Two conference titles from men’s hockey and swim and dive, a solid week for the ski team in Alaska and another dominant victory for the women’s lacrosse squad.
Here’s what happened last week in DU Athletics.
Men’s Hockey
The No. 3 men’s hockey team clinched the Penrose Cup for the second consecutive season as NCHC regular season champions with their sweep over No. 5 Western Michigan. In Friday night’s contest, junior defenseman Mike Benning (St. Albert, Alberta) posted a career-high four points en route to the 5-2 victory. Benning scored two goals in the game which now gives him the lead for most goals in the NCAA by a defenseman with 12 in the bag. Sophomore forward Massimo Rizzo (Burnaby, B.C.) continued to produce for Denver’s offense, posting three points of his own in the Friday night victory. Saturday night’s contest was closer on the scoreboard but the same result occurred. Sophomore forward and western Michigan native, Carter Mazur (Jackson, Mich.) sealed the game-winner in the third period after forcing a turnover and firing a bullet past the Bronco goaltender. Rizzo had an empty net goal and an assist as well in the 3-1 victory. The team will look to end the season on a high note with another weekend series against rival Colorado College. They will switch locations, playing their Friday contest at Magness Arena before traveling down to Colorado Springs Saturday night to end the regular season.
Swim and Dive
The men’s and women’s swim and dive teams dominated the competition in Minnesota this past week during the Summit League Championships. The women’s team won their 10th straight consecutive title, and the men’s team won their ninth title in the past 10 seasons. The squads won 25 championship events and took home several individual accolades as well. Redshirt senior Natalia Arky (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) took home Swimming Championship MVP, graduate student Zora Opalka (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) won the Diving Championship MVP award and freshman Mina Ada Solaker (Istanbul, Turkey) won the Newcomer of the Championship award. Two coaches also won awards. Head Diving Coach Aaron D’Addario won both the men’s and women’s awards for Diving Coach of the Year while Head Coach Alicia Hicken-Franklin won women’s Swimming Coach of the Year. In total, the women’s squad recorded 1047 points, squashing the second-place South Dakota Coyotes by 351.5 points. The men’s squad recorded 902 points, trouncing second-place Lindenwood University by 103.5 points.
Women’s Gymnastics
The No. 10 ranked gymnastics team traveled to Ames, Iowa on Friday night to take on Big 12 opponent Iowa State. The team was record-breaking in the vault event and recorded a 197.275 team score en route to victory over the Cyclones. The team posted a 49.600 score on the vault event breaking the previous record of 49.550 that the team set back in January. Graduate student Lynnzee Brown (Raytown, Missouri) led the way for the Crimson and Gold posting an impressive 9.975 on vault and a competition-leading 39.650 all-around score. Fresh off being named Big 12 Gymnast of the Week, junior Rylie Mundell (Parker, Colo.) recorded a 9.950 on vault and finished second in the all-around action with a 39.525. The team will have their final regular season home meet of the year at Magness Arena on March 5 when they host Towson University.
Skiing
The men’s and women’s ski teams had a busy week in Alaska as they took part in two competitions, the Alaska Anchorage Invitational, and the RMISA Championships. The teams placed second in both competitions falling short of the University of Utah both times. At the Alaska Anchorage Invitational, freshman Sara Rask (Stockholm, Sweden) placed first in the women’s giant slalom race on Tuesday. Junior Nora Brand (Munich, Germany) would follow up with a win in Thursday’s women’s slalom race after also placing third in the Tuesday giant slalom race. Sophomore Andreas Kirkeng (Lier, Norway) picked up two podium finishes in Tuesday’s 10K Classical race and Monday’s men’s freestyle sprints event. At the RMISA Championships, Rask continued her successful week with another win in the Wednesday women’s Giant Slalom event and Brand would also follow up with another win in the slalom race. Kirkeng also won the Friday Men’s 20K Classical race, winning by a little more than 17 seconds. Senior Bernhard Flaschberger (St. Veit, Pongau, Austria) captured a first-place finish of his own in the Men’s 10K Freestyle event. The team’s next competition is the biggest of the year. The NCAA is announcing the selection of the skiers for the NCAA Skiing Championships on Feb. 28 and if the DU skiers are selected to compete they will travel to New York to take part from March 8-11.
Women’s Lacrosse
The No. 11 ranked women’s lacrosse team was in Columbus, Ohio Saturday afternoon and defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes, 11-4. Graduate attack Kayla DeRose (Gaithersburg, Md.) and senior attack Julia Gilbert (Mclean, Va.) scored a hat trick each and led the way offensively for the Crimson and Gold. DeRose also added two assists for a game-high five points. After the first quarter ended with a tie of 2-2, Denver went on to score five unanswered goals through the first section of the third quarter. The squad was great defensively and in the draw circle as they forced 11 turnovers in the contest and went 14-5 in draw controls. The team remains undefeated on the season and will finally play their first home game of the season on Wednesday at 4 p.m. when they take on the University of Michigan.
