On his first day back from an injury, senior attack Austin French (Danville, Calif.) had six points, tying his career-high game total for points, helping lead No. 8 Denver past No. 15 University of North Carolina (UNC). The Pioneers ruined the opening of the brand new UNC Lacrosse and Soccer Stadium with a 12-10 win on Saturday, March 2.

Denver fell behind early on when UNC scored the first point of the game at 14:17. However, they responded with a 3-0 game with goals from French, junior Ethan Walker (Peterborough, Ontario) and sophomore Jack Hannah (Milford, Ohio). UNC grabbed the lead back at 12:38, but Walker scored again at 4:54 to tie the game up for the Pioneers. At the end of the first half, UNC led Denver 4-6.

Denver charged out to tie the game after the half, as sophomore Ted Sullivan (Tucson, Ariz.) scored off an assist from senior Colton Jackson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) at 14:05. Sullivan scored again at 12:26, with an assist from Hannah. UNC scored once more at 10:27 to grab the lead back, but Walker responded for the Pioneers to tie the game up again. UNC and Denver would train points, again, with freshman Ellis Geis (Tustin, Calif.) scoring at 4:45 to tie the game at 8-8. Hannah scored at 4:02 to give DU its first lead of the game, but UNC’s William Perry scored at 2:19 to tie the game again. Jackson scored a pair of goals in the fourth quarter at 12:21 and 10:48 to give DU an 11-9 lead. Walker scored at 7:10 to score DU’s final goal of the game

The Pioneers played strong defense, as senior Dylan Gaines (Baltimore, Md.) and sophomore Colin Squires (West Linn, Ore.) both had four ground balls in the game, while junior short-stick defensive midfielder and redshirt-senior long-stick midfielder Matt Neufeldt (Naperville, Ill.) added three ground balls.

Denver lacrosse plays again in Costa Mesa, Calif. against Notre Dame at 7 p.m. MST in the Pacific Coast Shootout. In the inaugural Pacific Coast Shootout in 2014, Denver won 10-7.