DALLAS – The [RV/RV] University of Denver men's lacrosse team earned its first top-10 win of the season with a 13-6 statement victory over [7/8] Duke on Saturday night at Highland Park High School in the Dallas, Texas, area.
 
Noah Manning netted Denver's first sock trick in a season and a half and Malcolm Kleban made 11 stops to lead a Pioneers defense that held Duke scoreless for a 42-minute stretch.
 
The win for Denver sent the Pios to 5-4 while dropping the Blue Devils to 8-2. Denver's victory broke a seven-game losing streak for the Pioneers in the series, their first win against the Blue Devils since a 14-9 victory over Duke on February 18, 2017 at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
 
SIGNIFICANT STATS:

• Noah Manning finished with six goals and two assists.
• The Pioneers shut Duke out in the second and third quarters, the second time Denver has held a team without a goal in consecutive quarters this season (2/28 vs. Marist). The scoreless stretch lasted 42:03.
• Denver finished 20-22 in the clearing game, including 11-for-11 in the first half.
• Denver finished 2-for-3 on the extra man, while committing just one penalty on Saturday night and killing off Duke's only man-up chance.
• Mic Kelly had Denver's other hat trick, scoring three goals and adding a helper from the Denver midfield.
• Malcolm Kleban finished with a 64.7% save percentage, stopping 11 of the 17 shots he saw.
• Russell Overly led Denver's defense with three ground balls and a caused turnover.

FINAL: @DU_MLAX 13
No. 8 Duke 6

Noah Manning puts six goals and adds two helpers to lead the Pioneers to their best win of the season to improve to 5-4.

Week 6 Scoreboard: https://t.co/87XrNUcrj3 pic.twitter.com/MM6bQ27PLU

— Inside Lacrosse (@Inside_Lacrosse) March 23, 2025

 
POSTGAME NOTES:

• Denver went on a 12-1 run that started with a Cody Malawsky goal with 8:14 to go in the first and ended when Duke scored its fourth of the day with 3:00 to go in regulation.
• The run is Denver's 32^nd 10-1 run or better since the start of the 2010season,and its second such run this season.
• Denver improved to 79-93 in its Division I history against team in the USILA top-20.
• The Pioneers improved to 28-33 vs. top-7 teams in the country.
• Denver improved to 3-8 vs. a top-7 team while being ranked outside the top-20 themselves.
• Saturday marked the first such win since the Pioneers defeated No. 7 Ohio State 14-12 in Columbus in 2022.    
• The Pioneers improved to 14-0 under William G. Tierney Head Men's Lacrosse Coach Matt Brown when holding opponents to single-digit goals.
• Denver tied its season low with just 13 turnovers on Saturday.
• Senior attackman Noah Manning completed his third hat trick of the season and the 11^th of his career.
• Manning's sock trick is Denver's first since JJ Sillstrop scored six in the 2024 season opener at Johns Hopkins.
• The sock trick is the 26^th in the program's DI history.
• Manning is the first Pioneer to have 8+ points since Alex Simmons had nine at St. John's on March 6, 2021.
• Manning's eight-point night is the 16^th in the program's DI history.
• Manning has multiple goals in four of his last five games since returning to the starting attack on February 28.
• With his two goals in the first half, Manning reached 100 career points (66G-34A).
• Manning became the 24^th Pioneer in the program's Division I history to reach 100 career points.
• Manning is the 19^th fastest to 100 points in the program's DI history.
• Manning's goals and points totals were both career highs.  
• Manning had six points, including four goals in the second half.
• Mic Kelly stretched his active point streak to 14 games (29-10-39).
• Kelly completed his team-high fourth hat trick of the season and the ninth of his career.
• Kelly netted a pair of man-up goals to push his total to six this season.
• Malcolm Kleban made double digit saves for the fourth time this season and the 17^th time in his career.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Quarter:
After Duke scored on it first possession of the evening, Denver drew a penalty on the other end and Noah Manning canned a man-up tally to even the score with 11:47 to go in the opening frame.
 
Duke moved back in-front with 9:47 to go before the Pios went on a 3-0 run to get out to a 4-2 advantage with 2:19 to play. Cody Malawsky got himself back on the scoresheet to start the run, Mic Kelly's second point of the quarter came on his 20^th goal of the season with 5:34 to go and Jack Tortolani ripped his eighth of the season off a feed from Lucas Klokiw to complete the run.
 
The Blue Devils scored on the final possession of the quarter, but the Pios took a 4-3 advantage into the second.
 
Second Quarter:
Malcolm Kleban made four saves in the second frame and the Pioneers defense pitched a shutout, but the Pios offense could only push the lead to two courtesy of another Manning strike midway through the period.
 
Denver took that 5-3 into the locker room.
 
The Pios cleared the ball a perfect 11-for-11 and won the turnover battle 9-6 in the opening 30 minutes.
 
Third Quarter:
Manning completed his hat trick to get the second half scoring started with 12:31 to play in the quarter, pushing the lead to three for the first time on Saturday night. Joe Taraboletti scored his first goal in a month to make it a 7-3 Denver advantage with 5:10 to go before Manning added his fourth of the night to push the Denver lead to five with 4:03 left in the period.
 
Malawsky's second and the Denver starting attack's sixth of the night made it a six-goal advantage with 1:43 on the clock before the final frame.
 
Fourth Quarter:
Denver scored the first four goals of the fourth quarter to make it a 13-3 game with 4:42 to play in regulation. Kelly's second man-up goal of the quarter started the quarter off a feed from Manning. Manning then scored back-to-back goals of his own to complete the sock trick and push his season total to 18.
 
Kelly to Manning again made it 13-3 before Duke scored three goals in the final three minutes to make it a 13-6 final.
 
UP NEXT:
Denver will open BIG EAST play next Saturday in the back half of a men's and women's lacrosse double header at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. DU's women will host Georgetown at 11 a.m. MT, before the men welcome Villanova to the Mile High City at 2 p.m. MT. Both games will be broadcast on Altitude and Midco Sports Plus.
 
DENVER'S HOME FOR COLLEGE SPORTS
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 18 of DU's NCAA Division I sports.
Like Denver Pioneers and DU Men's Lacrosse on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_MLAX on Twitter
Follow @denverpioneers and @denvermlax on Instagram