The Denver women’s lacrosse team defeated Stanford 8-7 on Jan. 8, followed by a 13-4 win over the University of California, Berkeley on Jan. 10. After the matches, Head Coach Liza Kelly said, “We had a great swing through California. Both games provided us with a number of learning opportunities. I am excited to get back to work and prepare for our home-opener against Louisville.”
On Friday, Jan. 8, the Pioneers opened their season up against Stanford. After the first half, Denver held a commanding seven-goal lead. Senior Julia Feiss (Baltimore, Md.) scored the first goal of the game at 20:55, with an assist from fellow senior Kendra Lanuza (Littleton, Colo.). Lanuza was credited with another assist at 19:12 after assisting sophomore Hannah Liddy (Westfield, N.J.). This would be Liddy’s first of three goals in the game. At 13:55, the 2018 BIG EAST Co-Freshman of the Year, Quintin Hoch-Bullen (Orillia, Ontario), scored to bring the Pioneers up 3-0. Stanford scored their first goal at 12:12, but the Pioneers quickly responded with goals from sophomore Eliza Radochonski (Englewood, Colo.) at 9:23, junior Molly Little (Tiverton, R.I.) 4:33 and the second of three from Liddy. In the second half, Liddy would be the only Pioneer to score, completing her hat-trick at 2:25 to preserve the Pioneers’ lead.
In their Sunday, Jan. 10 game against Berkeley, Denver improved to 2-0 behind a strong offensive performance led by sophomore Bea Behrins (Basking Ridge, N.J.) and Liddy. Liddy was credited with the first two goals of the game after scoring at 27:05 and 16:50. Radochonski scored at 14:27 after a Berkeley goal, bringing the game to 3-1, Pioneers. Behrins scored the first of her five goals at 14:09, followed by a goal at 12:43. Hoch-Bullen (11:22, 8:51), Lanuza (9:17) and Little (6:55) rounded out the scoring in the first half for Denver. In the second half, Behrins started the offensive action with a goal at 22:33, followed by Little, who scored at 8:41. Behrins scored twice more, at 7:28 and 00:58, to round out scoring for the game for Denver.
Denver returns to the Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 16, at 1 p.m., MST to kick off their 2019 home season with a game against Louisville.
