A road sweep from the men’s hockey team, a dominant road win for the men’s lacrosse team and sweeping victories from both tennis squads.
Here’s what happened last week in University of Denver athletics.
Men’s Hockey
No. 5 Denver hockey picked up a much needed sweep against Minnesota Duluth in the state of hockey this past weekend. DU defeated the Bulldogs in overtime in Friday’s contest, 5-4 and dominated Saturday’s matchup, 5-2.
DU held a 4-2 lead with less than three minutes left in Friday’s game but allowed Minnesota Duluth to score two goals to force overtime.
Sophomore forward Aidan Thompson saved the day for Denver and picked up his second career overtime winner against the Bulldogs via a nice five hole shot. Thompson also scored the first goal for DU in the game after he picked up a loose puck in front of the goal and slotted away the rebound.
Saturday’s matchup was not as close and Denver played a much better defensive game. Junior goaltender Matt Davis faced 34 shots and stopped 32. He also picked up his first career assist in the contest.
Two freshman skaters for Denver had one of their best performances this season in Saturday’s contest. Freshman defenseman Zeev Buium led all skaters with a goal and two assists and freshman forward Sam Harris recorded his first multi-goal game of his career.
Denver hockey will return home for their next NCHC series this week against Miami (OH). Friday’s game is scheduled with a 7 p.m. puck drop and Saturday’s is scheduled an hour earlier at 6 p.m.
Women’s Lacrosse
No. 3/4 DU women’s lacrosse dropped their first regular season game since 2022 this past weekend against No. 10 Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Crimson and Gold fell to the Wolverines 4-8 on Saturday.
Denver only held a lead in the first quarter in Saturday’s loss and the offensive unit could never get full control in the contest. Michigan also picked up more draw controls than DU in the contest and forced five more turnovers.
Graduate attack Julia Gilbert recorded two goals in the contest and freshman midfielder Kyra Obert picked up her first career goal in the first quarter.
Denver will return home this week for two matches against non-conference squads. They will take on The Ohio State University on Friday and San Diego State on Sunday. Both games will be at Peter Barton Stadium and have a start time of 1 p.m.
Men’s Lacrosse
No. 8/6 DU men’s lacrosse dominated Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday and defeated the Utes 16-8.
DU had a big first and fourth quarter and scored six goals in each frame to help lift them to their wide victory. Denver was also big in the faceoff circle and graduate student Alec Stathakis went 18 for 26 in faceoff opportunities. This was the best effort this season from Stathakis and he also picked up a season high 10 ground balls.
Senior midfielder Joshua Carlson had his best game of his career with DU on Saturday and recorded a new career high, four goals in the contest. Carlson had a season total of nine goals last year and is already well on his way to beating it early in the season.
Senior midfielder Michael Lampert also recorded a hat trick in the contest and added two assists to his strong effort. Graduate attack JJ Sillstrop also recorded two assists and two goals.
DU will return home to Peter Barton Stadium for another top-ten matchup this week. The Crimson and Gold will take on No. 5/8 Cornell in front of a home crowd on Saturday. Game time is slated for noon.
Women’s Golf
Denver women’s golf was in San Diego last week and picked up a fifth place team finish at the San Diego State Classic. DU competed against 12 teams in the two day tournament.
Individually, each Denver participant finished in the top-40 in the tournament. Graduate student Anna Krekling led the way with a ninth place finish and a six over par score. Senior Katarina Drocarova was the second highest finisher for DU and she tied for 18th place.
The Crimson and Gold will head to Arizona in their next event for the Dual of the Desert against Arizona State. They will play their match play event on Feb. 25.
Women’s Basketball
DU women’s basketball fell to 7-19 this past weekend after dropping their two road contests in North Dakota. They fell to North Dakota 65-75 on Thursday and North Dakota State 65-86 on Saturday.
Denver never mustered a lead in the first half of Thursday’s matchup against the Fighting Hawks but mounted a valiant comeback in the fourth quarter to bring their deficit down to six. North Dakota took care of business from there and handed DU their second loss this season.
