DENVER – The No. 9 Denver Pioneers women's lacrosse team heads back to the East Coast as the squad faces the Villanova Wildcats in its final road game of the regular season on Saturday at 11 a.m. MT.
 
DU was just on the eastern seaboard last weekend where it won 14-12 in the nation's capital against Georgetown.
 
Denver is on a season-long seven-game winning streak and owns a 13-1 overall record on the campaign. In Big East play, the Pioneers are 3-0 and can secure at least a share of the conference regular-season championship with a victory this weekend.
 
The Wildcats have lost their last three games and are 4-10 overall on the season and 0-3 in conference play. Villanova fell 16-15 at Connecticut last Saturday despite scoring seven goals in the fourth quarter in a comeback attempt. UConn led 8-7 at halftime and pulled away with a five-goal third quarter.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Pioneers held off a fourth quarter rally by Georgetown on Friday to earn a 14-12 road victory. Julia Gilbert had six points with five goals and an assist and Bea Behrins also deposited five tallies as well for DU. Denver led 7-2 at halftime, before the Hoyas staged a furious comeback. Lauren Black scored the eventual game-winner for DU at 4:14 of the fourth quarter and Gilbert tallied a key insurance marker with 95 seconds remaining to end a 5-2 run by Georgetown. Full Recap
 
D-I SERIES HISTORY VS. VILLANOVA
Denver has won all seven meetings in the all-time series with Villanova and won 16-9 in the conference semifinals last season. The Pioneers are 3-0 at home, 2-0 on the road and 2-0 at neutral sites against the Wildcats. DU has averaged 16.14 goals and has outscored Villanova by an average of 7.7 goals in the all-time series.
 
LAST MEETING VS. VILLANOVA
The Pios secured their spot in the 2021 Big East Championship—which they went on to win—with a 16-9 victory over Villanova in the conference tournament semifinals on May 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C. Eliza Radochonski had six goals and an assist to be become the second DU player to net a sock trick in the conference tournament (Kristie Leggio, 2007 MPSF Final). Hannah Liddy also had a seven-point performance with three tallies and four helpers and goalkeeper Amelia Cole made nine saves on 18 shots against. Full Recap
 
QUICK HITS

• Julia Gilbert earned her second consecutive Big East Attacker of the Week award on Monday.
• Defender Sam Thacker was named one of 25 nominees of the Tewaaraton Award, given to college lacrosse's top player.
  • Thacker is tied for first in the country with 41 caused turnovers and a 2.93 average per game.
• As a team, Denver's 187 caused turnovers are first in the nation and already rank 11th-most in a season in program history.
• DU has scored double-digit goals in 11-of-13 wins and at least 14 tallies in each of the past four games.
• The Pios have allowed just 7.86 goals per game, the fourth-fewest in the country.
• Bea Behrins ranks in the top 20 in the nation in goals per game at 3.5.
  • Behrins leads the team with 49 goals, tied for the second-most in a season in her career and two shy of matching her career high of 51 set last year.
• In program history, Berhins ranks…
  • Fourth in career goals with 177, 10 behind third-place Steph Greenlees (2003-2006).
  • Tied for eighth in games played (75) and three away from tying for first place.
• Denver closes the regular season next week with home games against in-state foe Colorado on Wednesday at 7 p.m. MT and Marquette on senior day on Saturday, April 30 at 1 p.m. MT.
• The Pioneers are hosting this year's Big East Conference Tournament at Peter Barton Stadium on May 5-7.

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