VILLANOVA, Pa. – Senior Jeremy Noble (Orangeville, Ontario) scored the game-winner in the closing 39 seconds of overtime to lift the No. 6/6 University of Denver men’s lacrosse team to a 9-8 win over BIG EAST foe Villanova at Villanova Stadium on Friday night. The win brings the Pioneers to 9-2 on the season, 3-0 in league play, and extends their win streak to six games. The Wildcats now sit at 4-6 on the season, 2-1 in league play.

Noble finished the night with two points off his game-winner and an assist, converting on one-of-two shots on goal. Noble also tied for the team-high with seven ground balls while also tying his career-high of three caused turnovers.

Junior Wesley Berg (Coquitlam, B.C.) led the team with four points off two goals and two assists, while junior Erik Adamson (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) and freshman Tyler Pace (Mission, B.C.) both finished with hat tricks. Adamson’s hat trick was his fourth of the season, seventh of his career, while Pace secured his third.

Sophomore Jack Bobzien (Littleton, Colo.) finished with three assists, while freshman Zach Miller (Steamburg, N.Y.) tallied an assist.

Senior goalie Jamie Faus (Lakeville, Conn.) secured his fourth win of the season, making eight saves and grabbing two ground balls. Starting keeper Ryan LaPlante (Fort Collins, Colo.) made four saves, allowing two goals.

Sophomore Chris Hampton (Bethesda, Md.) tied his career-high with 10 face-off wins on 19 attempts, while also tying his career-high of seven ground balls.

Kevin O’Neil and Jack Curran led the Wildcats with three points each, as O’Neil finished with two goals and an assist and Curran tallied one score and two helpers. Goalie Dan Willis made 12 saves in the losing effort and slips to 4-6 on the season.

Villanova opened the game with back-to-back goals in the opening six minutes of action. Adamson put the Pioneers on the board with 3:35 left to play in the quarter off a pass from Noble. Adamson scored his second of the game less than three minutes later, tallying a man-up goal off a pass from Bobzien.

Denver continued its scoring streak into the second quarter as Pace scored another man-up goal off a pass from Berg with 13:19 left to play. Berg made it 4-2 with the third man-up goal in a row off a pass from Miller with 3:35 left to play. Scoring his second of the game, Pace tallied the fourth straight man-up goal for the Pioneers as he connected with Bobzien with 2:24 remaining to give Denver a 5-2 cushion heading into the locker room.

Villanova opened the third quarter with a goal less than two minutes in. Adamson answered with 11:21 left to play off a pass from Berg to make is 6-3, but the Wildcats answered with three straight to tie the game 6-6 with 5:19 left in the third quarter.

Pace netted his third of the game to open the fourth quarter to give the Pioneers a 7-6 cushion as Bobzien provided his third helper of the day. Berg made it 8-6 with his second of the day with 6:57 left to play. The Wildcats battled back with a goal with 4:37 and a goal with 1:59 remaining to tie the game at 8-8 and force overtime.

Noble provided the game-winner with 39 seconds remaining in extra time, scoring his ninth goal of the season, to seal the Pioneers’ first overtime win of the season. The win also marked the first one-goal win for the Pioneers this season. Denver now sits at 12-12 under coach Tierney in one-goal contests.

Denver returns home to continue BIG EAST play at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium, welcoming St. John’s on Saturday, April 12 at 2:30 p.m. MT. The game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network and 102.3 ESPN Radio. Live stats will also be available at DenverPioneers.com, while live in-game tweeting can be found at @DU_MLAX or by using #DUGameDay.

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