Home opener wins for both lacrosse teams, second place finishes for the skiing team and the women’s golf squad, and a solid showcase from swim and dive.
Here’s what happened last week in University of Denver athletics.
Men’s Lacrosse
The No. 7 DU men’s lacrosse team won their first home game of the season in a snowy atmosphere on Saturday. The squad defeated Air Force 11-9.
Denver was down a goal heading into halftime but used their four-goal effort in the third quarter to lift them to their win. Turnovers were a problem during the game due to the cold and wet conditions. Denver forced 21 turnovers and committed 28.
Junior attack Noah Manning and junior midfielder Mic Kelly each recorded hat tricks in the victory. Graduate attacks JJ Sillstrop and Richie Connell combined for two goals each and freshman midfielder Lucas Klokiw scored his first career goal in the contest.
Senior goalie Malcolm Kleban stopped a career high 14 shots in Saturday’s victory.
Denver will go back on the road for their next contest against the University of Utah. They will travel to Salt Lake City on Saturday and game time is slated for 1 p.m.
Women’s Lacrosse
The No. 4 DU women’s lacrosse team opened their season at Peter Barton Stadium on Friday and crushed Louisville en route to their first win of the season. The Crimson and Gold defeated the Cardinals 16-8.
It was all DU at the start of the contest and the team netted the game’s first five goals. Louisville outscored Denver in the middle frame of the game and brought their deficit down to three heading into the fourth quarter. DU’s defense did not allow a Cardinal goal in the fourth, and another five unanswered goals ended the game in favor of the home team.
Big debuts from transfer graduate students Olivia Penoyer and Jane Earley highlighted the success of Denver in the contest. Penoyer recorded a team-high three assists in the victory and added two goals. Earley scored two goals in her D-I lacrosse debut.
Junior attack Lauren Black and graduate attack Julia Gilbert each recorded their first hat trick of the season in Friday’s victory.
DU will be on the road this week for their first away game of the season. They will take on the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on Saturday. Game start is scheduled for 10 a.m.
Women’s Gymnastics
Denver gymnastics picked up their second-straight home meet victory on Sunday against Iowa State and Southeast Missouri State. Denver recorded a very high 197.775, beating out the Cyclones’ 195.800 and Redhawks’ 194.675.
Denver was consistent in all four events in Sunday’s meet. They recorded a near season-high in the floor event with a 49.400, just missing the mark by 0.075 points. DU recorded a 49.350 in the vault event, a 49.400 in the bars event and their highest score of the day came in the beam event with a 49.475 score.
Individually, senior Jessica Hutchinson continued her all-around title win streak and tied the school record for an all-around score. Hutchinson tied Lynnzee Brown’s 2021 score of 39.825 and did it in incredible fashion.
She first won the vault event for Denver with a 9.975, the only score in the event above 9.900. Hutchinson tied for second in the vault event with another 9.900 score and won the beam event with a 9.950. To tie it all off, she recorded her first 10.000 of the season on the floor event and the third perfect score of her career.
Freshman Madison Ulrich tied her season high all-around score with a 39.550. Ulrich recorded a 9.900 in the bars event and a 9.925 in the floor event, both good for second place event finishes.
Junior Mia Hebnick won the bars event with a 9.925 score which is the second straight week she has won the event.
Denver will travel to the East Coast this week for a Big 12 meet against Iowa State and West Virginia. The meet is slated for Sunday at noon.
Men’s Basketball
Denver men’s basketball split their Summit League matchups this week. They were defeated on the road in overtime by South Dakota 86-92 on Thursday and came back home to Hamilton Gymnasium to defeat St. Thomas on Saturday, 94-77.
DU came back from a five-point deficit in the second half of Saturday’s loss to force overtime, but it ultimately was not enough. With 36 seconds left DU was outscored by six to end the contest. Fifth-year guard Tommy Bruner led the scoring for DU and dropped 30 points in the loss.
Saturday’s game was a much better offensive performance for Denver, and the team dominated that part of the court soundly. Denver recorded a solid 57.9% field goal shooting percentage, and five players finished in double scoring figures.
Graduate guard Jaxon Brenchley had his biggest game of the season, nearly recording a triple-double with 25 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Brenchley shot efficiently everywhere on the floor, finishing 2-3 from three point land, 7-10 from the field and 9-9 from the free-throw line.
The Crimson and Gold will stay home this week for two Summit League Matchups against North Dakota based squads. They will take on North Dakota on Thursday at 7 p.m. and North Dakota State on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Women’s Basketball
DU women’s basketball also split their conference slate this week on the road and at home. They were destroyed by South Dakota at Hamilton Gymnasium on Thursday night by 30 points and bounced back to a 67-61 win on Saturday over St. Thomas.
Denver’s offense could never get going in Thursday’s defeat. Their 33.3% shooting percentage was the 6th worst of the season and 22.2% behind the three point arc was also one of the lowest outputs of the year. Sophomore guard Jordan Jones recorded a double-double in the contest with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Crimson and Gold bounded back tremendously and utilized a big fourth quarter to lift them to their seventh victory on the season. Denver was down two going into the final quarter and had their best defensive quarter, allowing only 11 points. Jones combined with graduate forward Makayla Minnett for 21 points each, and sophomore guard Emma Smith recorded her fifth 20-point game this season.
