DENVER – Graduate student Bea Behrins and freshman Lauren Black each had three goals and an assist on Sunday afternoon to lead the No. 12 Denver Pioneers women's lacrosse team to a 10-6 win over the No. 16 Vanderbilt Commodores at Peter Barton Stadium.
 
The Pioneers never held off a late push by Vandy and improved to 6-0 on the campaign. They wrap up their homestand on Wednesday as defending national champion and current No. 1 Boston College makes a visit to the DU campus.
 
"The team was really excited to play today," said Denver Head Coach Liza Kelly. "This is a team that we always battle against. Vanderbilt is well-coached, they play hard, it's always a gritty game. So even despite the weather, everyone wanted to get out there and play and we knew they were a second half team. It got probably a little dicey there, but we felt strong with our game plan and strong on defense to give our attack multiple opportunities with the ball."
 
Junior Charlotte Boote and senior Kayla DeRose also had multi-goal outings for Denver with two apiece, and junior midfielder Ellie Curry pitched in with an assist as well.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Emelia Bohi made five saves to keep DU unbeaten to start the season and push its undefeated streak at home to 21 games in a row.
 
After producing four draw controls, three ground balls and causing five turnovers in Friday's 13-4 win over UC Davis, junior defender Sam Thacker was at it again with another stellar performance. She grabbed six ground balls and three draw controls while also having three caused turnovers.
 
The temperature was 25 degrees Fahrenheit at game time and light snow fell throughout the contest, but the precipitation didn't accumulate on the field.
 
"I think the attitudes were great, and everyone embraced it. But at the same time when it's that cold, it's hard to feel your stick," Kelly said. "There were some ground balls bobbled, some passes dropped that are uncharacteristic of our usual ability, but both teams were in it. The refs were in it, so we all just battled through together."
 
 
The weather didn't seem to affect the Pios as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in begin the afternoon and were up 4-1 after the first quarter following Black's free-position goal with three seconds left. The Pioneers ended up scoring in the final minute in all four quarters.
 
DeRose tallied her first of the game with seven seconds remaining before halftime, and Black completed her second consecutive hat trick with 39 ticks left in the third frame. Behrins recorded her third marker of the game and team-leading 19th of the season with 13 seconds remaining in regulation.
 
Vandy (3-2) was able to make it a one-goal game on two occasions, but the team was never able to equalize score, even with a strong push in the second half. Bohi made three of her saves in the fourth quarter and denied three of the Commodores' six free-position attempts in the outing.
 
Denver is now off to its best start to a season in program history, with the 2017 squad previously beginning the year 5-0 before suffering its first defeat.
 
"I think we know how to fight," said Kelly of her assessment of the first three weeks of the regular season. "I think we know how to dig deep and fight from behind if we have to. Hold a lead when we have it. I'm really pleased with what we're doing right now, and we have a big test coming up on Wednesday that we're looking forward to."
 
UP NEXT: Denver wraps up its four-game homestand on Wednesday as the Pioneers host No. 1 Boston College at Peter Barton Stadium. Game time is at 4 p.m. MT.
 
 
SCORING
1st Quarter
10:55 DU (1-0) – Charlotte Boote (1), assist by Bea Behrins
5:41 DU (2-0) – Bea Behrins (1), free position shot
4:55 DU (3-0) – Bea Behrins (2)
4:18 Vandy (3-1) – Maddie Souza (1), free position shot
0:03 DU (4-1) – Lauren Black (1), free position shot
 
2nd Quarter
12:05 Vandy (4-2) – Bri Gross (1), free position shot
3:23 Vandy (4-3) – Lila Huddles (1), assist by Gabby Fournia
0:06 DU (5-3) – Kayla DeRose (1), free position shot
 
3rd Quarter
11:16 Vandy (5-4) – Lila Huddles (2), assist by Gabby Fournia
7:17 DU (6-4) – Charlotte Boote (2), assist by Lauren Black
5:31 DU (7-4) – Lauren Black (2)
0:39 DU (8-4) – Lauren Black (3), free position shot
 
4th Quarter
10:38 Vandy (8-5) – Karlie Bucci (1), free position shot
9:54 Vandy (8-6) – Bri Gross (2), Gabby Fournia
4:05 DU (9-6) – Kayla DeRose (2)
0:13 DU (10-6) – Bea Behrins (3), assist by Ellie Curry
 
 
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