DENVER – The No. 14 Denver Pioneers women's lacrosse team opened the 2022 season on Sunday at Peter Barton Stadium with a 19-9 victory against the Louisville Cardinals.
 
Junior attack Julia Gilbert recorded six goals for her first career sock trick, while reigning Big East Attack Player of the Year Bea Behrins found the back of the net four times to lead the Pioneers, who have now won 18 games in a row on home turf.
 
"I'm proud of the team that came out and battled. We love playing at Petey B and they came out and protected it," said head coach Liza Kelly. "I think they did a really good job against a good Louisville team. From our standpoint, we've got a lot of praise from what the team last year did, but I think these guys want to set the tone and leave their own legacy."
 
Freshman Lauren Black had a hat trick in her first collegiate game, while twin sisters Caroline Colimore and Ella Colimore also hit twine in their debuts. Junior midfield Ellie Curry scored twice for Denver, and junior attack Charlotte Boote and senior defender Kailee Lammers also tallied in the game.
 
Denver was led in net by freshman goalkeeper Emelia Bohi, who stopped six shots in her debut contest with the crimson and gold.
 
Louisville received two goals each by Maddi McKee, Nicole Perroni, Caroline Blalock and Hannah Morris. Bella Karstien also scored.
 
The Pioneers jumped out with markers on each of their first three shots in the game and tallied six times on their first seven shots. Denver led 10-2 after the first quarter, with Gilbert completing the hat trick 10:43 into the outing and Behrins also tallying twice in the opening frame.
 
DU was up 12-4 at the half, as Lammers ended a quick two-goal run by the Cardinals at 9:20 and Gilbert scored for the fifth time with three minutes left before the break. She had several other good looks on shots that just missed to try and reach the sock trick in the first 30 minutes.
 
The Pioneers locked down defensively and held onto possession on offense in the third quarter, while also adding four goals. Behrins recorded her hat-trick marker on a free position attempt with 6:14 left before tallying again at 2:20.
 
Louisville scored three times in the fourth stanza but was only able to get within eight goals briefly. Black picked up her hat trick at 7:27 and Gilbert finally earned her sock trick less than a minute later at 6:35.
 
"I've been gunning for six, so it's definitely awesome to get it," Gilbert said. "To reach that high for me was awesome, to be at that level with Bea and a couple other players that have been there. It was an awesome day, and I'm glad we beat Louisville."
 
Ella Colimore closed the game with her first tally via a free position with 31 ticks remaining.
 
The Pioneers went 6-for-10 on free-position shots, while Louisville went 5-for-14 on those opportunities. DU outshot UL 39-25 in the game and had a 21-7 edge in ground balls. The Cardinals had more draw controls at 17-13.
 
UP NEXT: Denver now heads on the road for the first time this season as it travels to Northern California for a pair of games against Pac-12 Conference foes. The Pioneers will play at Stanford on Friday at 7 p.m. before taking on the Cal Bears in Berkeley next Sunday at 1 p.m. MT.
 
 
SCORING
1st Quarter
13:26 DU (1-0) – Julia Gilbert (1), free position shot
12:01 DU (2-0) – Julia Gilbert (2), Kayla DeRose
10:36 DU (3-0) – Charlotte Boote (3), Alex Marino
10:29 DU (4-0) – Bea Behrins (1)
9:35 DU (5-0) – Lauren Black (1)
8:11 DU (6-0) – Ellie Curry (1), Kayla DeRose
7:14 UL (6-1) – Caroline Blalock (1), free position shot (UP)
6:08 DU (7-1) – Caroline Colimore (1), free position shot (UP)
4:17 DU (8-1) – Julia Gilbert (3)
3:35 UL (8-2) – Bella Karstien (1)
2:06 DU (9-2) – Julia Gilbert (4)
0:27.3 DU (10-2) – Bea Behrins (2)
 
2nd Quarter
12:41 UL (10-3) – Nicole Perroni (1), free position shot
11:12 UL (10-4) – Hannah Morris (1), Kylea Dobson
9:20 DU (11-4) – Kailee Lammers
3:00 DU (12-4) – Julia Gilbert (5) (UP)
 
3rd Quarter
12:58 DU (13-4) – Ellie Curry (2)
12:23 UL (13-5) – Maddi McKee (1), Nia Scott
6:14 DU (14-5) – Bea Behrins (3), free position shot
3:34 UL (14-6) – Caroline Blalock (2), Maddi McKee
2:43 DU (15-6) – Lauren Black (2), Elle Curry
2:20 DU (16-6) – Bea Behrins (4)
 
4th Quarter
13:12 UL (16-7) – Maddi McKee (2) (UP)
12:34 UL (16-8) – Nicole Perroni (2)
7:27 DU (17-8) – Lauren Black (3)
5:45 DU (18-8) – Julia Gilbert (6)
3:57 UL (18-9) – Hannah Morris (2)
0:31 DU (19-9) – Ella Colimore (1)
 
 
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