Denver men’s lacrosse beat Air Force 10-2 at home on Saturday behind a 14 save performance from sophomore goalie Grayson Manning. 

The game started deadlocked, with both teams failing to score for most of the first period. Manning made a huge save just five minutes into the game, perfectly reading an Air Force shot from near point blank range to keep the game scoreless. 

As the first quarter dwindled down, junior attacker Marek Tzagournis got the ball behind the goal and found sophomore attacker Watt Muir who slipped it into the net to put Denver up 1-0 at the end of the first. 

Air Force answered immediately at the start of the second quarter. They came down the field and got the ball to Christian Schweiger, who bounced a low ball past the feet of Manning to equalize. 

With 10:11 left to play in the half, Tzagournis made a great run from behind goal and walked the ball into the net to give Denver a 2-1 lead and start the run that would decide the game. 

The Crimson and Gold went on to score five unanswered goals to take a 6-1 lead at the end of the half. The highlight of their run was an acrobatic score from redshirt junior attacker Cody Malawsky who dove forward and flipped the ball behind his back and into the goal for Denver’s fifth. 

The third quarter was quieter with no scores until the last three minutes when Denver quickly scored two, extending their lead to 8-1. 

Denver went on to close out in the fourth quarter. They conceded once before capping the game off with another goal from Muir and a close range goal from redshirt senior midfielder Joe Taraboletti for his first of the game to give Denver the 10-2 win.

Manning finished the game with 14 saves while conceding only twice.

Muir led the team in goals with his hat-trick while Tzagournis led Denver in points with one goal and four assists. 

This win moves Denver to a 2-0 start, winning their first two games by a combined score of 30-3. 

Their next game will be on the road against Utah on Feb. 14.