DENVER -- The University of Denver women's lacrosse team was chosen as favorites to earn their seventh consecutive BIG EAST regular season title, Olivia Ripple was named preseason Attacker of the Year and Ripple, Alex Dorr, Megan Klingenberg and Lexi Gwaku all earned preseason All-Conference nods. 

Ripple led the Pioneers last season with 76 points on 63 goals and 13 assists. In her sophomore season, Ripple broke the single-game scoring program record with 10 goals against Marquette and has had multi-goal performances in all but three games in the 2025 season. She earned All-Big East First Team and IWLCA All-West/Midwest Region honors and was named Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Her 11 goals, eight ground balls and three caused turnovers in the two-game tournament stint earned her IWLCA National Offensive Player of the Week for the week of May 6. 

Both Dorr and Klingenberg earned All-Big East second team nods a season ago. Dorr averaged 6.65 draw wins per game, and her 133 draw control wins were good for second-most in a single season. She recorded double-digit draws on five occasions in 2025, including a program-best 17 draw wins in the victory over Butler. Klingenberg started every game in 2025, averaging 1.29 caused turnovers and 2.06 ground balls per game and was named to the Big East All-Tournament Team. 

Gwaku made 12 appearances in goal for 275 minutes. She made 38 saves for a .551 save percentage and 6.74 goals against average.

BIG EAST Preseason Women's Lacrosse Coaches' Poll
First-place votes in ( )
1. Denver (6)                 36 pts
2. Villanova                       28
3. UConn (1)                     26
4. Georgetown                  24
5. Marquette                     16
6. Butler                            11
7. Xavier                             6

The Pioneers open the 2026 campaign on February 12 against Southern California in Los Angeles, Calif. 

Tickets for the 2026 season are on sale now and can be purchased here.

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