DENVER – [RV/RV] Villanova freshman Will Vitton made 19 saves on 30 shots on goal to hold off the [10/13] University of Denver men's lacrosse team 12-11 on Saturday afternoon at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Denver's loss is its first in BIG EAST regular season play in its sixth season in the conference.
 
Freshman Brett Boos (Parker, Colo.) continued his rookie-season success from the faceoff dot, going 20-for-27 and picking up eight ground balls.
 
Senior Austin French (Danville, Calif.), junior Ethan Walker (Peterborough, Ontario) and freshman Ellis Geis (Tustin, Calif.) all finished with two goals apiece. Sophomore Jack Hannah (Milford, Ohio) had two assists to go along with his ninth goal of the season for a three-point afternoon.
 
Redshirt-senior Matt Neufeldt (Naperville, Ill.) forced three turnovers and picked up three ground balls. Junior Colin Squires (West Linn, Ore.) forced two turnovers and picked up two grounders as well.
 
Corey McManus and Keegan Khan had three goals apiece to lead the visitors. Denver outshot Villanova 41-28 in the game.
 
Freshman Ellis Geis (Tustin, Calif.) opened the scoring 38 seconds into the game with his 16^th goal of the season off a backside feed from sophomore Ted Sullivan (Tucson, Ariz.). Villanova closed the opening quarter on a 4-0 run, with goals from four different players to take a three-goal lead after 15 minutes.
 
French and Walker both scored in the first 1:14 of the second quarter to cut the margin to three, but a Hannah goal was sandwiched in-between two other Villanova goals to send the teams into the locker room at 6-4 in favor of the visitors.
 
Denver drew to within one goal seven times in the contest, but weren't able to tie the game again after 1-1.
 
The Pioneers ended the game one a 4-1 run after falling behind 11-7 with 11:22 to play, but a Geis shot in the closing seconds rang off the face mask of Vitton on the game's final attempt.
 
UP NEXT: The Denver men's lacrosse team, Presented by Your Hometown Toyota Stores, will travel to St. John's on April 13 for a 1 p.m. ET/11 a.m. MT faceoff on the BIG EAST Digital Network and ESPN Denver 1600 (Pioneer Pregame 10:30 a.m. MT). Denver will return home the following weekend (April 20) to take on Providence. DU's home regular season finale will faceoff at 12 p.m. MT on Altitude and ESPN Denver 1600.
 
TICKET INFORMATION: Single game tickets for the remaining home games are on sale, and can be purchased here.
 
Postseason Watch Party Locations:
For all nationally televised 2019 postseason contests throughout Denver Athletics, join one of Denver's Official Watch Parties at the following locations: Crimson and Gold, Stadium Inn, The Pioneer and Smiling Moose.

Fans interested in making a donation to the men's lacrosse program can do so by clicking here. Your contribution will make a direct impact on the success of YOUR Pioneers. Thank you in advance for your unwavering support of our student-athletes and their quest for excellence.
 
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