Men’s Lacrosse
The men’s lacrosse team was back home Saturday afternoon to take on Merrimack University and got their second win of the season by a score of 13-9. Sophomore attack Noah Manning (Victoria, B.C) scored a game-high four goals and led the way offensively for the Crimson and Gold. The team was potent on offense producing 35 shots on goal and getting 10 different goalscorers on the scoring sheet. After leading 7-5 at halftime, the team widened their lead with a five-goal third quarter and did not allow the Warriors to sneak back into the contest. The team will travel to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to take on the ranked North Carolina Tar Heels in their next contest on March 4 at 9 a.m. MT.
Women’s Golf
The women’s golf squad was in Las Vegas this past week taking part in The Show, and placing fifth out of 15 teams. The team posted a 3-over-par total after three rounds and won two head-to-head matches against Kent State and Purdue. Senior Anna Zanusso (Castelfranco Veneto, Italy) had a stellar showing, recording a 7 under in the tournament and placing second out of 87 golfers. She also was awarded Summit League Peak Golfer of the Week for the second straight week after her season-high performance. Graduate student Alyson Bean (Muerrita, Calif.) had a tournament-low score of 67 in the third round and finished tied for 12th place. The team then traveled to Arizona to take part in the Westbrook Invitational and placed third out of 13 teams with a 10 under-par total score. Bean had a stellar third round recording a 7 under par which shot her 10 spots up the leaderboard to share the top spot on the podium with Ohio State’s Caley McGinty. Bean’s third-round score was a collegiate career low and is the first time in her career she has captured a 1st place finish. The next tournament for the team will be in beautiful Maui, Hawaii at the Avenue Spring Break Invitational on March 27-29.
Women’s Tennis
The No. 39 ranked women’s tennis continued their recent success with a sweeping win over Montana State University Friday evening. Freshman Claudia Martinez de Velasco (Madrid, Spain) picked up a doubles win with sophomore partner Andrea Burguete Beltran (Burriana, Spain) in straight sets. Martinez de Velasco also picked up a singles win in the match in straight sets. She was named Summit League Peak Performer of the Week last Tuesday, the first weekly accolade of her career. The team never let the Bobcats win a set, and swept them 7-0. The team improves to 5-2 on the season and looks to keep the success going against the University of Wyoming on March 1 at home.
Men’s Tennis
The men’s tennis team traveled to Salt Lake City this past weekend to compete in a match against the University of Utah. It was a hard-fought match and half of the six singles matches went to three sets but the squad ultimately lost 2-5. Before the match was played, junior Nicolas Herrero Cuesta (Segovia, Spain) was named Summit League Peak Performer of the Week after going undefeated in six matches in the past weekend slate of matches. Graduate student Conner Olsen (Orono, Minn.) won his singles match in straight sets and freshman Raffaello Papajcik (London, England) won his singles match in a third-set tiebreak. After losing their first match in three contests, the team will look to get back into the win column with a match in Los Angeles against Loyola Marymount University on March 3.
Women’s Basketball
The women’s basketball squad was in Nebraska this past weekend taking on Omaha in their last regular season contest. The team won the turnover battle in the match but ultimately lost 73-83. Freshman guard Emma Smith (Vestavia Hills, Ala.) dropped a game-high 26 points, the sixth time this season she has scored more than 20 points in a contest. Senior forward Makayla Minett (Chicago, Ill.) added 12 points and 2 blocks in the contest which puts her at a career-high of 72 blocks on the season. She is now ninth in the nation in total blocks. The Crimson and Gold had a strong second quarter going up by one at the half but ultimately could not stop the Mavericks’ offense in the second half. As the regular season ends, the team will look to also make a run in the Summit League Tournament playing their first-round matchup against Kansas City on March 3 in South Dakota.
Men’s Basketball
The men’s basketball team capped off their regular season with a Senior Day home win against Summit League opponent Omaha on Saturday by a score of 72-61. Sophomore guard Tevin Smith (Danville, Ill.) led the way for the Crimson and Gold and dropped 18 points and seven rebounds in the victory. Sophomore forward Touko Tainamo (Helsinki, Finland) picked up his third double-double for the season and recorded 11 points and 11 rebounds. After going up 14 at the end of the first half, DU kept their foot on the gas pedal and delivered in the paint for buckets. 36 of the 72 points came from the paint and 20 of those were in the second half. The team picked up their 15th win of the season, which is the most since the 2017-18 season. The team now looks to make a run in the Summit League Championship. Their first elimination game will be against the ninth-seed North Dakota Fighting Hawks on March 3 at 5 p.m. in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The match will be broadcasted on ESPN +.
