Denver turned a highly anticipated top-10 men’s lacrosse showdown into a laugher Friday night, scoring 18 first-half goals en route to a 22-6 victory at Villanova.

Ethan Walker scored a career-high eight goals and Trevor Baptiste went 27-for-30 on faceoffs, adding a goal of his own to lead the fourth-ranked Pioneers to the blowout win over the eighth-ranked Wildcats and put Denver in the driver’s seat of the Big East.

Win faceoff
Score from 15 yards out
Draw penalty

Everything going right for Trevor Baptiste (22-for-24, 1G), Ethan Walker (7G) and @DU_MLAX with 18 (!) first-half goals pic.twitter.com/bLX9J3RvDH

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) April 7, 2018

A week after the Pioneers’ offense struggled in a 6-5 win at Georgetown last week, Denver erupted for eight goals in the first 12 minutes and kept pouring it on from there, resulting in the most lopsided decision between two ranked teams since 2010, when No. 2 Syracuse defeated No. 17 Villanova 20-6.

“After getting some critics saying, ‘Has the Denver offense diminished?’ we came out and said, ‘Screw that,’” Walker said in a post-game interview on Fox Sports Go. “If we can put in a full game like we did tonight, we have a great opportunity to make it to championship weekend.”

The Pioneers (8-2, 2-0) certainly looked like championship contenders, improving to 23-0 during the regular season against Big East opponents since joining the conference in 2014.

“Once the Big East comes around, we don’t like to joke around,” Walker said.

Austin French added three goals and three assists in the rout. Baptiste’s 27 faceoff wins set a new personal and school record.

Villanova (8-3, 1-1) showed some life early, scoring two goals in a 20-second span to tie the game at 2 with 11:57 remaining in the first quarter. But Denver chased Wildcats goalie Nick Testa out of the game with a six-goal run.

END 1Q: @DU_MLAX 9, @NovaLacrosse 3

Pios offense going bonkers, chasing goalie Nick Testa from game with six-goal run, including this rip by Connor Flynn

Walker 4G, Baptiste 12-for-13 FO pic.twitter.com/IG1g0yN7ff

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) April 6, 2018

Backup Michael Toomey did not fare much better, as the Pioneers shot better than 50 percent (22-for-43). Walker, French and Ted Sullivan (four goals) finished a combined to shoot 15-for-19.

Down Goes Albany

Beware the No. 1 when you play UMBC.

Billy Nolan had three goals and two assists and Tommy Lingner made 16 saves to backstop a stifling defensive effort, as the Retrievers defeated top-ranked Albany 11-7 in a stunner Friday.

It was UMBC’s first win over a No. 1 team since 1998 — in lacrosse, that is. This Retrievers triumph comes just three weeks after the 16th-seeded UMBC men’s basketball team defeated top-seeded Virginia in the greatest upset in NCAA tournament history.

US Lacrosse staff writer Matt Hamilton was on hand for the biggest upset of the college lacrosse season.

UMass Wins Sixth Straight, Sits Atop CAA

UMass clawed back from a 5-2 halftime deficit to defeat Delaware 9-8 and take sole possession of first place in the CAA. Noah Rak won 14 of 18 faceoffs and scored two goals for the Minutemen (7-4, 2-0), who have won six straight games after starting the season 1-4.  Jeff Trainor added three goals and Sean Sconone made 12 saves.

Towson Trounces Drexel

Playing without suspended starters Jon Mazza and Sid Ewell, Towson erupted for eight goals in less than eight minutes in the fourth quarter to pull away from visiting Drexel 17-9.  Johnny Giuffreda led the way with five goals. Brendan Sunday, starting on attack in place of Mazza, and Matt Sovero added three goals apiece. It was 9-8 with 12 minutes remaining before the Tigers (4-6, 1-1) unleashed on the Dragons.

Fairfield Upends Hofstra

Fairfield scored all three fourth-quarter goals to defeat Hofstra 5-4 in a defensive struggle in Hempstead, N.Y.

Behind UMass in the CAA, four teams (Delaware, Fairfield, Hofstra and Towson) have 1-1 marks in the conference.