[RV/20] Denver Hosts Villanova in BIG EAST Opener Saturday 3/29/25

DENVER – The [RV/20] University of Denver men’s lacrosse program returns to Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday when the Pioneers begin BIG EAST play against Villanova. Opening faceoff in the back half of a men’s and women’s double header is set for 2 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on Altitude 2, Midco Sports Plus and 104.3 the Fan HD3.

DI SERIES HISTORY:
Denver holds an 18-5 edge in the series, including 10-1 in conference regular season games. The Pioneers are 8-1 against the Wildcats at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. FULL SERIES HISTORY

LAST TIME OUT:
Denver used a 12-1 run to pull away from then [7/8] Duke by a count of 13-6 last Saturday in a neutral site game in Dallas. Noah Manning had a sock trick, Mic Kelly had another hat trick out of the midfield and Malcolm Kleban had 12 saves in the Pioneers win. FULL RECAPDEFENDING THE LACROSSE CAPITAL OF THE WEST

• 128-28 since Peter Barton was built in 2005
• 63 sellouts, including five in 2014, 2015 and 2018, eight in 2016 and 10 in 2017.
• Denver has finished in the top-10 in the country in average attendance in each of the last 9 seasons (excluding 2021 due to COVID-19).
• The Pios have finished in the top-5 three times, fourth in the shortened 2020 season, fifth in the 2015 National Championship season and fifth in the 2023 campaign.
• Denver has had at least one sellout in every season since 2011 (14 straight).
• Denver vs. Yale on March 10, 2024, drew 3,037, the second-biggest crowd in the history of PBLS. Denver vs. Cornell on February 24, 2024 drew 3,025, now the third-biggest crowd.
• Denver and Michigan in the 2024 NCAA First Round drew 2,965, the fifth largest crowd in the stadium’s history, and the stadium’s largest for an NCAA Tournament game.

DENVER’S DEFENSE MAKES STATEMENT IN DUKE WIN

• After giving up two goals in the opening 5:13, Denver allowed just one goal to Duke in the next 51:47, including holding Duke scoreless in a 42-minute stretch from the start of the second quarter to the final minutes of the fourth.
• Denver held Duke to its lowest goal total since May, 2024.
• The output was Denver’s lowest goals allowed against a top-10 opponent since holding then-No. 9 Villanova to 6 on Bill Tierney Day in April, 2024.
• The win also marked Denver’s lowest goals allowed against a top-10 opponent away from home since holding seventh-ranked Towson to six goals in Baltimore on March 23, 2019.
• Senior goalie Malcolm Kleban made his first start in four games, and made 12 saves against just six goals allowed to earn BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week honors.

MANNING’S SOCK TRICK LEADS DU TO TOP-10 WIN

• Senior attackman Noah Manning and six goals and two assists for an eight-point night in a 13-6 win over then [7/8] Duke in Dallas on March 24.
• First sock trick since JJ Sillstrop scored six in the 2024 season opener at Johns Hopkins.
• 26th sock trick in the program’s DI history.
• First Pio to have 8+ points since Alex Simmons had nine at St. John’s on March 6, 2021.
• Eight-point night is the 16th in the program’s DI history.
• Manning has multiple goals in four of his last five games since returning to the starting attack on February 28.
• Became the 24th Pioneer in the program’s Division I history to reach 100 career points.
• 19th fastest to 100 points in the program’s DI history.

KELLY’S HOT START TO THE SEASON

• Through the opening nine games of the 2025 season, senior midfielder Mic Kelly has scored a team-high 22 goals.
• The only other Pioneer midfielder to score 18+ goals in the first seven games of the season came in 2013 when then-sophomore Wes Berg came out of the box to score 20 in his first seven games.
• Nationally, Kelly has the third-highest goals per game in the country by midfielders, at 2.44 goals/game.
• In 2020, midfielder Jack Hannah scored 17 goals through the first six games before COVID put an end to the 2020 campaign.
• Kelly has a team-high five man-up goals this season, ranking fourth in the country in the category.

CALDWELL ON THE GROUND

• Through the first nine games of his redshirt sophomore campaign, Chris Caldwell has picked up 31 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers.
• The 30 GBs is a team-high outside of primary faceoff taker Michael Kraus.
• Caldwell ranks 14th in the country in GBs/Game (3.44) among defenders, LSMs and SSDMs.
• Caldwell is 17 ground balls away from cracking the single-season top-10 in program history for GBs among one of the three defensive field positions.
• Caldwell has 5+ GBs in four different games this season.

ON THIS DATE

• Denver is 3-0 in its Division I era on March 29.
• Wes Berg had nine points on six goals and three assists in Denver’s win at Georgetown on March 29, 2014.

RESET!

• 2021: Denver’s most goals off resets in a single season came in 2021, when the Pioneers scored 42 (92 chances) goals off resets, compared to its opponents 17.
• 2022: The Crimson and Gold had a 23-18 edge in goals off resets.
• 2023: Goals off resets in Denver games in Bill Tierney’s final season saw Denver hold an 18-8 advantage.
• 2024: Denver held a 24-11 advantage in goals off resets last season, including 18-6 in games the Pioneers went on to win.
• 2025: Denver leads its opponents in goals off resets this year by a count of 12-8.
• The Pios scored a season-high four goals off resets vs. QPac on 3/2/25.
• Denver’s defense has forced 14 shot clock violations this year compared to its opponents’ nine.

UNFRIENDLY PIPES

• Denver has hit some unlucky pipes by a margin of 185-111 in the last seven seasons.
• Noah Manning (5), Judge Murphy (2), Mic Kelly (2) and Marek Tzagournis (2) have all hit multiple posts this year (19-11 total).
• Denver hit a season-high four pipes in its 14-7 win over Quinnipiac on March 2.

UP NEXT:
Denver will begin a two-game BIG EAST road stint with a trip to St. John’s next Saturday. Opening faceoff is set for 12 p.m. ET/10 a.m. MT.