St. Mary’s College women’s lacrosse snuck by DU 11-10 in the consolation bracket of the Mountain Pacific Lacrosse League Sunday.
The St. Mary’s Gaels (8-10) finished the tournament in third place, knocking out DU despite another strong effort by Patience Baldwin.
Baldwin, a sophomore, scored four goals for the second time in two consecutive DU games. Denver fell to 6-11 in league standings.
Denver fell behind early as SMC tallied the first three goals of the match. The Gaels’ Megan Bryan poked in two of her four goals of the match in the first period.
Denver fired back with the first of three straight goals when freshman Courtnay Gerl scored from a free-position shot. Freshmen Tanya Fuchs and Lauren Cannon contributed as DU scored three times in less then a minute.
The second period saw another flurry of goals. SMC made a last-minute goal to take a 7-6 lead into the locker room.
Denver came out firing in the second half when freshman Melissa Holecheck and junior Mariana Spry both hit the back of the net. In the first 1:46 of the third DU was ahead 8-7.
St. Mary’s would not fold. They scored three of the next four goals and never looked back. Ahead 11-9, their defense tightened up. Baldwin scored her fourth of the game from a free position.
While St. Mary’s attempted to play keep-away, Denver’s Fuch shot one at the net in the final minute, but failed to tie the match when it hit the post.
Overall, senior Sarah Hazard had 10 saves on 21 shots. With a 10.02 goals against average, and a .577 save percentage, Hazard has achieved the second-best season for a DU netminder.
Spry’s two assists brought her total to 22 for the season, a school record.
Senior Dominique Cook is the most prolific scorer in DU history with 74 goals and 19 assists. Both of those totals are records. Cook surpasses Kim Bodick, who finished her career last season by one point.
Three Pioneers selected to MPLL All-Star Team
Three DU women were selected to the MPLL All-Star Team this past weekend. Sophomore attacker Patience Baldwin, senior defender Megan Bader, and senior goaltender Sarah Hazard were chosen by the coaches for the league honors at the conference tournament.
Baldwin scored four goals in three out of her four final games of the season. She had four straight hat tricks during that period en route to a nine hattrick season.
In the final eight games, Baldwin netted 27 goals and three assists. For the season, she entered the school’s record book with a third-best-ever 42-goal season. Her 48 total points are also good for the third-best total. She is poised to finish her career leading in goals, assists and points, having gained the Pioneers 54 goals, 11 assists and 65 points.
Bader, the team captain for three seasons, was a dominant force on defense. Last season, the team gave up the fewest goals in three years, and the defense improved this year, even though DU played five more games. Bader scored 13 points and 53 groundballs in 58 games. Upon completion of her MBA next month, Bader will attend military officer candidate school.
Hazard was a major deterrent at the net. Her saves percentage and GAA were the best in DU history. Her saves percentage is 16th best in the country. She tallied 25 saves against Virginia Tech in March, surpassing her best effort.
As a junior, Hazard had two 20-plus saves twice. On April 7, 2000, Hazard gave DU its first shutout in school history as the Pioneers defeated cross-town rival Regis. Stanford had more players with league honors than any other team.
The six DU wins are the highest in its history since the Pioneers went to Division I.
