The University of Denver women’s lacrosse team dispatched the Pac-12 champions in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
Next up? A shot at revenge for the end to last year’s historic season.
The Pioneers held off Stanford 13-12 in a see-saw affair at Martin Stadium in Evanston, Ill., setting up DU to face top-seeded Northwestern in Sunday’s second round. The Wildcats beat DU 15-7 in the 2023 semifinals — the Pioneers’ first-ever appearance in championship weekend.
Lauren Black and Julia Gilbert paved the way Friday with a hat trick each, while Ryan Dineen notched two goals with five assists and Caroline Colimore also chipped in two goals. DU had seven scorers overall, and made a last-second defensive stand to preserve the victory.
Stanford jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, including a goal by Sarah Jaques just 18 seconds into the game. After a first quarter where neither goalie registered a save and both teams scored on their first three possessions, the tally stood at 4-4.
The highlight of that opening frame was a backhanded rolling shot by Sloane Kipp that tied the game 3-3 as DU’s shot clock wound down. Immediately after scoring, Kipp scooped up a duckling that made its way onto the turf, cupped it in her hands and ran it to the sidelines to safety.
In the second quarter, DU took control, outscoring Stanford 4-1 for an 8-5 halftime lead. Gilbert got the Pioneers momentum going with a jump-shot score to make it 6-5 — Gilbert’s 60th goal of the year and 200th of her career — and then the final of those goals came via a slick over-the-top shot by Olivia Penoyer, the Most Outstanding Player of the Big East Tournament.
DU extended its lead to 9-5 early in the third quarter, taking advantage of a Stanford green card.
But the Cardinal reeled off three straight scores from there, before Colimore slid in a goal on the ground with 11 seconds left in the quarter to re-pad DU’s lead at 10-8.
In the fourth, Maddigan Miller cemented her hat trick 20 seconds into the quarter to again draw Stanford closer. But DU got insurance goals from Dineen, Jane Earley and Colimore down the stretch, which offset three free-position goals by the Cardinal in the game’s waning minutes.
Friday marked DU’s sixth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and eighth overall. With the win over Stanford, DU’s now advanced to the second round in each of its last eight trips and improved to 11-7 in the tournament.
In the matchup against Northwestern on Sunday, set for noon MT on ESPN+, DU (16-3) will need to start and finish better than the Pioneers did in the teams’ first matchup this season. In that 14-10 Northwestern win at Ryan Fieldhouse, DU faced a 5-1 deficit midway through the second quarter, rallied to tie the game at 9-9 early in the fourth, then got outscored 5-1 the rest of the way.
DU men host Michigan: The University of Denver men’s lacrosse team will host Michigan in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Pioneers (11-3) are going for their first tournament win under first-year coach Matt Brown, who took over for Bill Tierney after serving as an assistant coach since 2007. If the Pioneers knock off the Wolverines (10-6), they will face the winner of Syracuse-Towson in the Elite Eight on May 19.
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