VILLANOVA, Pa. – The [20/RV] University of Denver men's lacrosse program came from as many as three goals down to take the lead in the fourth, but Villanova regained and held on to a 9-7 win on Saturday afternoon at Villanova Stadium.
 
LEADERS:
Sophomore goalie Grayson Manning played his role on Saturday, making 17 saves against just nine goals allowed for a .654 save percentage. Manning finished 60% or better for the sixth time in 10 games this season.
 
Cody Malawsky led Denver's offense with his fourth hat trick of the season and the ninth of his career, finishing with three goals and a pair of assists for a five-point afternoon. Marek Tzagournis had a goal and three helpers to aid the Pios offense, his fourth career game with at least three assists.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Quarter:
After Grayson Manning made his first save of the day to hold Villanova without a goal on the first man-up chance of the day, the Wildcats took advantage of a failed clear and got the first goal of Saturday off the stick of Nick Lucchesi. The Wildcats rode back a second goal of the opening quarter to double their advantage with 9:29 to go in the first.
 
Manning made five saves in the first half of the opening quarter, but a third failed clear led to Villanova's third goal of the first when Raymond buried it into an empty net.
 
Denver turned a shot clock violation on its defensive end into its first goal of the day as a series of passes was capped off by a Cody Malawsky feed to Marek Tzagournis for DU's opening tally to cut the deficit to two with under three and a half minutes to play in the first.
 
After Manning made saves six and seven of the opening quarter, Tzagournis picked up a ground ball from his knees and fed Malawsky, who fired home his first of the day with three seconds to go to make it a 3-2 game at the quarter break.
 
Villanova outshot Denver 18-6, including 10-3 on goal in the first, but Manning kept Denver in the contest until the offense struck twice late to make it a one-goal ballgame.
 
Second Quarter:
Villanova scored unsettled to open the second quarter scoring when Nolan Sabel finished a Raymond feed to make it 4-2 with 13:29 left before halftime.
 
A little over eight minutes later, Manning made his ninth save of the day before Raymond completed his hat trick on the reset opportunity to extend the Wildcats lead back to three with 5:07 to go before halftime.
 
Both offenses went cold in the final five and Villanova took a three-goal lead into the locker room.
 
Third Quarter:
The goalie highlights continued on both sides of the field in the opening 10 minutes of the second half before Gordon Reynolds busted the 10-man ride with a 70-yard bouncer to make it 5-3 with 4:25 to go.
 
Denver's next possession saw Tzagournis pickup a ground ball in the corner and feed Malawsky who finished a low-angle shot for his second of the afternoon.
 
The Pioneers defense blanked Villanova in the third and Denver trailed by just one heading into the final frame of the day.
 
Fourth Quarter:
Manning's 14^th save of the game on the first possession of the fourth led to Chris Merageas burying the equalizer off of Tzagournis' third assist of the afternoon to even things up at 5-5 with 13:36 to go in regulation.
 
Colin Michener broke Denver's nearly 25 minute shutout streak to give Villanova the lead back with 10:48 remaining.
 
Malawsky had the answer for Denver a little over two minutes later to complete his fourth hat trick of the season, this time off an assist from Chase Bruno.
 
Daniel Clark gave Denver its first lead of the afternoon when Malawsky provided the feed from X to 15-yards out top side for the go-ahead goal. Michener hit a runner down the left alley to even things right back up at 7-7 with 5:47 to play.
 
Lachlan Moffatt gave Villanova another reset goal to retake the lead at 8-7 at the 4:07 mark left in regulation. A Denver turnover turned into a Villanova transition goal to build its two-goal lead back off the stick of David Link making it 9-7 with under three minutes to play.
 
Denver wasn't able to get a clear look at goal, and the Wildcats held on to the two-goal win.
 
UP NEXT: Denver will return home next Saturday and welcome St. John's to Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Opening faceoff is set for 12 p.m. MT and will be broadcast on ESPN+ and 104.3 the Fan HD3. Youth in a jersey get a free ticket to Saturday's game with the purchase of an adult ticket.
  
TICKETS: Tickets for the 2026 season are on sale now, and can be purchased here.
 
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