Box Score| Season Stats

EUGENE, Ore. - The University of Denver women's lacrosse team defeated the Oregon Ducks 11-9 Friday to finish the regular season with an 8-8 record and a 5-4 mark in the MPSF, earning a spot in the MPSF Tournament.

"I am so incredibly impressed with the overall growth of this team," head coach Liza Kelly said. "They beat a strong, well-coached Oregon team to get into the MPSF Tournament."

Senior captain Christa Reese (Lutherville, Md.) led the Pioneers with her eighth hat trick of the season, including the game-winning goal for the third-straight game.

The Pioneers scored first as freshman Elizabeth Behrins (Basking Ridge, N.J.) finished an assist from Nicole Martindale (Brooklin, Ontario) 3:50 into the game. Martindale then scored a goal of her own 0:57 later, off an assist from Caitlin Derry (Seal Beach, Calif.), to increase Denver's lead to 2-0.

The Ducks responded with a goal of their own before Reese scored her first of the game to restore Denver's lead to two goals, 3-1 with 17:09 remaining in the first half. Oregon scored consecutive goals to tie the score 3-3 with 5:46 to play in the first half, but the tie was short-lived. Behrins scored her second of the game 0:41 later, and Riley Eggeman (Mission Viejo, Calif.) notched her lone goal of the game with 0:35 on the clock to give the Pioneers a 5-3 lead at halftime.

Denver and Oregon traded goals to begin the second half. Reese opened the scoring with a goal 1:35 into the half as Martindale gave up the ball on a free position attempt and Reese put in in the back of the net. The Ducks made the score 6-4 with 25:36 remaining in the game, before DU rattled off three goals in 1:17, including two free position goals.

Freshman Kendra Lanuza (Littleton, Colo.) sparked the run with back-to-back goals 0:57 apart, with her second goal coming on a power-play free position attempt, before Martindale tallied her second goal of the game for a 9-4 Denver lead with 16:40 to play. Oregon put another goal on the board, but Reese responded 1:50 later with her third goal of the game, to give the Pioneers a 10-5 lead with 12:40 remaining in the game.

The Ducks' Carly O'Connell fired off a natural hat trick in 2:13 to cut DU's lead to 10-8 with 7:59 left in the game.

Denver stopped the Oregon run as senior captain Sarah Kasun (Bel Air, Md.) dished the ball to Derry, who scored to put the Pioneers up 11-8 with 5:54 remaining in the game. O'Connell found the back of the net one more time for the Ducks for the final score of 11-9.

The Pioneers dominated the draw control circle, winning 14-of-22 draws. Ellie Knott (Baltimore, Md.) won a career-high 10 draw controls in the victory. Goalie Maddy Stevenson (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) made seven saves, including saves on the first two shots and the final two shots by the Ducks.

Denver awaits the final MPSF games of the season to learn the seeds for the MPSF Tournament, which will take place Thursday, April 28 through Sunday, May 1 at Stanford University.

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