DENVER – The [14/14] University of Denver men's lacrosse team overcame a 3-0 hole in the first 1:59 to earn an important 10-8 win over [RV/RV] Utah in heavy snow conditions on Saturday at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
 
SIGNIFICANT STATS:
Redshirt sophomore Cody Malawsky had a game-high seven points on five goals and two assists. Malawsky also had five ground balls and a CT that led to an empty net goal. Malawsky had six of his seven points, including all five of his goals in the second half.  
 
Joshua Carlson was Denver's only other multi-point getter, chipping in a goal and an assist.
 
In his second career appearance and his first career appearance over 10 minutes, Grayson Manning came off the bench with the Pios in a 3-0 hole, and made 16 saves on 21 shots faced (76.2%). Manning made 11 of his 16 saves in the middle two quarters.
 
Preseason All-American Jimmy Freehill had three caused turnovers to lead Denver's defensive field players. Fellow close defenseman Chris Caldwell picked up a team-high six ground balls.
 
POSTGAME NOTES:
Denver improved to 180-33 since Matt Brown joined the staff in 2008 when scoring double digit goals.
The Pioneers improved to 126-27 at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium since it was built in 2005.
Cody Malawsky extended his point streak to 13 games (25G-10A-35P).
Malawsky's five goals and seven points are both career highs.
Malawsky is the first Pioneer with five goals since Noah Manning scored five in a 17-16 win over Cornell on Feb. 24, 2024.
Malawsky is the first Pioneer with seven points in a game since Stephen Avery had seven on March 19, 2023 against Ohio State.
Malawsky's 7-point day tied for the 12^th-best offensive performance in the history of Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium (men's DI only).
Grayson Manning made 16 saves in his home debut, the most by a Pioneer since Jack Thompson stopped 17 shots against Georgetown on April 2, 2022.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Quarter:
Utah opened the scoring with goals 30 seconds in, 1:18 win and 1:59 in to take an early 3-0 lead, turning Denver over twice in the middle of the field to get some easy tallies. As the snow began to stick to the field, Denver's defense got stuck in and held the Utes scoreless for the next 16:12 to give the Pios offense a chance to respond on the other end.
 
Noah Manning buried his only goal of the game on a feed from SSDM Casey Wilson to round out the first quarter scoring and cut Utah's lead to 3-1 through 15 minutes of play.
 
Second Quarter:
Joshua Carlson continued his impressive form out of Denver's first midfield with a tally 4:17 into the second quarter to trim the deficit in half. The Utes' Cody Hart broke the drought with 9:49 to play before the intermission, but Mic Kelly took a few steps towards the goal, caught a Malawsky pass and fired in one motion for his sixth of they ear to make it a 4-3 game at the break.
 
Third Quarter:
Denver opened the second half on a 3-0 run (4-0 dating back to last goal of second quarter) to take a 6-4 lead with 9:56 to go in the frame. Malawsky finished a Carlson feed, then the sophomore got his second of the half into an empty net off a Utah turnover to make it 5-4. Redshirt junior Joe Taraboletti scored his first goal of the season and the third of his career late in the shot clock off a feed from X from Marek Tzagournis to increase Denver's lead to two.
 
Utah responded with a three-goal run of its own to end the quarter and the visitors took a 7-6 lead into the final 15 minutes at Barton Stadium.
 
Fourth Quarter:
Jack Tortolani fired home his third goal of the campaign off Malawsky's second-helper to tie things back up at 7-7 with 13:02 to play. Denver earned a man-up opportunity in the aftermath of the Tortolani goal and Malawsky took it to the cage by himself to put Denver's back in-front at 8-7 with 12:21 to play.
 
Utah equalized with 11:28 to setup another fantastic finish at PBLS.
 
With 6:20 remaining in regulation and six seconds on the shot clock, Malawsky got around his man behind GLE and found a tight angle to ring his shot off the inside of the near post and in to make it 9-8 Pios. Less than two minutes later, Malawsky beat his man and dove headfirst and buried his fifth of the day past the Utah keeper before getting a face full of snow and putting Denver ahead 10-8 with 4:30 to go.
 
Grayson Manning made a couple more big saves down the stretch, including one with 28 seconds to go to secure Denver's two-goal win.  
 
UP NEXT:
Denver will leave the state of Colorado for the first time in 2025 next weekend when the Pioneers return a trip to nationally-ranked Cornell. Opening faceoff is set for 9 a.m. MT, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
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