The University of Denver men’s lacrosse team began its 2026 season with a decisive 20-1 victory over Cleveland State at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers started the game with an 18-0 run, securing a strong lead early in the match.
Chase Bruno led Denver in points during his first appearance for the team after transferring from RIT, scoring five points with two goals and three assists. Cody Malawsky and Watt Muir each recorded hat tricks, with Malawsky also contributing an assist for four total points. Rory Graham added two goals and two assists to finish with four points.
In his debut, Luke Smeader won 10 out of 14 faceoffs and collected three ground balls. Defensively, Seamus Faulkner caused three turnovers while Russell Overly added two more. Goalkeeper Grayson Manning made seven saves without allowing a goal in just over forty minutes as the starter.
Denver opened the first quarter by scoring eight unanswered goals, including efforts from Lucas Klokiwski, Chase Bruno, Cody Malawsky—who had a hat trick in the opening frame—and Rory Graham on a man-up opportunity assisted by Bruno. Gordon Reynolds scored Denver’s first pole goal of the year before Graham closed out first-quarter scoring.
The second quarter saw Klokiw add another goal before Chris Merageas netted twice around scores from Daniel Clark and Watt Muir. By halftime, Manning had six saves and Denver committed only four turnovers.
Sam Trumble broke Denver’s program record for consecutive goals when he scored their 14th straight to start the third quarter. Additional goals came from Luke Shinofield off Bruno’s third assist of the day, followed by Muir completing his hat trick late in the period.
Cleveland State got on the board early in the fourth quarter through Will Adair but Jimmy Douglas responded quickly for Denver with his first career goal. Wyatt Hurd also tallied his first career score to conclude the game’s scoring.
“Denver scored eight goals in the first quarter, its most goals in a quarter since February, 2022, against Canisius,” according to team officials. “The Pioneers scored the first 14 goals of the game, the longest scoring run in program history.” The release also noted that twelve different players found the net for Denver during this win; it was also their 25th time since 2015 having ten or more different scorers in one game.
Looking ahead, Denver will play Air Force at home next Saturday at noon Mountain Time at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium; fans can watch via Midco Sports Plus or listen on 104.3 The Fan HD3.
Tickets for all home games are available through official channels.
