The DU women’s lacrosse team demonstrated remarkable resilience in the 2023-24 season.
Despite the challenges faced by their tough schedule, they finished with an impressive record of 16-4. They played seven ranked opponents including No. 1 Northwestern, No. 8 Yale and No. 9 Maryland. They especially showed an advantage at home, finishing 8-1, and in the conference, finishing a perfect 5-0 in the regular season.
After the conclusion of the regular season, DU won their fourth consecutive conference title and defeated UConn 16-14 on May 4.
But unfortunately for the program, the season came to an end for the second year in a row with Northwestern in the NCAA tournament.
Standout players from this season included Julia Gilbert, Olivia Penoyer and Trinity McPherson.
Gilbert was vital to the Denver offense this season. She was especially great at creating space as an attacker and being a consistent ball handler for the offense. Gilbert had a great season, breaking massive records such as the most goals scored by a player in program history, which amounted to 202 goals.
Her last season was a testament to her successful career, leading the team in goals with 59 and second in the team in points with 67. She also had eight game-winning goals and ranked fifth on the team with eight assists. Her 67 points propelled her to fourth in the Big East, marking a remarkable season as the Big East Co-Attacker of the Year.
Penoyer was not just one of the best passers in women’s lacrosse last season but also an academically bright mind. She did her undergraduate studies at Yale University with a degree in psychology and is doing her master’s in social work at DU. This season at DU, her impact on the offensive side was strongly felt as she recorded 56 assists and 26 goals with a shooting percentage of .657. Penoyer’s strong season was awarded with an IL Women All-America Honorable Mention.
McPherson transferred from Johns Hopkins to DU last year as a graduate student. She is courageous and strong, shutting down 1 on 1 defensive attacks using her fast feet to force the offense into making quick decisions. She was honored to the IWLCA 2024 All-American second-team and was also awarded Big East Defensive Player of the Year. She was an exceptional athlete when it came to ground balls; picking up 41 and causing 38 turnovers. She ranked second on the squad with a career-high 85 draw-control wins. She was a member of the Big East First Team and she also added a goal and an assist this season.
Fifth-year defender Sam Thacker has been a staple for the program for five years. Unfortunately for the defensive captain, she only played in 13 games this season due to injury. Her impact on the program will forever be felt though as she broke the career records in caused turnovers, ground balls and tied for most games started.
Her impact this season was still felt in the 13 games she played. She finished fourth on the team in ground balls and fifth in caused turnovers, a category she has led DU in the past two seasons.
The program will miss the leadership and talent of Gilbert, Thacker, Penoyer and McPherson.
The team started the season on the right note and demolished Louisville 16-8. One week later, the team traveled to Michigan but took their first loss in a 4-8 heated defensive battle.
Two more wins after were met with two losses in top-10 matchups against Maryland and Northwestern. The team bounced back quickly though and picked up a ranked win over Stony Brook just three days after their loss to Northwestern.
The Crimson and Gold never lost a regular season game after the heroic effort against Stony Brook. Their biggest wins came after they defeated No. 20 Colorado on April 3 and No. 8 Yale on April 22.
Against the Buffaloes on April 3, the Crimson and Gold displayed their strength in the CU defensive zone. Their fluent passing and excellent chemistry in the defensive zones of operations made it challenging for CU to track the ball movement.
Against the Bulldogs on April 22, junior goalkeeper Emelia Bohi denied a fast-paced shot from Yale in close quarters in the waning moments of the 4th quarter. The Crimson and Gold then gained strength down the field with a clear and fired their game-winning shot to seal the deal. The two players that made it happen to win the game was Penoyer who fed Lauren Black with 1.4 seconds on the clock to make DU win a 12-11 hard-fought victory.
DU played Stanford in the regular season and was victorious in the first matchup at home winning 10-6. They also met in the NCAA tournament and kept it closer to win 13-12. Gilbert was remarkable offensively and scored her 13th hat trick of the season to help seal the victory to lift DU into the late second round of the NCAA tournament.
Northwestern was tough to beat for Denver this season once again, and the first matchup in the regular season ended with the score being 10-14. The Crimson and Gold got beat down defensively against Northwestern in the second round of the NCAA tournament and lost 4-17. Northwestern eliminated Denver and outmatched Denver offensively and defensively.
Alongside Gilbert, Thacker, Penoyer, and McPherson, Denver will potentially lose seven players going into the 2025 season, depending on whether players decide to take an extra year of eligibility. Next year, the Crimson and Gold will lose two of their best defenders, Bryn McCaughey and Anna Palmisano. Sloane Kipp and Abby Jenkins will also not be on the team, which puts Denver going into replacement mode going into the 2025 season.
DU will be adding 10 freshmen to the roster for the upcoming season. Lexi Gwaku is the 42nd-ranked recruit and 6th-ranked goalkeeper in the 2024 women’s lacrosse high school rankings.
The program will look to put their strong resiliency into developing their freshmen class and adding transfers during the offseason.
