BOULDER, Colo. -- The Denver Pioneers earned a program-first, 16-8 victory over the Florida Gators in the opening round of the NCAA tournament on Friday night in Boulder, Colorado.
KEY PERFORMANCES
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Caroline Keil led the offense with five goals,
Olivia Ripple added four goals and two assists and
Eva Thomsen-Marr tallied three goals and three assists.
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Carly Frohnapfel and
Olivia Ripple led the draw effort with four and six wins, respectively.
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Ava Welty led the defense with a pair of caused turnovers and four Pioneers grabbed two ground balls each: Keil, Ripple, Thomsen-Marr and
Caroline Bowers.
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Lexi Gwaku tallied 10 saves and a 0.556 save percentage.
Olivia Ripple opened the scoring with an unassisted goal less than five minutes into the game. Florida fired off four straight to take a 4-1 lead after the first quarter.
Lindsey Wilmot caused a Florida turnover and grabbed the ground ball to swing the momentum in favor of the Pioneers less than a minute into the second.
Caroline Keil scored her first of the day to make it 4-2.
Lexi Gwaku kept the game within reach with a big save on a Gator free position attempt, leading to goals by
Caroline Bowers and
Eva Thomsen-Marr to tie it. Florida briefly retook the lead before back-to-back goals from Ripple and
Karleigh Mutch made it 6-5 at halftime.
The Pioneers poured on the offense in the third with three straight goals from Keil, Ripple and Thomsen-Marr to extend the lead to 9-5. Florida and Denver traded goals back and forth but the Pioneers held a 10-7 advantage with one quarter remaining.
Denver held Florida to just one goal in the final quarter, outscoring the Gators 6-1 to earn the 16-8 victory.
NOTABLES:
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Ryan Dineen scored her 100th goal and recorded her 99th and 100th assists in the win.
- With the win, the Pioneers are 3-0 in regionals in the state of Colorado.
- The win marks the program's first over Florida.
- Denver handed Florida its largest loss of the season, the previous largest margin of loss was 14-11 at No.10 - Navy on February 28.
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Caroline Keil tied the record for the most goals in an NCAA tournament game with five.
UP NEXT: The Pioneers take on No. 8 Colorado on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. in Boulder, Colorado. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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