NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The [19/19] University of Denver men's lacrosse team lost its first in three on Saturday afternoon, dropping a 11-9 game at [9/11] Yale on Saturday afternoon Reese Stadium.
 
Inside the Box Score:
Stephen Avery netted his first career hat trick to lead the Denver offense with a three-goal, one-assist afternoon. JJ Sillstrop and Michael Lampert scored two goals apiece in the loss.
 
Alec Stathakis finished 15-of-22 from the faceoff stripe with nine ground balls.

Malcolm Kleban made a career-high 11 stops in cage for the Pioneers, Denver's first 10-save performance of the season and the first 50% performance for Kleban in his career.
 
First Quarter:
Yale became the first team to score first on the Pioneers this season, striking on its first possession to take a 1-0 lead 32 seconds in. Lampert leveled the score on Denver's first settled offensive possession. Brad Sharp got his second to put the Bulldogs up again, but a long-distance clear from Kleban to Noah Manning to Richie Connell tied the game with 10:25 to go in the opening quarter.
 
Yale got back-to-back tallies before Avery closed out the first-quarter scoring with 4:31 to go. The Bulldogs took a 4-3 edge into the second frame.
 
Second Quarter:
Yale started the scoring in the second quarter as well to restore its two goal advantage with 12:49 to play in the opening half. The Bulldogs got their first three-goal lead of the day after turning Denver over in the clear before Johnny Keib buried his first of the day.
 
Denver stopped the Yale run when Sillstrop converted a feed on the man-up from Connell out of a Denver timeout to pull Denver back to within two. Matt Brandau got his second of the game for the home team, but Sillstrop bounced home his second of the quarter to make it 7-5 Yale with 3:22 to go in the half.
 
Stathakis went 10-for-14 in the opening 30 minutes with six ground balls. Sillstrop (2-0), Connell (1-1) and Avery (1-1) all had multiple points in the first half.
 
Third Quarter:
Yale scored all three goals in the first 15 minutes out of the locker room. Sharp's hat trick goal made it 8-5, Brandau's hat trick goal made it 9-5 and Kyle Zawadzki netted his first of the campaign to extend the Bulldogs lead to 10-5 heading into the final frame.
 
Fourth Quarter:
Avery broke Denver's scoreless drought, getting top side on his defender and netting his second of the game from outside 10 yards. Patrick Hackler scored in transition for Yale to restore the five-goal advantage.
 
Joshua Carlson scored on the man-up to send the game to its final media timeout of the afternoon with 7:34 to play, pulling Denver back to within four once again. Lampert took a long dodge down the left side, got to the crease and landed outside the goalmouth for his second of the afternoon to trim the Yale lead to three with 3:41 to play.
 
Avery completed his first career hat trick with 2:10 to go to make it a two-goal game off a feed from Mic Kelly. Denver had a couple looks to get it back to within one, but couldn't convert and Yale held on to the two-goal win.
 
TICKETS: Single game tickets for the 2023 Denver men's lacrosse season are on sale now, and can be purchased here.
 
UP NEXT: The Denver men's lacrosse team, presented by Your Hometown Toyota Stores, will return to Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium next weekend when the Pioneers welcome Ohio State to the Mile High City. Faceoff next Sunday is set for 12 p.m. MT.
 
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