Denver women’s lacrosse won its fifth consecutive Big East tournament title last weekend in Philadelphia, Penn. with a 20-9 win against Georgetown in the semifinal on May 1 and a 14-9 win against Villanova in the final on May 3. 

The game against Georgetown was a dominant performance from Denver from the start. They went up 7-2 by the end of the first frame and carried this lead for the rest of the game. Redshirt freshman attacker Caroline Keil was a key factor to the hot start with a hat trick in the first period. 

The second period was more even, with four goals from Denver and two from Villanova to give Denver an 11-4 lead heading into the locker room. Sophomore midfielder Olivia Ripple scored four first-half goals. 

The second half was a similar story, with the Crimson and Gold continuing to push their lead. Senior attacker Mollie Estepp scored a second-half hat trick while Ripple added three more goals to push her game total to seven, one short of the Big East tournament record. Denver closed out the game to win 20-9. 

The conference tournament final against Villanova started evenly, with both teams trading goals to end the first quarter at 2-2. Then Denver came out hot in the second period and scored six unanswered goals, three of which came from Ripple. Villanova got one back before Denver scored another two to finish the half leading, 10-3. 

Denver kept their momentum to start the third quarter with the first two goals, but then Villanova surged, scoring three straight to cut the lead to 12-6. Their momentum continued through the fourth period, scoring three goals to Denver’s one in the quarter, but Denver did enough to hang on and win, 14-9. 

Redshirt senior attacker Raegan Wilson scored three goals and added another three assists for a six-point game while Ripple scored four to push her tournament total to 11. 

Six of Denver’s players were named to the all-tournament team, with Ripple winning the most outstanding player award. 

Denver will move on to play Stanford in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Gainesville, Fla. on May 9 at 5 PM.