets in 8.61 GPG this year (a very good defense), compared to 6.21 last year (a great defense), a full 1.4 goals more. That defensive difference is why I don’t see the Pios advancing past the second round this year….

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  5. Ok, I stand corrected on Queener’s area of responsibility, but my contention on DU’s defense being not as good as last year remains valid, especially without Sam Thacker.

    DU may get by Stanford again in the First Round, but I don’t think they have a chance of beating top-ranked Northwestern in Evanston, on the Wildcats’ home field.

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