A late afternoon game mixed with early evening snow flurries greeted the No. 9 University of Denver women’s lacrosse team at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium for the 2023 season. With over 350 fans in attendance Wednesday night, the girls continued their season-long winning streak with a 7-5 win vs. the No. 21 University of Michigan Wolverines.
It was overall a very close contest, and each team had similar statistics. Denver had a stronger offensive showing, producing 15 shots on goal while Michigan was held to nine. Defense was the name of the game, and in their first ranked matchup of the year, the Crimson and Gold were able to hold Michigan to just five goals, which is their lowest score total in the season.
The Wolverines got on the board first with Jill Smith finding the back of the net three minutes into the contest. The shot went past sophomore goalkeeper Emelia Bohi’s (Bethesda, MD) right shoulder and weaved around through multiple of DU’s defensemen.
Sophomore midfielder Caroline Colimore (Hunt Valley, MD) fired back minutes later to tie DU up at one on a running pass from the left and went down below the knees on the right side of the Wolverine’s keeper. Coming from behind the crease, sophomore attack Mollie Estepp (Worthington, Ohio) gave Denver its first lead of the game with an unassisted shot up high into the net with just over five minutes remaining in the first period to give them the 2-1 lead heading into the second period.
Michigan’s Smith was awarded a yellow card and sent DU up on a man advantage. Senior attack Julia Gilbert (Mclean Virg.) with help from graduate attack Kayla DeRose (Gaithersburg, MD) capitalized on the man advantage to extend DU’s lead even further. This goal came through traffic and into the middle right of the net while surprising Michigan’s goalie who thought she had saved it.
Smith scored her second of the night to bring Michigan one point closer to Denver. Within a minute of Michiagn’s goal, Estepp got her second goal of the game with a shot that made it through traffic and just past Michigan’s goaltender’s right shoulder, to bring DU’s lead back up by two. Smith completed a hat trick to end the first half with Denver up by one by a score of 4-3.
Sophomore attack Lauren Black (New Westminster, B.C.) started the second half off strong with a shot on the 8m line directly after the whistle, to once again extend DU’s lead by two. The Wolverines fought back quickly with Smith getting her fourth goal of the night, and Kaylee Dyer scored to tie them up with Denver heading into the last quarter.
DU came out of the quarter huddle with big intentions to continue their winning streak and close out the home opener with a win. They did just that.
Bohi held the Wolverines scoreless during the fourth quarter to do her part to help secure the win. Black sent sophomore attack Raegan Wilson (Milton, Ontario) a pass from the 12m circle that found Maya Santa-Maria high above her left shoulder, halfway through the final period on a man-up advantage to break the tie. Gilbert got her second of the night from a far out below the knees bounce shot to secure the home win, 7-5.
The DU women’s lacrosse team traveled to play top 5 ranked Maryland on Sunday which ended in an 8-7 win. This comes after DU’s previous 0-4 record vs. the Terps. This win was due in part to the multi-goal performance from senior midfield Ellie Curry (Lutherville, MD) and Black, while Gilbert registered her fifth hat trick of the season.
They return home as the No. 6 team in the nation and return to Peter Barton on Thursday for another late afternoon game vs. Niagara.
