The DU men’s lacrosse team beat conference rival Villanova 17-10 at home to move to 0-2 for the season. Denver won the match despite missing star 5th-year attackman Ethan Walker (Peterborough, Ontario) due to injury.
The first half was a battle with the biggest advantage being a two-goal lead by Denver towards the end of the first two quarters. However, Villanova fired back one minute before halftime to bring the game back to a one-point lead for DU. With Walker—who was missing his first game in his five-year career at DU—out, DU’s offensive production for the first half came from senior midfielder Jack Hannah (Milford, Ohio) who scored a hat-trick in the second quarter within a six-minute span. Midfielders Ted Sullivan (Tucson, Ariz.) and Zach Hutchko (Charlotte, N.C.), along with attackman JJ Sillstrop (Encinitas, Calif.) contributed with a goal each to give DU the lead 6-5 at halftime.
The slugfest continued into the third quarter as both teams continued trading goals. Sullivan grabbed his second, and grad-transfer attackman Jackson Morrill (Baltimore, Md.) grabbed two. After giving up a penalty that allowed Villanova a man-up goal, faceoff specialist Alec Stathakis (Northville, Mich.) scored on a fast break. The floodgates opened as DU went on to score 6 goals to Villanova’s 1 due to Sillstrop’s second of the game and Morill scoring his third.
Midfielders Alex Simmons (Smithville, Ontario) and Kyle Smith (New Canaan, Conn.) also contributed to the third-quarter run with one goal each. Lucas Cotler (Syosset, N.Y.) scored two, which brought Denver to 10 goals in the third quarter alone. In the fourth quarter, the DU offense slowed with the only goal being by Cotler early in the quarter to finish off his second-half hat trick. Villanova scored two goals at the end, but they could not overcome Denver’s third-quarter performance.
Goalie Jack Thompson (Castle Rock, Colo.) had 12 saves, anchoring the defense throughout the entire game alongside defensemen Jack DiBenedetto (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Colin Squires (West Linn, Ore.). The team finished the game with 25 shots on goal, 36 ground balls won and 18 faceoff wins from Stathakis and TD Ierlan (Victor, N.Y.)—who played in his first game for Denver after transferring from Yale.
On how the team was able to go on that run in the third, head coach Bill Tierney said, “We started believing in each other and playing with confidence.”
The team faces 10th-ranked Georgetown next, another conference rival, in Washington D.C on April 17. The game can be watched on Fox Sports 2, or be listened to on ESPN Denver 1600.
