DENVER – The [18/17] University of Denver men's lacrosse team fell to [RV/-] Air Force 12-10 on Saturday afternoon at the Lacrosse Practice Field on the base of the United States Air Force Academy.
 
Inside the Box Score:
JJ Sillstrop finished with Denver's first hat trick of the season, scoring three times on four attempts. Noah Manning had a pair and Stephen Avery finished with two goals and a helper.
 
Alec Stathakis finished 17-23 from the faceoff stripe, picking up 14 ground balls off his wins.
 
Air Force was led by five goals and a helper from Brandon Dodd and 17 saves in-between the pipes for Jason Rose.
 
First Quarter:
Denver got the first two goals of the afternoon, courtesy of tallies from Sillstrop and Jack Tuttle. Following a pair of Air Force goals to answer, Manning gave Denver the lead back at 3-2 with 4:45 to play in the opening frame. Air Force evened things up at 3-3 heading into the second.
 
Second Quarter:
Manning struck again to open the second off a feed from Michael Lampert, one of two assists for him on the day. Air Force scored the next four to take a 7-4 advantage into the halftime interval.
 
Third Quarter:
The Pioneers fought back to start the second half, scoring three of the first two and three of the firset four to make it 7-6 and 8-7 Air Force. Avery had the answer for Air Force's ninth tally of the game to make it 9-8. Despite pulling to within a goal three times, Denver couldn't find the tying goal and Air Force scored two of the last three to take a 11-9 lead into the final 15 minutes.
 
Fourth Quarter:
Both offensives struggled to find the back of the net in the final frame. Air Force scored to make it 12-9 with 12:52 to go and then the Falcons defense held Denver without a goal until Sillstrop's hat-trick tally with 1:46 to play in regulation.
 
TICKETS: Single game tickets for the 2023 Denver men's lacrosse season are on sale now, and can be purchased here.
 
UP NEXT: Denver will leave the state of Colorado for the first time on Friday when the Pioneers head to [7/8] Duke. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU, and is set for faceoff at 4 p.m. ET/2 p.m. MT.   
 
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