WLAX v Fairfield (13 MAR 16) - Highlights
WLAX v Fairfield (13 MAR 16) - Full Game

Box Score| Season Stats

DENVER - Senior captain Christa Reese (Lutherville, Md.) led the Pioneers with three goals and an assist as the University of Denver women's lacrosse team earned its first home victory of 2016 Sunday over Fairfield, 10-6. Denver is 3-4 on the season and holds a 1-1 record in the MPSF.

"It's nice to win at home," head coach Liza Kelly said. "The girls did a much better job of sticking to the game plan today. We really worked hard on focusing on winning each quarter. That was what we stressed today. We took it as 15-minute pieces rather than one big game. There's still work to do but today was a step in the right direction."

The Pioneers used two five-goal halves to power past the Stags. DU also held Fairfield to only three goals in each half.

Denver's leading scorer Reese put the Pioneers on the board first with a free position goal 6:56 into the game. Caitlin Derry (Seal Beach, Calif.) scored another free position goal to increase Denver's lead to 2-0 before Kendra Lanuza (Littleton, Colo.) finished from the doorstep off an assist from Reese. Reese closed out the opening Denver run with an unassisted goal with 10:52 remaining in the game, giving the Pioneers a 4-0 lead.

Less than a minute later, Fairfield's leading scorer Riley Hellstein beat Maddy Stevenson (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) for the Stags' first goal. Casey White (Queensbury, N.Y.) notched her first goal of the game with 3:43 remaining in the first half. The Stags closed out the half with two more goals, both by Hellstein, to cut Denver's lead to 5-3 at halftime.

Reese started the scoring in the second half as well, reaching back for an unassisted goal from a tough angle 2:05 into the half. Fairfield then went on a three-goal run, including converting on two free position attempts. A free position goal on an extra-man opportunity 19:01 cut Denver's lead to one, 6-5, with 19:01 remaining in the game. Another free position goal by the Stags tied the game 6-6 with 16:32 to play.

The Pioneers dominated the final minutes of the game. Denver killed back-to-back yellow cards before Reese drew a man-up opportunity for the Pioneers with 7:43 remaining in the game. White came in to replace Reese, who was injured as she drew the yellow card, and scored on the ensuing free position attempt to put Denver up 7-6 with 7:40 remaining in the game.

Denver closed out the game with three more goals. Freshman Elizabeth Behrins (Basking Ridge, N.J.) scored a career-high two goals, finishing off of assists from White and Derry. Lanuza, another freshman, scored the final goal off of Behrin's first career assist with 1:20 left in the game, for the score of 10-6.

The Pioneers topped the Stags in multiple statistical categories, out shooting Fairfield 19 to 16, picking up one more groundball and winning the draw control battle with 12 draw controls to Fairfield's six. Ellie Knott (Baltimore, Md.)led Denver with a career-high four draw controls. Stevenson also performed well in goal with six saves, including four in the first half.

Denver will face Dartmouth in a neutral site game at USC Sunday, March 20 at 12 p.m. MT.

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