Women’s and men’s lacrosse hosted a Saturday double-header at Peter Barton Stadium. DU women’s lacrosse did their part, defeating Georgetown 16-13. The men dropped the second half of a lightning-delayed contest in the afternoon against Villanova, 10-9 (OT).
DU women’s lacrosse (7-4, 2-0) raced out to a 10-4 lead at halftime but the Hoyas came charging back in the third period, narrowing the Pioneer lead to 10-9. Lauren Black and Eva Thomsen-Marr goals re-established a 3-goal DU lead heading into the fourth quarter, 12-9. The teams exchanged goals until Lauren Black buried a pair of goals a minute apart to rebuild the three-goal advantage. The Hoyas scored twice in the final five minutes and Denver’s Kyra Obert added the cherry on top in the waning seconds with a final tally, 16-13.
In the men’s game, the teams traded goals, 4-4, until Noah Manning broke the deadlock for Denver (5-5, 0-1) in the second quarter. Cody Malawski fed Manning near the goal circle and he stuffed the go-ahead ball into the cage, 5-4. The teams went into the break with a slight edge going to Denver. Denver was only 4 of 11 from the dot but the Wildcats coughed up the ball 9 times to only 5 for DU in the first 30 minutes.
Six minutes into the second half, DU’s Marek Tzagournis opened the third quarter scoring but the Wildcats countered with a pair of goals from Gavin Michener, one of his markers with only four seconds left in the quarter. Nova got off 14 shots during the quarter but DU goalie Malcolm Kleban was stout in cage for the Pioneers. The game was knotted at 6-6 heading into a deciding final quarter.
Mic Kelly took a feed from a falling Cody Malawski four minutes into the fourth quarter. Kelly tucked the ball into the top shelf, Denver took the lead 7-6. A weather delay met Kelly’s goal and the grandstands emptied. the break did few favors for the Pioneers.
Denver came out of the break cold. Nova opened with three straight possessions and three goals, one with the man-advantage, out of the weather delay to take the lead. 9-7. With under five minutes, Denver’s Manning finished from the top of the key, 9-8. DU got possession again and Chris Caldwell found a lose ball in traffic and threw the ball past goalie Denis Fargione to knot the score 9-9 with 90 seconds in regulation. The game went to a golden goal in overtime.
Villanova got the ball to open extra time and 70 seconds later, the Wildcat’s Colin Michener buried a high shot from the right crease that rattled the left post and found twine, 10-9 Wildcats.
During the game, Denver struggled at the dot (6 of 23) and was only 18 of 26 on clears – often facing a 10-man-ride. DU goalie Malcolm Kleban faced 25 shots on goal and played an outstanding game, essentially keeping the Pioneers in the game. Manning led DU with 3 goals and an assist.
Next up is a trip to Queens, New York to face St. Johns at 10:00 am MT.