ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 11 Denver Pioneers women's lacrosse team rallied from a five-goal deficit to earn a 9-8 victory over the No. 8 Michigan Wolverines on Sunday afternoon at U-M Lacrosse Stadium.
 
Denver scored the final five goals in regulation and tallied eight of the final 10 in the game to improve to 7-1 on the season. The Pioneers' last three tallies came in a matter of 3:35, with Ellie Curry notching her second of the fourth quarter at 7:40, Lauren Black tying the outing at 8-8 at 5:10 and Julia Gilbert scoring the game-winner with 4:05 left.
 
DU goalkeeper Emelia Bohi made seven saves in the game, including stopping four balls in the second half. The Pioneers didn't allow a goal in the fourth quarter, handing the Wolverines their first loss of the season (7-1).
 
Black and Bea Behrins joined Curry with multiple markers, as the two attackers both finished with two goals and an assist. Kayla DeRose also had a three-point performance with a tally and two helpers.
 
Defender Sammie Morton scored for the second-straight game and did it the same way that she did on Wednesday against No. 1 Boston College. Ten seconds after Black made it a 6-3 contest late in the second quarter, Morton won a draw control, raced into the Michigan end and buried a shot on a rush.
 
The Pioneers finished the first half on a three-goal run to begin chipping away at the Wolverines' lead.
 
Michigan scored the contest's first four markers before Behrins tallied her first goal with 1:27 left in the first quarter to end the run. However, UM added two two more goals and led 6-1 until DeRose registered her eighth marker of the year with at 4:49 of the second quarter to begin the Pioneers' rally.
 
The Wolverines scored twice in a 51-second span early in the second half, but DU didn't allow another goal against for the final 28:01 of the game.
 
Denver finished with an edge in shots (21-19) and ground balls (12-7) and went 1-for-2 on free-position shots, with the successful attempt coming on Black's game-tying marker.
 
DU was facing Michigan for the first time since winning 9-5 in Ann Arbor in the NCAA Tournament on May 12, 2019, earning its first Elite Eight appearance.
 
UP NEXT: The Pioneers return home for a matchup against Fairfield on Tuesday at 1 p.m. MT before going out on the road for three straight against Drexel and San Diego State on March 25-27 in San Diego, California, and opening Big East play at Butler on April 2.
 
 
SCORING
1st Quarter
13:56 UM (0-1) – Kaley Thompson (1)
10:50 UM (0-2) – Katharine Merrifield (1), assisted by Caitlin Muri
6:26 UM (0-3) – Kaley Thompson (2), assisted by Julia Schwabe
6:09 UM (0-4) – Kaitlyn Mead (1), assisted by Caitlin Muir
1:27 DU (1-4) – Bea Behrins (1), assisted by Kayla DeRose
0:01 UM (1-5) – Caitlin Muri (1), assisted by Kaley Thompson (DOWN)
 
2nd Quarter
10:42 UM (1-6) – Kaylee Dyer (1), assisted by Caroline Davis (UP)
4:49 DU (2-6) – Kayla DeRose (1)
2:23 DU (3-6) – Lauren Black (1), assisted by Bea Behrins
2:13 DU (4-6) – Sammie Morton (1)
 
3rd Quarter
13:52 UM (4-7) – Kaylee Dyer (1), assisted by Julia Schwabe
13:01 UM (4-8) – Caroline Bean (1), assisted by Kaitlyn Mead
3:13 DU (5-8) – Bea Behrins (2), assisted by Lauren Black
 
4th Quarter
14:16 DU (6-8) – Ellie Curry (1), assisted by Kayla DeRose
7:40 DU (7-8) – Ellie Curry (2)
5:10 DU (8-8) – Lauren Black (2), free position shot
4:05 DU (9-8) – Julia Gilbert

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