No. 4 DU Defeats Villanova in Big East Opener

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DENVER – The No. 4 Denver Pioneers women’s lacrosse team posted its largest margin of victory of the season on Saturday afternoon as it defeated the Villanova Wildcats 17-4 at Peter Barton Stadium.
 
DU remained unbeaten on the season at 11-0 and began Big East Conference play in dominating fashion. Three Pioneers had hat trick as senior Julia Gilbert and sophomore Raegan Wilson both tallied four goals apiece and senior Ellie Curry recorded three markers while also adding an assist.
 
“Villanova is a good team,” said Denver head coach Liza Kelly. “They’re off to their best start ever, so we knew we had to show up and play our best today.”
 
Gilbert also had three assists to finish with a season-high seven points. She has posted multiple-goal outings in each of the last nine games, recording six hat tricks in that stretch.
 
Graduate student Kayla DeRose (1g/2a), sophomore Lauren Black (1g/1a) and freshman Ryan Dineen (2g/0a) had multi-point contests as well for the Pioneers. Junior Sloane Kipp also scored late in the third quarter, and senior Charlotte Boote tallied her first goal of the season in the fourth frame to cap off a five-goal run to conclude the game for Denver.
 
Junior draw specialist Abby Jenkins recorded six draw controls in the game and now has 227 in her career to set a new program record. Jenkins surpasses Kiki Boone’s previous mark of 225 draws from 2012-2015. She has recorded four or more draw controls in nine-of-11 games this season.
 
Graduate student Trinity McPherson had five draw controls for Denver and also added four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Senior Sam Thacker picked up five ground balls, forced three turnovers and recorded two draw controls.
 
DU sophomore goalkeeper Emelia Bohi made four-of-eight saves. The Pioneers outshot the Wildcats 36-13 overall.
 
Denver scored the game’s first three goals, led 6-2 after the first quarter and had a 12-3 lead at halftime. The only goal it allowed in the second half was from Cara Moreau at 11:15 of the third quarter that made it a 12-4 game.
 
After going 1-for-5 on free-position shots in the opening quarter, the Pioneers were nearly perfect the rest of the way from the eight meter as they tallied seven goals on 10 shots in the remaining 45 minutes. Wilson went 4-for-4 on free positions, Gilbert was perfect as well at 2-for-2 and Dineen scored on two of her five attempts.
 
Villanova goalkeeper Cate Gallagher made 12 saves for Villanova, which also received goals from Sami Cary, Caroline Curnal and Sydney Pappas in the game.
 
UP NEXT: The Pioneers wrap up a two-game homestand on Wednesday as they host the Butler Bulldogs in their second conference game at 1 p.m. MT at Peter Barton Stadium. DU then travels to play the Connecticut Huskies next Saturday at 10 a.m. MT to conclude the first half of its Big East slate.
 
NOTES

• DU’s 17 goals tied for its most in a game this season (17-5, March 9 vs. Niagara).
• Denver’s 13-goal margin of victory was its largest since defeating Vermont 16-3 in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament on May 13.
• The Pioneers improved to 9-0 all-time against Villanova, with DU scoring at least 14 goals in each matchup.
• Denver finished with a 19-9 edge in ground balls, 15-9 in draw controls and only allowed on free-position shot (save in fourth quarter).
• The Pios forced 14 turnovers while the Wildcats only had six.
• DU has won each of its last four conference openers.

 
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
14:18 DU (1-0) – Kayla DeRose, unassisted
11:37 DU (2-0) – Lauren Black, assisted by Julia Gilbert
10:30 DU (3-0) – Julia Gilbert, assisted by Ellie Curry
9:05 VU (3-1) – Sam Cari, assisted by Sydney Pappas
7:31 DU (4-1) – Ellie Curry, assisted by Kayla DeRose
2:39 VU (4-2) – Caroline Curnal, assisted by Sam Cari
2:06 DU (5-2) – Raegan Wilson (FPS)
1:00 DU (6-2) – Julia Gilbert, assisted by Kayla DeRose
 
Second Quarter
14:01 DU (7-2) – Raegan Wilson (FPS)
13:21 DU (8-2) – Ryan Dineen (FPS)
11:15 DU (9-2) – Ryan Dineen (FPS)
6:51 DU (10-2) – Julia Gilbert (FPS)
5:26 VU (10-3) – Sydney Pappas, unassisted
3:56 DU (11-3) – Raegan Wilson (FPS)
2:25 DU (12-3) – Ellie Curry, assisted by Lauren Black
 
Third Quarter
11:15 VU (12-4) – Cara Moreau, assisted by Kayla Gulmi
10:18 DU (13-4) – Ellie Curry, assisted by Julia Gilbert
8:33 DU (14-4) – Julia Gilbert (FPS)
4:41 DU (15-4) – Sloane Kipp, assisted by Sophia Labanca
 
Fourth Quarter
13:45 DU (16-4) – Raegan Wilson (FPS)
9:31 DU (17-4) – Charlotte Boote, assisted by Julia Gilbert
 
 
TICKETS: Single-game tickets are on sale now by clicking here. Call the Denver Ticket Office at 303-871-4625 for group discounts of 10 or more people.
 
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