Denver celebrates a 2019 semifinal win over Villanova.
Top Seed Denver Defeats No. 4 Villanova, 17-11
DENVER, Colo. – No. 1 seed Denver advanced to the BIG EAST Championship final Presented by Jeep with a 17-11 victory over Villanova on Thursday night at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. The win was the 100th win at the stadium by the Pioneers. The Pioneers (10-4) scored 12 goals to Villanova’s three in the first half.
Austin French, Colton Jackson and Ethan Walker each netted a hat trick for the Pioneers. French and Walker also added an assist. Freshman faceoff specialist Brett Boos went 16-of-32 from the faceoff dot with three ground balls.
Villanova’s Keegan Kahn led all scorers with five points (2G, 3A). Villanova closes out the season with an 8-7 overall mark and 3-2 in BIG EAST play. Dan Fisher went 16-for-32 (.500) from the faceoff X in the semifinals along with a game high 10 ground balls.
The 17 goals for Denver tied the Pioneers’ conference tournament record set in the 2016 semifinal, also at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. The Pioneers' 13 caused turnovers as a team also set the new conference tournament single-game mark.
Villanova scored five goals in the fourth quarter, but Denver’s seven-goal second period was too much to overcome.
Denver advances to 3-0 over Villanova in the BIG EAST Tournament. The Pioneers also avenged their earlier loss to the Wildcats, 12-11 at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on April 6.
With the win, Denver makes its fifth appearance in the conference tournament finals, having won the title in 2014 and 2015. The Pioneers were runners up in 2018 and 2016.
The victory sets up a championship final matchup between No. 2 Georgetown and No. 1 Denver. It is a rematch of the 2018 BIG EAST Tournament championship game, in which Georgetown won, 8-3. Denver and Georgetown will play each other at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 4.