Chris Merageas netted his first career hat trick to pace the Pioneers offense
[MEDIA RELEASE]
Featured Image Photo Credit: Di Miller
DENVER – The [17/15] University of Denver men’s lacrosse team had nine different goal scorers for its first nine goals and held its opponent to single digits for the second-straight game in a 14-7 win over Quinnipiac on Sunday afternoon at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
SIGNIFICANT STATS:
- Denver held a 48-27 edge in shots, including 26-14 in shots on goal.
- The Pioneers converted three of their four man-up chances on Sunday.
- Denver was 22-for-23 in successful clears.
- Senior attackman Noah Manning finished with two goals and two assists to lead the Pioneers offense with four points.
- Freshman Chris Merageas came in as a fourth attackman and recorded his first career hat trick to lead the Pios in scoring.
- Mic Kelly had two goals and an assist for a three-point afternoon.
- Starting defensemen Blake Kirschke and Russell Overly each finished with two caused turnovers to lead the Pios. Chris Caldwell scooped up five ground balls and senior Jimmy Freehill picked up four.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- Denver finished with 10 different goal scorers for the first time this season, the 24th time since the start of the 2015 campaign and the 31st time since William G. Tierney Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach joined the staff as a full time assistant in 2008.
- The Pioneers improved to 128-27 since Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium opened in 2005.
- Denver scored three man-up goals for the first time since scoring five in a 17-16 win over Cornell on February 24, 2024.
Photo Gallery-DU vs Quinnipiac 3/2/25
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Quarter:
Denver’s Jack Tortolani had a wide-open stepdown on a feed from Joe Taraboletti to open the scoring. A couple of minutes later, the visitors leveled it before Lucas Klokiw gave Denver the lead back on his third of the season with 4:54 to play in the frame. Back-to-back goals 42 seconds apart gave Quinnipiac its first lead of the day with 4:01 to go, but Marek Tzagournis dodged from X on Denver’s next possession to tie things back up at 3-3 heading into the first quarter stoppage.
Second Quarter:
On Denver’s second man-up opportunity of the afternoon, Mic Kelly wasted no time on the 30 second penalty, going low to high for his 12th of the campaign. Several minutes later, Casey Wilson got an outlet feed from Jimmy Freehill at midfield, and then took it to the house for his second of the campaign.
With 1:15 to play in the half, Chris Merageas cut to the top of the crease and quickly converted a feed from Kelly to push Denver’s lead to 6-3. Denver would take that three-goal lead into the break after getting a stop on the defensive end for the Pioneers third shutout quarter of the weekend.
Denver had a 25-10 edge in shots in the first half, including 13-5 in shots on goal.
Third Quarter:
Quinnipiac got the opening goal of the half, but the Pioneers responded with a 4-0 run to extend its lead to 10-4 with 5:03 to go. Cheyne Repp buried his first career goal on the man-up to open Denver’s four-goal run. After a four-goal game on Friday night, Noah Manning’s first of the afternoon came off a feed from Tortolani to make it 8-4. Also coming off a four-goal games, Judge Murphy made it 9-4 and then Kelly netted his second man-up goal of the afternoon to complete the run.
The Bobcats briefly cut it to the Denver lead to five, but Merageas scored his second of the day to send Denver into the final 15 minutes with an 11-5 advantage.
Fourth Quarter:
Manning’s second of the day canceled out Quinnipiac’s fourth-quarter opener to make it 12-6 with 11:14 to play in regulation. Merageas later completed his hat trick on a feed from Manning and Watt Muir got on the scoresheet for the second-straight game to make the Pios 14-7 winners on Sunday.
UP NEXT:
Denver will return to the east coast next week for another Ivy League match-up when the Pioneers travel to Yale. Opening faceoff on Saturday is set for 12 p.m. ET/10 a.m. MT, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.