Photo by: Jimmy Baumgartner
The successful and impressive season for the No. 14 DU women’s lacrosse team just keeps ticking along as they won a pair of games on the road this past weekend. The now 12-2 overall and 2-0 in conference Pioneers defeated Stanford 12-8 on Friday and then rolled over UC Davis 12-5 on Sunday. These were their first two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation games of the season and also their last two road games of the season.
On Sunday, UC Davis (6-6, 0-3) lite up the scoreboard first with their only goal and shot of the half. DU answered with nine goals before halftime. The Aggies outscored the Pioneers 4-3 in the second half, but it didn’t matter, as DU cruised to a 12-5 victory.
Denver was once again led by sophomore Karen Morton who recorded three goals and two assists and is third on the team with 35 goals this season. Senior standout Kristie Leggio, freshman Ali Flury and junior Megan Carver also helped out the cause, each scoring two goals. Leggio now has 45 goals and 30 assists on the season for 75 points and leads the team in all three categories.
Denver out shot UC Davis 46 to 12 in the game, including 31 to 1 in the first half and also won the ground ball possession 27 to 16 in the game.
DU started their California road trip on Friday where they defeated two-time defending MPSF champion Stanford 12-8. Denver opened the game with a goal by Flury before the Cardinals responded with two goals of their own. Then, the Pioneers put in three straight goals and headed into halftime with a 6-4 advantage.
The second half started with the two teams swapping goals before DU broke the game open with three consecutive goals and held on for the victory.
Sophomore Steph Coyne led the way with four goals and an assist and Leggio, freshman Lexi Sanders and Morton all added two goals apiece. Also Flury and carver put in a goal and an assist themselves.
Denver will continue their conference play this Friday when they host Saint Mary’s at 1 p.m. at the Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. They will finish out the year with matches against Oregon on April 21 at 1 p.m. and Cal on April 28 also at 1 p.m.
Last season was the best in Pioneer history as they finished with a school record 15 wins and just missed out on the NCAA tourney as they fell to Stanford in the MPSF Championship game.
This season seems destined for more success as DU is on pace to finish with another high in wins, a high in the national rankings and hopefully a first-ever berth in the NCAA tournament.
