It wasn’t divine providence that led Denver (6-7, 2-3) past the Marquette Golden Eagle (6-7, 2-3) but Cody Malawski who carried Denver to the win and a Big EAST Tournament trip to Providence, RI. Sure, Malawski’s first quarter hat trick was great but his clutch shot-and-goal in the fourth quarter with 2:41 remaining gave DU a lead they never would relinquish in the 10-9 home victory. It was a stadium-packed night game with the season on the line for both teams and the fans were treated to a contest that came down to the wire.

Malawski put his stamp on the game early despite an early Golden Eagles surge. In the game’s first minute, Marquette struck twice on their first two possession of the game. Denver countered at 10:40 with a strike in traffic by Malawsky at 9:07. Denver knotted the score with a dunk by Malawsky on a feed from Marek Tzagournis. Marquette buried a rifle shot from the top of the key to regain the lead, 3-2 with less than five minutes in the quarter. An underhanded swipe found twine and evened the game, 3-3, as Malawski tickled the twine for a first quarter hat trick.

Both teams played stingy defense in the second 15 minutes, Denver opened the second quarter when Tim Kirchner buried an overhand shot, aimed low on Marquette goalie Jack Kask , 4-3. At 6:22, DU’s Joe Taraboletti buried a shot from distance to take a 5-3 lead into halftime.

Marquette’s  Carsen Brandt opened the third-quarter scoring, 5-4, in the first minute. Two minutes later, Denver’s Cody Malawski countered (again) with another target on frame, 6-4, Denver. Marquette scored from distance at 5:15, 6-5. Denver collected a pair of goals with under four minutes in the quarter. Lucas Klokiw scored from the left flank with an absolute missile. Following a solid defensive stand, DU moved the ball downfield in the closing seconds and Marek Tzagournis scored with four seconds left on the clock, 8-5..

It looked like Denver had some breathing room heading into the final quarter but the Golden Eagles were not done. A minute-and-a-half into the fourth quarter, Marquette beat goalie Grayson Manning, 8-6. Marquette struck again at 5:55 when Ethan Salvia scored for MU, followed by teammate Andrew Bowman who knotted the score, 8-8, a minute-and-a-half later. It was the hero of the night, Cody Malawski, who stifled the Marquette comeback with a clutch goal at 2:41. Denver went to work burning clock before Tzagournis dusted the Golden Eagles with an open-net goal, 10-8.  Marquette scored with 10 seconds left but it was too little, too late. Final score, Denver 10, Marquette 9.

Denver, among the Big EAST preseason favorites, must win the Big EAST Tournament as the four seed in Providence, RI. Their first game will be against #1 seed Georgetown on Thursday, April 30th.