On the weekend of April 30, the DU women’s lacrosse team hosted the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Tournament. 

The visiting lacrosse teams included the University of Oregon, University of Colorado, San Diego State University, University of Southern California (USC) and Stanford University.

The Pioneers opened the tournament by playing in the first round against Oregon. The game was tight at halftime, as DU owned a narrow 4-2 lead. However, that lead would grow after halftime. 

Racing out to an 8-2 lead with sixteen minutes left in the second half, the Pioneers grabbed hold of the game. Oregon would answer with three consecutive goals, but DU answered back with three more of their own to win the game 11-5.

The attack was powered by redshirt freshman Nicole Martindale (Brooklin, Ontario), who registered two goals on four shots. Senior Kiki Boone (Cherry Hills Village, Colorado) was another offensive catalyst, contributing two goals, one assist and a whopping seven shots.

Also in the opening round, Colorado defeated San Diego State to advance to the next round. The semifinals matchups consisted of DU playing USC, with Stanford paired with Colorado.

After only allowing five goals in the opening round, the Pioneers were unable to keep up their defensive dominance, giving up 17 goals to USC. 

Martindale once again scored two goals, but the effort fell short of victory. Early in the second half USC scored to make it a 3-11 game, which set the game nearly out of reach early on. 

DU answered with two goals, but were unable to overcome the large deficit late in the game.

In the end, the DU offense was only able to muster nine goals and the team fell by a score of 9-17 to the Trojans, ending the Pioneer’s season.

Stanford defeated Colorado in the other game of the round. In a final battle between two California teams, Stanford took the title by a score of 16-11 over USC.