DENVER – The University of Denver men's lacrosse program erased a three-goal deficit in the fourth quarter but fell to Providence 8-7 in overtime on Saturday afternoon at Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium.
 
LEADERS:
Sophomore Grayson Manning made 16 saves on Saturday to post his fifth game of the season with a 66.7% save percentage or better.
 
Joe Taraboletti scored twice in the fourth-quarter comeback and Marek Tzagournis scored twice, including the fourth-quarter equalizer. Chase Bruno had Denver's other multi-point game with a goal and an assist.
 
Brody Davis picked up three ground balls to lead the Denver defense.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Quarter:
As the game approached the midway point of the opening quarter, Denver's offense had a PC flag down situation and scored 6-on-7 when Chase Bruno cut to the crease and finished the feed from Chris Merageas. A couple of possessions later, Richie Joseph beat Grayson Manning, who had two saves on the opening two possessions, to even things at 1-1 with 4:14 to play in the first.
 
Manning continued to stand tall to close out the quarter, racking up five saves in the opening 15 minutes of play of a 1-1 game.
 
Second Quarter:
Providence took its first lead of the day off another goal dodging from X, this time from Rhett Chambers to give PC the 2-1 lead less than 90 seconds into the second.
 
Freshman midfielder Colin Komenda netted his first career goal, drawing a double team before spinning around towards the middle of the field and finishing under the crossbar.
 
A couple of possessions later, Providence's top two attackmen teamed up for a transition goal when Chambers hit Joseph for his second of the day to make it 3-2 PC with under three minutes to play.
 
Manning made another five saves in the second frame to bring his total up to 10 at the intermission.
 
Third Quarter:
Denver got the game's first goal of the second half when Rory Graham converted on the man-up to cap off a great passing sequence that got Bruno his second point of the day with the primary helper with 9:48 to play in the third.
 
Providence responded and took the game's first two-goal lead of the afternoon when Luke Schmitt finished a Chambers feed, then Chambers got free in the middle of the field off a Sam Brazell pass to make it 5-3 with 7:43 remaining.
 
The Friars continued to build on their lead, getting traffic in-front of Manning and beating him with a shot he never saw to make it 6-3 Providence with 4:46 left in the third.
 
Marek Tzagournis briefly stopped the run with his goal in transition at 2:19 on the clock, but Providence scored off the ensuing faceoff to extend its lead back to three with just over two minutes to go.
 
Fourth Quarter:
Joe Taraboletti opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a dodge down to the left alley to get the Pioneers back to within two with just over 12 minutes to play in regulation.
 
Taraboletti had another great individual effort to make it a one goal game with 4:30 to go before Tzagournis took his defender all around the field before beating him to the goal and leveling the score at 7-7 with 3:18 remaining.
 
Denver's defense forced a Providence shot clock violation, but couldn't convert on the offensive end out of a timeout to give Providence the ball back with 41 seconds remaining. Manning made his 16^th save of the day in the closing seconds to send the game to overtime.
 
The Pioneers won the fourth quarter 3-0 to send the game to overtime, tying a school record with its 12^th shutout quarter of the year.
 
OVERTIME:
Denver won the opening faceoff of overtime, just its seventh win of the day, and Matt Brown used his timeout. The Pioneers weren't able to get a shot off on the first possession of overtime. Joseph provided the OT winner for Providence on the other end to walk the game off with 1:52 to play in the extra session.
 
UP NEXT: Denver will wrap up its regular season on Friday night when the Pioneers welcome Marquette to Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Opening faceoff is set for 6 p.m. MT, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and 104.3 The Fan HD3.
  
TICKETS: Tickets for the 2026 Senior Day game are on sale now, and can be purchased here.
 
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