STORRS, Conn. – The battle between two unbeaten teams in BIG EAST play lived up to the hype on Friday afternoon as it took three overtimes before
Bea Behrins put an end to the series-opener, sending the [22/RV] University of Denver women's lacrosse team past UConn 14-13 on Friday afternoon at the Joseph J. Morrone Stadium at Rizza Performance Center.
With the win, Denver improved to 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the BIG EAST, while UConn fell to 8-3 and 4-1 heading into Sunday morning's series finale.
Inside the Box Score:
Behrins became the second Pioneer this season and the 17
th Pioneer in the program's DI history to reach 100 career goals with her fourth of the day, eventually leading Denver with five on Friday afternoon. Her five goals came on just nine shots.
Denver had three other players with multiple goals.
Kailey Conry had two tallies on three attempts,
Julia Gilbert scored twice and
Kayla DeRose found the back of the net two times.
On the defensive side,
Amelia Cole reached double digit saves for the second-consecutive game, stopping 11 UConn shots.
Molly Little led the Pioneers with six ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Abby Jenkins and
Sam Thacker led Denver's draw control game with three apiece, including Jenkins win at the end of regulation to prevent UConn from having a chance to win the game in 60 minutes.
First Half:
In its first game outside of the state of Colorado this season, the Pioneers came out flying, scoring the first five goals inside the first 6:35. Conry got the scoring started 63 seconds in with her eighth of the season. DeRose's eighth goal of the campaign made it 2-0, Gilbert got her 11
th to make it 3-0 and back-to-back goals from Behrins inside 54 seconds of each other pushed the lead to five.
UConn responded with a 6-2 run to close the stanza to cut the Denver lead to 7-6 at the intermission. Conry's second and a goal from
Hannah Liddy kept the Pioneers ahead in the final 14:42.
Second Half:
Denver got off the blocks quick in the second half with three of the first four goals. Behrins completed her hat trick 73 seconds into the second half. Gilbert and
Eliza Radochonski completed the run for Denver with 20:59 left to go in regulation.
UConn and Denver traded punches over the middle-third of the second half. Behrins answered a UConn tally with her fourth of the day to get to the century mark for her career. DeRose's second of the afternoon answered another UConn goal to make it 12-9 Pios with 11:44 to play.
Mackenzie Wallevand scored Denver's final goal of regulation, her sixth of the season with 8:06 to play.
The Huskies scored three unanswered to end regulation, including Sydney Watson's game-tying goal with 47 seconds to go from a free-position shot.
Overtime:
UConn won the draw control in the first overtime, but neither team was able to get a shot on goal.
Cole made two saves to start the second OT, giving the Pioneers a chance to clear and call a timeout for their first offensive opportunity of the period. On the offensive side, Denver was unable to get a clean look, sending the game into a third overtime period.
Denver's defense was called to come up with another stop as
Mackenzie Wallevand picked off a pass outside the crease and cleared it herself to setup the game-winner. Behrins' initial dodge was blocked off, she spun and was blocked off again, but the second spin freed her hands enough to give her room to sidearm the game-winner into the top corner and give the Pioneers the victory.
Significant Stats:
- The overtime game for Denver was its first since an 11-10 win in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
- It was Denver's first game to go to three overtimes since the Pioneers defeated No. 18 Louisville 11-10 in triple OT on Feb. 18, 2017.
Up Next: Denver and UConn will wrap-up the two-game set in Storrs, Conn., on Sunday at 10 a.m. MT.
CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: For the latest University of Denver updates on the coronavirus, click here.
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