Women's Lacrosse, Women's Sports

Denver Fells Stanford 13-12, #1 Northwestern Next

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Denver women’s lacrosse (16-3, 5-0) traveled to Evanston, Illinois for the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Pioneers faced the  Stanford Cardinal (13-5, PAC-12 7-0) on a blustery afternoon. DU fielded their full contingent with Defender of the Year/All-American Sam Thacker and Lauren Black back in the lineup for Denver. Denver scored timely goals down the stretch to hold off the Cardinal, 13-12.

Stanford jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first three minutes. DU’s Julia Gilbert and Lauren Black pulled the match even with a pair of goals against the Cardinal as rain fell in the first quarter along Lake Michigan. With under ten minutes remaining in the first quarter, Stanford’s Jay Browne scored for the Cardinal for a 3-2 advantage but three minutes later, with the shot clock running down, Sloane Kipp scored a beautiful goal in front of the crease 3-3. With 40 seconds left, Stanford scored off a post shot, 4-3, and looked to exit the quarter with the lead. However, Julia Gilbert took a feed from teammate Olivia Penoyer who was behind the cage and sent a cannon shot into the net for a 4-4 tie with eight seconds left in the quarter.

Stanford took the lead to open the second quarter on a free position, beating Amelia Bohi high, 5-4. Denver countered, 5-5, when Lauren Black scored on a feed from Trinity McPherson. Gilbert gave DU their first lead 6-5, a hat trick at 9:45 (also, her 200th career goal). Ryan Dineen scored on a free-position to build a two-goal lead for DU.  At 2:26, Black sent a high assist to Olivia Penoyer at the goal front and she buried the pass, 8-5 Denver.  Denver held the Cardinal to one goal in the quarter and scoreless over the final twelve minutes of the first half.

Following a green card with a man-up, Black scored in traffic in the bottom-right corner, 9-5 DU, to open the second-half scoring. At 11:15, Stanford’s Maddigan Miller finally found the back of the net, haltin a fifteen-minute Stanford scoring drought. A free position goal pulled the Cardinal within two goals, 9-7. At 3:48, Stanford pulled within one, 9-8 with 3:42 in the third quarter. A diving Caroline Colimore goal for Denver with 11 seconds left in the third quarter gave DU a 10-8 lead.

In the first minute of the fourth quarter, Stanford’s Maddigan Miller scored to make it a one-goal game, 10-9. Ryan Dineen scored a weaving goal inside to give DU some breathing room, 11-9, with 8:48 remaining.  Sloane Kipp fed Jane Early for a top-shelf tally at 6:54, 12-9 Denver. Stanford quickly scored on a free position, 12-10. Another free position goal pulled Stanford within one goal, 12-11 with five minutes remaining. Colimore sent in a bouncer at 3:42 to regain the two-goal margin. Stanford scored a free position with 25 seconds left with a chance for a final possession to tie the game. Stanford got the draw control but the clock ran out on the Cardinal.

Julia Gilbert and Lauren Black both had three goals each to pace the Pioneer scoring. Sam Thacker played limited minutes but clearly had an impact on the Denver defense, especially in the second quarter. Denver faces a well-rested #1 seed Northwestern  12:00 pm MT on Mother’s Day.

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