The No. 9 women’s lacrosse team continued their hot streak and Big East dominance on Saturday, topping the Villanova Wildcats 16-8 on the road. With the victory, Denver secured its third consecutive Big East Regular Season Championship. The squad was led by freshman midfielder Lauren Black’s (New Westminster, B.C.) career-high six goals in the win, which extended the team’s winning streak to eight games as they improved to 14-1 overall and undefeated in conference play.
In the first quarter, the Wildcats got on the scoreboard first, with Black soon to follow for the Crimson and Gold. One more Villanova goal followed by a last-second unassisted effort from junior attack Julia Gilbert (McLean, Va.) brought the game to a 2-2 draw to close out the first 15 minutes.
Both offenses heated up in the second quarter, with Villanova quickly responding to three Denver goals. DU would get the final word of the half, as freshman midfielder Mollie Estepp (Worthington, Ohio) found the net in the final 2:44 to give DU a 6-5 lead going into the third quarter.
The Crimson and Gold found their fire in the third stanza, going on a 7-0 run, including two more goals from Black and an additional two from graduate student attack Bea Behrins (Basking Ridge, N.J.). They were joined by Gilbert, Estepp and junior attack Charlotte Boote (Towson, Md.) in tallying for DU. Three of the seven goals occurred in the final 60 seconds of the quarter, with Gilbert’s goal coming right as time expired to give Denver a commanding 13-5 lead going into the final quarter. Behrins’ goals gave her the 50th and 51st of the season, tying her career-high.
The Wildcats did their best to hang on, scoring three consecutive goals to open the final 15 minutes. Two of the goals came from Caroline Curnal, which gave her a hat trick on the afternoon. However, Gilbert’s final tally, followed by two more from Black, both assisted by Gilbert, added an exclamation point on the lead to secure the win.
In addition to her sixth game this year scoring at least a hat trick, Black also recorded two ground balls and had a game-high 10 shots.
DU had a 36-22 edge in total shots and led 26-15 in shots on goal in the game.
Denver will close out the regular season at home this week with a game against Colorado on Wednesday and Marquette on Saturday, when the team will celebrate Senior Day. On Saturday, DU will have the opportunity to secure the No. 1 overall seed in the conference tournament with a win.
