Box Score April 24, 2015 Â Â WLAX v Oregon (23 APR 15) - Highlights
  WLAX v Oregon (23 APR 15) - Full Game
The University of Denver women's lacrosse team's winning streak hit three games on Friday as the Pioneers (11-4, 6-2 MPSF) captured a 15-9 victory over the Oregon Ducks (10-6, 4-4 MPSF) at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. After falling behind 6-4 over the course of a back-and-forth opening half, the Pios dominated second half play, outpacing the Ducks 11-3 over the course of the thirty-minute frame to take the decision by a six-goal margin. With the win, Denver clinches third place in the MPSF in advance of next weekend's conference tournament.
"I think we struggled a bit in the first half," head coach Liza Kelly said. "The girls did a great job of adjusting to what Oregon was showing us. The Ducks had a lot of time to prepare for us and we knew they'd be ready to go. As a team we have to be able to put a 60 minute game together."
The Pios struck first on Friday as Jill Remenapp (Woodbine, Md.) scored the 18th goal of her senior season 1:12 into the opening half. Oregon responded at the 4:19 mark of the match, with Carly O'Connell netting her 30th marker of 2015 for the Ducks. A free position tally off the stick of Ducks midfielder Casey Brogan then put the visitors up 2-1 in the sixth minute of play. Denver tied the game up on their next possession however, with sophomore midfielder Casey White (Queensbury, N.Y.) firing her second marker of the year to the back of Oregon's net.
The Ducks went up 3-2 on O'Connell's second tally of the game, but Nicole Martindale (Brookin, Ont.) responded quickly for the hosts to tie things back up at three apiece. A pair of goals from Brogan then put the Ducks up 6-4 as Friday's contest reached its midway point.
"Sunday should be a fun day for us," Kelly said. "Senior day is always an exciting sendoff. The best present was what last year's team gave them and that was an opportunity to host the MPSF Tournament."
The home team opened the second half's scoring, with Remenapp netting a man-up marker 1:08 into the stanza to cut Denver's deficit to one. Sarah Kasun (Bel Air, Md.) then registered three consecutive tallies to both put the hosts up 8-6 and tie her career high for goals in a game. Martindale then buried a feed from Remenapp to give the Pios a three-goal lead in the 39th minute of play. The Ducks pulled back to within two of the Pios at the 12:30 mark of the second half, but Martindale converted on a breakaway a few minutes later to put DU back up by three and put the finishing touches on her hat trick.
After Kiki Boone (Cherry Hills Village, Colo.) scored to put the hosts up by four, Oregon registered back-to-back goals to cut the Pioneers' lead in half. Rachael Dillon (Mount Sinai, N.Y.), Martindale (2) and Boone then led Denver on a 4-0 run that put the hosts up 15-9, an advantage they would maintain throughout the duration of regulation.
The Crimson & Gold will wrap up their regular season schedule versus Fresno State on Sunday, April 26 (1:00pm, AltitudeTV). For the second-consecutive season, Denver will host the MPSF Championship from April 30-May 3 at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Tickets to this event are currently available for purchase at the University of Denver ticket office.
- JOIN THE DENVER PIONEER NATION --
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 17 of Denver's NCAA Division I sports.
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Women's Lacrosse on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_WLAX on Twitter