Sophomore guards Jordan Jones and Emma Smith led the way offensively for DU. Jones dropped another 20 point effort and Smith recorded 15 points.
In Saturday’s contest, Denver forced more turnovers than North Dakota State but could never get any momentum going on the offensive side of the court. Jones led the way again for DU with 24 points and five assists.
Three more regular season games remain for the Crimson and Gold. They will take on South Dakota State in their next contest on Thursday at Hamilton Gymnasium. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m.
Men’s Basketball
For the second straight week, DU men’s basketball split their conference slate inside Hamilton Gymnasium. They were bested by North Dakota 78-92 on Thursday and defeated North Dakota State 77-71 on Saturday.
It was a back and forth first half for Denver in Thursday’s matchup against the Fighting Hawks but North Dakota would take hold of the game in the second half and never relinquished their lead. Junior forward Touko Tainamo had a big individual contest and recorded a double-double with 27 points and 13 rebounds.
Saturday’s contest allowed a bounce back performance for DU and fifth-year guard Tommy Bruner who was held to a season-low 11 points by North Dakota. The nation’s leading scorer led Denver to a 20-point comeback in the second half and recorded 41 of Denver’s 77 points en route to the victory.
Bruner is the first player in the country to record 40 point efforts in multiple games this season and the first DU player since 1989-90 to record 40 points in two games in a season.
After improving to 6-7 in conference play, DU will have some work to do in order to get a solid seed heading into the Summit League Tournament. Their first of three tests will come this week on the road against second place South Dakota State. DU will take on the Jackrabbits on Thursday with a tip-off time of 6 p.m.
Women’s Gymnastics
No. 7 DU gymnastics was on the road this week in Morganstown, W.Va. and picked up their third straight meet win against Iowa State and West Virginia on Sunday. Denver recorded a 197.350 team score, 1.675 more points than the Cyclones and 2.100 more than the Mountaineers.
The Crimson and Gold’s best event on Sunday was once again the bars event and the team picked up their second highest score of the season with a 49.600. They also posted a solid effort in the floor event with a 49.400 score.
Individually, senior Jessica Hutchinson picked up her fourth straight all-around title. She won the beam event with a 9.950 score which was the only 9.900+ score in the event and tied for first in the floor event with a 9.925. She finished her meet with her lowest score of the season on the vault event with a 9.775 but still captured her sixth all-around title this season.
Freshman Madison Ulrich finished in second again for the second straight week with a 39.550 all-around score. Ulrich had the best score of the day with a near perfect 9.975 in the bars event and also picked up a solid 9.900 score on the floor event.
Denver’s last Big 12 regular season meet will come on Friday against BYU. The team will travel to Provo, Utah this week and will look to pick up their fourth conference victory this season.
Women’s Tennis
Denver women’s tennis hosted the University of Utah this week and swept the Utes 4-0 on Friday.
Denver captured the doubles points to start off the match. Junior Andrea Burguete Beltran combined with graduate student Britt Pursell for a 6-2 win while sophomores Caroline Drsicoll and Louise Wikander combined for a 6-3 win.
On the singles side, Burguete Beltran, Driscoll and Wikander each won their matches in straight sets to lift Denver to their fifth straight victory. Driscoll only dropped three sets en route to her #4 singles matchup win.
Denver will travel to the Lone Star State this week for two matches. They will take on Baylor University on Friday and SMU on Saturday.
Men’s Tennis
DU men’s tennis improved to 8-0 with a 4-0 sweeping victory over LMU on Sunday.
On the doubles side, DU picked up two match victories to secure the point in favor of the Crimson and Gold. Senior Nicolas Herrero Cuesta combined with junior Rikuto Yamaguchi for another one-set victory while junior Daniel Sancho Arbizu dominated with graduate student Marvin Schaber to a 6-1 victory.
On the singles side, Herrero Cuesta, Sancho Arbizu and sophomore Raffaello Papajcik each won their matches in straight sets to lift the Crimson and Gold to their win.
DU will travel to Madison, Wis. this week for two road matches. They will take on Butler University on Saturday and the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Sunday.
