USAFA, Colo. – The [15/14] University of Denver men's lacrosse team got its first win of the season, a 14-8 victory over Air Force on Saturday afternoon at Falcon Stadium.
 
SIGNIFICANT STATS:
Marek Tzagournis had a hat trick to lead the Pioneers attack. Denver had three other offensive players finish with two goals and an assist to turn in three-point afternoons on the road. Joshua Carlson, Mic Kelly and Jack Tortolani all joined Tzagournis' three-point days. Judge Murphy had his first Division I goal to go with a helper and SSDM Casey Wilson also had a goal and a helper.
 
Chris Caldwell had three caused turnovers and three ground balls to lead the Denver defense. Preseason All-American Jimmy Freehill had a pair of caused turnovers himself to go with a ground ball.
 
Malcolm Kleban made nine saves against just six goals allowed. Grayson Manning played the final 9:20 and made two additional saves for the Pios.
 
Michael Kraus went 14-of-25 from the faceoff stripe with six GBs and a CT on one of his losses.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Denver had nine different players score on Saturday afternoon.
• The Pioneers improved to 26-3 in the series history vs. Air Force.
• Cody Malawsky extended his active point streak to 12-straight games with a pair of helpers (20-8-28).
• The Pioneers are 179-33 since Matt Brown joined the staff full time in 2008.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Quarter:
Denver turned in a good opening 15 minutes on the offensive end to take a 4-3 lead through the first quarter of play at the Academy.
 
Following a hat trick a week ago, Mic Kelly got on the scoresheet to open Saturday's game in the first minute and change. Marek Tzagournis doubled the lead with 8:10 to play on a dive up the crease from GLE.
 
Air Force scored back-to-back goals of its own before Noah Manning converted on the man-up to restore Denver's advantage. Lucas Klokiw made it a two-goal lead again, but the Falcons got one back to cut Denver's lead to one at the quarter break.
 
Second Quarter:
Joshua Carlson did some rare work behind the cage before finishing his first of the afternoon to make it 5-3 in the opening minute of the second frame. Carlson then setup Judge Murphy for his first goal in Crimson and Gold to give Denver its first three-goal advantage at 6-3 with 11:58 to go in the half.
 
After Air Force cut it to 6-4, Jimmy Freehill slinged a pass to Casey Wilson in the clear and Wilson took it to the house, All-American to All-American to score Denver's seventh of the day and make it 7-4 with 7:45 to go.
 
Carlson had his second goal and third point of the quarter to make it 8-4 Denver when Jack Tortolani recorded his first point of the season, hitting Carlson curling around from behind the goal.
 
Tortolani got to the cage himself to close out the second-quarter scoring with his first of the season and Denver's ninth of the day to give the Pios a five-goal lead heading into the break.
 
Third Quarter:
Tzagournis found the back of the net for his second of the day to open the third-quarter scoring, making it a 10-4 game. Air Force got one back in transition to make it 10-5 a few minutes into the third quarter.
 
Denver got back-to-back goals without the Falcons getting an offensive possession to really stretch its lead to 12-5 late in the third frame. On the Pios second man-up chance of the day, Tzagournis whipped one into the corner and took a high and late hit to make it 11-5. After the ensuing man-up expired, Kelly ripped his second of the day from 15-yards out to make the lead seven.
 
The Falcons got another one off a failed clear, but Denver got another late-clock goal to end the third-quarter scoring when Cody Malawsky hit a cutting Tortolani who buried it into the bottom corner to make it 13-6 heading into the final 15 minutes at the Academy.
 
Fourth Quarter:
The Falcons struck first in the fourth, getting the first goal of the frame with 7:54 to play in regulation. A couple of minutes later, Air Force cut the Denver lead to five, making it 13-8 with 5:45 left on the timer.
 
Denver's goalies made the saves it needed to put a halt to the run before Chris Merageas scored the first goal of his career into an empty net off a Denver clear to push the Denver lead back to six.
 
UP NEXT:
Denver will close out a stretch of its first three games of the season in the state of Colorado when the Pioneers welcome Utah to Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium next Saturday at 12 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on Midco Sports Plus.
 
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