Men's Lacrosse, Women's Lacrosse

DU Men Earn Home Game while Women Get Shutout

2 Comments

Both announcements came with suspense. Would DU women’s lacrosse (14-4, 7-2), squarely on the bubble, make it into the NCAA playoffs after losing to #2 Florida, 18-12 in the BIG EAST Tournament finals? Would DU men’s lacrosse (11-3, 5-0) earn a first round NCAA playoff game at home at Peter Barton Stadium after a disappointing semifinal BIG EAST exit (Final 11-8) to Marquette for the second year in a row?

DU Men’s Lacrosse

DU men were awarded a #5 seed  for the NCAA tournament with a first round game at Peter Barton Stadium against Air Force (12-5). The game is scheduled for Saturday, May 13th at 3:00 pm. On the other side of the bracket, #4 Notre Dame will host Marquette. The winners play at Hempstead, LI for a chance to make it to Memorial Weekend. Overall, Denver received a great draw and a bracket that gives the Pioneers a solid chance to make it to Gillette Stadium May 27th – 29th.

Top 8 Seeds

  1. Maryland
  2. Syracuse
  3. Ohio State
  4. Notre Dame
  5. Denver
  6. Johns Hopkins
  7. Penn State
  8. Albany

DU Women’s Lacrosse

The suspense ended for the women Sunday night when they were not named in the women’s lacrosse selection show. The loss to #3 seed Florida hurt but the loss near the end of the regular season to unranked Georgetown was likely the dagger that doomed the crimson and gold.

But the future looks very bright for Denver women’s lacrosse with an outstanding first year in the Big East (7-2). They signaled that they are a force to be reckoned with in the future with a treasure trove of new recruits coming to Liza Kelly’s squad and a solid core of returning underclassmen.

DU women’s lacrosse have two targets that they must jump over to take the next step. The University of Colorado have emerged as a regional and national power and had the best of Denver the last several years. Also, the University of Florida who, essentially, knocked Denver out the last two years, in NCAA tournament play and in league play, are the elite lacrosse power in the BIG EAST and Denver must up the level of their play to compete for a conference crown and automatic berth.

2 thoughts on “DU Men Earn Home Game while Women Get Shutout”

  1. For all those times when the perception is that DU sometimes gets screwed in NCAA bids due to small size and location, this time I think DU clearly got the benefit the NCAA draw in the men’s lacrosse tourney. Given DU’s RPI has fallen to around #8 and the home game possibilities were lowered after the Big East lax tourney, DU clearly got bumped up to #5 seed to ease bracket integrity concerns and allow the NCAA to save the cost four charter flights by keeping DU and Air Force in Colorado.

    Now the Pios have a new season in front of them. They must find their mojo/character quickly, as every time DU starts to put things together, there is a horrible backstop/regression. Can the Pios get to Boston? Well, the three teams in their pod (AFA, Notre Dame and Marquette) have all fallen to DU this year, so we know it’s very possible. Air Force is good, but not quite at DU’s level. You know the roomies will bring their best, and the Pios need to be ready on Saturday. Should the Pios advance to Long Island for the Q-finals, Notre Dame is hobbled with offensive injuries and Marquette is a revenge target for DU. Both are very beatable…

    We hope the good DU shows up, and not the turnover prone/bad goaltending DU…

    The DU women’s team was on the bubble, and lost to an unranked Georgetown team which killed their dreams. That tourney denial is quite fair. DU has not proven themselves at the elite level, as the Pios were blown out by both elite teams DU faced — CU and Florida (twice) this year. There is a real difference in the women’s game between top 5 programs and top 20 teams like the Pios. DU could never stop the bleeding of early runs in the blowout losses to Florida and CU, and the bad first half at Georgetown made the hill to steep. That said, perhaps the Pios will be ready to the take the next step next year as their super sophs grow into super juniors.

    Reply

  2. For all those times when the perception is that DU sometimes gets screwed in NCAA bids due to small size and location, this time I think DU clearly got the benefit the NCAA draw in the men’s lacrosse tourney. Given DU’s RPI has fallen to around #8 and the home game possibilities were lowered after the Big East lax tourney, DU clearly got bumped up to #5 seed to ease bracket integrity concerns and allow the NCAA to save the cost four charter flights by keeping DU and Air Force in Colorado.

    Now the Pios have a new season in front of them. They must find their mojo/character quickly, as every time DU starts to put things together, there is a horrible backstop/regression. Can the Pios get to Boston? Well, the three teams in their pod (AFA, Notre Dame and Marquette) have all fallen to DU this year, so we know it’s very possible. Air Force is good, but not quite at DU’s level. You know the roomies will bring their best, and the Pios need to be ready on Saturday. Should the Pios advance to Long Island for the Q-finals, Notre Dame is hobbled with offensive injuries and Marquette is a revenge target for DU. Both are very beatable…

    We hope the good DU shows up, and not the turnover prone/bad goaltending DU…

    The DU women’s team was on the bubble, and lost to an unranked Georgetown team which killed their dreams. That tourney denial is quite fair. DU has not proven themselves at the elite level, as the Pios were blown out by both elite teams DU faced — CU and Florida (twice) this year. There is a real difference in the women’s game between top 5 programs and top 20 teams like the Pios. DU could never stop the bleeding of early runs in the blowout losses to Florida and CU, and the bad first half at Georgetown made the hill to steep. That said, perhaps the Pios will be ready to the take the next step next year as their super sophs grow into super juniors.

    Reply

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