[17/19] Denver Knocks Off [9/11] Villanova on Bill Tierney Day

Saturday, April 8

Denver, Colo.

12 p.m. MT

University of Denver

5-4, 1-1BIG EAST

Villanova

8-3, 1-1BIG EAST

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Villanova	2	0	1	3	6
Denver	2	3	5	2	12

Photo by: C. Morgan Engel/ Clarkson Creative Photography

[17/19] Denver Knocks Off [9/11] Villanova on Bill Tierney Day

4/8/2023 5:02:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Video Highlights Bill Tierney Postgame Radio Highlights Reception Photos Photo Gallery

In celebration of the 39-year head coach, Denver’s defense stood tall in 12-6 win over 9th-ranked Villanova

By: Niko Blankenship

DENVER – The [17/19] University of Denver men's lacrosse team held [9/11] Villanova without a goal over 30 minutes in the middle of the game, a fitting way to celebrate Bill Tierney Day, a 12-6 win for the Pioneers on Saturday at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.

Inside the Box Score:
Richie Connell, Casey Wilson and Joshua Carlson all tallied multiple goals in the win for the Pioneers. Alec Stathakis finished 11-for-21 with eight ground balls and Malcolm Kleban made 10 saves in 53 minutes, while giving up just four goals to earn the victory in-between the pipes.

Denver's defense was on lock down, holding Villanova without a goal in-between its second at 4:52 of the first quarter and its third of the day at 3:44 in the third quarter. Jack DiBenedetto drew the top defensive assignment and earned a season-high three caused turnovers to lead the Denver defense.

First Quarter:
Villanova opened the scoring, becoming just the second team all year to score first on the Pioneers. Michael Lampert responded with a goal a little over five minutes later, cutting across the crease to level the score.

The Wildcats' retook the lead at 2-1 before Denver went on a 9-0 and 10-1 run to take a commanding 10-2 lead with 4:10 to go in the third. Richie Connell bullied his way to the top side to round out the first-quarter scoring and tie the game at 2-2 through 15 minutes.

Second Quarter:
After his seven-goal performance in his last appearance at Peter Barton, Stephen Avery gave Denver its first lead at 3-2 with 11:30 to go. Ty Hussey scored off the 10-man ride to make it 4-2 and then after Villanova had the first of four (two each team) goals wiped out for landing in the goal mouth, Connell found Wilson in transition to give Denver a lift heading into the locker room, scoring with four seconds left to make it 5-2.

Third Quarter:
Noah Manning found twine and then Connell's second off a feed from Avery made it 7-2 with 10:09 to play. Carlson scored his first of the afternoon on the man-up to extend the lead to 8-2 and then JJ Sillstrop got himself on the scoresheet to make the advantage 9-2.

Wilson got his second transition goal, picking up a groundball after a Villanova attackman rattled the bar before taking it coast to coast and finishing off his fifth goal of the season with 4:10 to go in the frame.

Villanova's scoring drought came to an end with 3:44 to go in the third to round out the scoring in the frame, but Denver still maintained a 10-3 lead heading into the final 15 minutes.

Fourth Quarter:
Carlson's second got Denver the first goal of the fourth to limit Villanova's attempt at a late run. Ryan Giles got Denver's 12^th and final goal of the day, his third in his last two games at Peter Barton.

Villanova would score the final two goals of the game with 7:15 and 2:06 left, but the Pioneers sent the Peter Barton faithful, and more importantly, the entire Tierney family home happy with the 12-6 win.

Game Notes:

In his final season, Tierney improved to 434-151 overall and 162-58 in his 14 seasons at Denver.
Denver improved to 117-25 at Peter Barton, including 86-16 under Tierney.
The Pioneers improved to 16-4 against Villanova, winners of four of the last five.
Richie Connell extended his point streak to 16 games.
Denver improved to 148-27 when scoring double-digit goals under Tierney.
The Pioneers also improved to 113-6 when holding opponents to single digits in Tierney's 14 seasons.
Denver improved to 72-86 against ranked opponents, including 61-41 under Tierney.
- Tierney also ran his Denver record to 29-33 against top-10 teams while at Denver.
- Denver improved to 29-24 at home against ranked opponents.
Denver has now been on 28 10-1 runs or better in games under Tierney, and had its first such run of the season on Saturday afternoon.

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 the east coast for two games next weekend, starting with a return trip to Towson. Faceoff on Thursday, April 13, is set for 5 p.m. MT.

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