TOWSON, Md. – The [11/12] University of Denver men's lacrosse team got five goals from JJ Sillstrop and five fourth-quarter stops from Malcolm Kleban to take the Pioneers past Towson 12-10 on Thursday night at Johnny Unitas Stadium.
 
Inside the Box Score:
Sillstrop scored five goals for the second time this season and the fourth time in his career on five-of-eight shooting to lead the Pioneers offense. Four of Sillstrop's five goals were scored on the crease in the win.
 
Noah Manning had two-goals and two assists, including a crucial man-up tally with 3:12 to play for the final goal of the game. Towson native Mic Kelly chipped in a three-point night with two goals in the second quarter and a third-quarter helper. Michael Lampert also chipped in a four-point night with the opening goal of the contest and a career-high three assists.

Jack DiBenedetto finished with three caused turnovers for the second-consecutive game to go with three ground balls. 
 
First Quarter:
Denver scored the first six, including the only five goals of the opening quarter to race out to an early lead. Following a scoreless opening five minutes, Lampert netted his 10^th of the campaign to start a 3-0 run in a school-record 14 second span to open the scoring. Alec Stathakis won the faceoff to himself and fired a shot from the right alley to make it 2-0 before assisting Richie Connell off the next faceoff for his eighth of the year.
 
Manning cashed in on his 12^th of the season with 1:56 to play in the opening frame and then Joshua Carlson fed Sillstrop on the crease in the final 15 seconds of the quarter to make it 5-0 Pioneers.
 
Second Quarter:
Kelly scored his first of two in the second frame to make it a 6-0 Denver lead, striking in his return to his hometown off a feed from Lampert with 13:58 to go before halftime.
 
Towson got four of the next five with a pair of two-goal runs sandwiched around Kelly's second of the night to make it a 7-4 game with 4:20 to go.
 
Sillstrop got free on the back-side pipe and Lampert hit him with a cross-field feed in stride to restore the Pioneers four-goal lead, but a late-clock goal from the Tigers ended the second quarter to send the two teams into the locker room with the Pioneers up three.
 
Third Quarter:
Towson got three of the four goals in the third quarter to trim the Pioneers lead to one heading into the final 15 minutes. Sillstrop answered a Kyle Berkeley tally to complete his hat trick and make it a 9-6 Denver lead with 8:15 to go.
 
Towson got goals with 5:10 to go and 2:11 to play in the third to take the lead all the way back down to one just outside Baltimore.
 
Fourth Quarter:
Sillstrop got a goal on the first possession of the opening quarter to push the lead back to two with his fourth of the evening. After another Stathakis faceoff win, Lampert hit Sillstrop on the back-pipe again for his fifth of the night to extend Denver's lead to three once more.
 
Towson responded with the next two, scoring with 11:31 to go and 6:03 to go to pull the Tigers back to within one.
 
Manning struck late in a 30-second Denver man-advantage off Sillstrop's only assist of the night to give Denver an insurance tally, and a final score of 12-10.
 
Game Notes:

• In his final season, Tierney improved to 435-151 overall and 163-58 in his 14 seasons at Denver.
• Denver improved to 6-4 in the all-time series. Each of the last six meetings, since the series restarted consistently in 2016, have been decided by three goals or less, including four one-goal games. The Pioneers have won five-straight against the Tigers.
• Richie Connell extended his point streak to 17 games.
• JJ Sillstrop completed his fourth hat trick of the season and the 14^th of his career.
  • Sillstrop pushed his point streak to 10-straight games.
  • Sillstrop netted five goals for the second time this season and the fourth time in his career.
• Denver scored its first three goals in a 14 second span, with goals from Michael Lampert (9:46), Alec Stathakis (9:37) and Richie Connell (9:32). The three goals in 14 seconds is a Denver Division I program record, breaking the previous record of 16 seconds when Joe Reid, Trevor Baptiste and Ethan Walker scored 3 in 16 seconds on April 1, 2017 against Georgetown.
• Denver's players had combined for seven four-point nights this season, and had four different players with 4+ points tonight to push that total to 11.
• Malcolm Kleban finished with double digit saves for the third time this season and in his career, stopping 10 shots, including five in the fourth quarter.

 
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 wrap-up its two game east coast swing on Saturday when the Pioneers take on St. John's. Opening faceoff is set for 11 a.m. ET/9 a.m. MT.

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