Denver will travel to North Dakota this week for two more conference matchups. They will take on North Dakota on Thursday at 6 p.m. and North Dakota State on Saturday at noon. Both games are available to stream on the Summit League Network.
Women’s Golf
Denver women’s golf started off their spring season with a solid performance at the FAU Paradise Invitational in Boca Raton, Fla. on Monday and Tuesday. DU placed second out of 14 fielding teams with a three strokes under par team score.
Individually, graduate student Anna Zanusso was the highest finisher for DU, tying for second place. Zanusso had a solid second round and was in reach for an individual title but recorded a 73 in the final round and fell just a spot behind the winner. Junior Clara Gestsdottir was the next highest DU placer with a tie for ninth place finish.
DU will get to travel to another warm location for their next tournament in San Diego, California. The team will participate in the San Diego State Classic on Feb. 12 and 13.
Skiing
Denver skiing hosted the Denver Invitational this week at Loveland Ski Area and picked up a second place team finish.
Day one of the meet was the slalom races and Denver found immediate success with three top finishers in each race. On the women’s side, sophomore Sara Rask led the way with a third place finish. Senior Nora Brand finished right behind her in fourth place, and freshman Liv Moritz placed ninth. On the men’s side, sophomore Thomas Hoffman recorded his highest ever race finish with a fourth place finish. Freshman Chrisitan Soevik and senior Trey Seymour finished behind Hoffman in seventh and eighth place, respectively.
Day two was another day full of alpine slalom races and Denver placed two racers in the top ten in each race. Rask and Brand finished in second and fourth place on the women’s side, while Soevik and Seymour finished in fourth and ninth on the men’s side.
Day three and four of the invitational was dedicated to the Nordic races, and junior Andreas Kirkeng earned victories in the men’s 10K classic race and the 5K freestyle event. This was Kirkeng’s fourth-straight race victory over his last two competitions. On the women’s side, sophomore Selma Andersen had the highest placement over the two races and finished fourth in the 10K classic race.
Denver skiing gets the week off but will return to action next week in Bozeman, Mont. at the RMISA Championships. The alpine races of the competition will happen on Feb. 23-24 and the Nordic races will happen on Feb. 24-25.
Men’s Tennis
DU men’s tennis picked up two more match wins this week. They defeated Idaho State on Thursday soundly, 6-1 and narrowly edged Utah State on Saturday, 4-3.
In Thursday’s matchup against Idaho State, DU wasted no time and picked up the doubles point. Junior Rukuto Yamaguchi combined with senior Nicolas Herrero Cuesta for a 6-2 victory, while sophomore Raffaello Papajcik worked with senior Peter Sallay to a 6-2 victory to capture the point.
Individually, Sallay, graduate students Marvin Schaber, Anish Sriniketh and junior Daniel Sancho Arbizu each won their singles matches to lift DU to their fifth victory of the spring season.
DU did not capture the doubles point in Sunday’s match against Utah State but used four singles wins to lift them to their sixth straight victory. Herrero Cuesta and Sancho Arbizu won their matches in three sets and Schaber and Sriniketh each won their matches in straight sets.
DU will return home and host two more matches this week at Denver Tennis Park. They will compete against Boise State on Friday night and Loyola Marymount University on Sunday morning.
Women’s Tennis
DU women’s tennis captured two road wins in Oregon this past weekend. They defeated Portland 4-2 on Saturday and Oregon 4-3 on Sunday.
In Saturday afternoon’s matchup against Portland, the Crimson and Gold used four singles victories to lift them to a team match win. After dropping the doubles point, sophomores Caroline Driscoll, Claudia Martinez de Velasco and freshman Karsyn Evans each won their singles matches in straight sets. Sophomore Louise Wikander captured her singles match in three sets to help get Denver their third straight team victory.
The doubles point was captured by Denver to start Sunday’s match against the Ducks. Pursell and junior Andrea Burguete Beltran combined to a 6-1 victory and Driscoll and Wikander won their match 6-3.
On the singles side, it was an even split of three wins and three losses for Denver. Burguete Beltran and Pursell won the #1 and #2 singles matches in straight sets and sophomore Alice Otis won her third set to give Denver the win.
Denver will return home for one match this week against the University of Utah. They will compete against the Utes on Friday at 1 p.m. at Denver Tennis Park.
Swim and Dive
Denver’s swimmers hosted their annual First Chance Invitational on Friday and Saturday in El Pomar Natatorium for their last regular season meet this year.
The men’s swimmers competed against Wyoming, Air Force and Colorado School of Mines, while the women’s swimmers competed against the same teams with the addition of Northern Colorado and Colorado State.
On Friday, Denver picked up six race wins over 15 events. Denver swept the 200 meter freestyle races due to great times from junior Mary O’Neil and sophomore Tommy Hancock. Junior Dylan Wright, graduate student Erika Remington, junior Donat Fabian and junior Joseph Purdy also came away with event wins.
Saturday was a repeat of Friday, and Denver picked up another six race wins. O’Neil picked up another race win in the 100 meter fly event and combined with Hancock to sweep the 100 meter freestyle races. Sophomore Max Roslin had a big day and picked up two race wins in the 200 meter backstroke and individual medley races. Freshman Genevieve Franklin won the 500 meter freestyle event to round out the successful weekend for the Crimson and Gold.
DU swim and dive gets the week off before the travel to Minnesota for the Summit League Championships. The team will look to defend their title from last year on Feb. 21-24.
