CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Sophomore Ethan Walker (Peterborough, Ontario) netted his fourth-straight hat trick, junior Austin French (Danville, Calif.) added a goal and three assists and junior Alex Ready (Lancaster, Pa.) made a season-high nine saves to lead the No. 4 University of Denver men’s lacrosse team to a 10-6 win over No. 11 North Carolina on Monday evening at Kenan Stadium.

Denver’s (4-1) defense stood tall in the fourth quarter, holding North Carolina (6-1) without a goal in the final 15 minutes to secure the victory.

Junior Colton Jackson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) added a pair of step-down strikes and junior Drew Supinski (Collegeville, Pa.) contributed a goal and two assists to the Pioneers’ scoresheet.

On a day where Denver only won the faceoff battle 12-8, the Pioneer short sticks and polls turned in solid performances, leading to Denver’s 30-20 edge in the ground ball department. In total, six different Pioneers scooped up at least three ground balls in Denver’s fourth victory of the season.

The Pioneers got six goals in the opening 30 minutes from six different goal scorers, led by two points from French and Supinski. Alex Trippi scored two of the three goals for the Heels in the first half. Trippi started the scoring with his second of the year prior to the start of a five-goal run for the Pioneers. Supinski got Denver on the board first with 7:03 to go in the opening quarter off a feed from behind the cage from French.

Walker grabbed his first of the day for his 22nd point in the last four games to give Denver its first lead of the day. The sophomore’s tally was followed up by goals from junior Nate Marano (Tustin, Calif.), long stick midfielder Sean Mayle (San Carlos, Calif.) and attackman Colin Rutan (Walnut Creek, Calif.) to complete the scoring run for Denver that spilled into the start of the second quarter and chased Tar Heels keeper Jack Pezzulla in the middle of the frame.

The home team got two of the final three goals in the half, sandwiching tallies around French’s eight goal of the season.

UNC’s William Perry opened the scoring in the second half to put Denver’s margin back to two at 6-4. The Pioneers responded with goals from Jackson and Walker to balloon the Denver lead back to four at 8-4. Perry scored his second of the third quarter and Chris Cloutier netted his 100th career goal to bring the Heels back to within 8-6.

Walker ended the third quarter with his hat trick goal with 31 seconds to play in the stanza to send Denver into the final 15 minutes with a 9-6 lead. Jackson ripped his second step down of the game 90 seconds into the fourth quarter to close out the scoring.