Denver trailed 12-7 at halftime Saturday against Georgetown in the BIG EAST tournament finals but outscored the Hoyas 8-3 to take the game into overtime, 15-15. It took Bea Behrins (who else, of course) to finish off the Hoyas at 2:30 of extra time on a beautiful feed from Julia Gilbert to seal the automatic berth for the Pioneers. The win matched their regular-season BIG EAST title, their second title in a row.
COMEBACK COMPLETE
Bea Behrins gives @DU_WLAX the @BIGEAST championship over Georgetown 16-15 in double OT. pic.twitter.com/NsTMcn3Ydx
— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) May 7, 2022
Behrins and Gilbert accounted for half of DU’s points with 5 and 3 respectively at Peter Barton Stadium. Denver outshot the visitors 38-24 and had 3 fewer turnovers than the Hoyas. The teams were even on groundballs.
Time to go dancing. The Pioneers will face Vermont in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Chestnut Hill, MA. pic.twitter.com/Py66QCtZ4V
— Denver Women’s Lacrosse (@DU_WLAX) May 9, 2022
On Sunday evening, Denver received an NCAA Tournament first-round assignment to play Vermont May 13th in Chestnut Hill, MA. Should the Pioneers advance to the second round, they will play #3 seed Boston College. Denver fell 9-5 to the Eagles at Peter Barton on March 9th in a cold-shortened three-quarter game.
Photo: Courtesy of Denver Athletics
Tough draw. Likely not going to get out of Chestnut Hlll.
Congrats to the team. We wish them well. They’ve got a fighting chance!
Congrats to the team. I guess I have a little less faith in their ability to win the big games, after a recent home upset loss to Colorado. Hope they prove me wrong, good luck, Pioneers!
We own the city of Boston.
While DU is proving to be a top-10 caliber w-lax program in recent years, the Pios tend to get crunched in the NCAAs, once DU faces a top 5 program hosting at its own field, which usually happens in the second round (or sometimes in the Sweet 16).
The Pios should beat Vermont in the first round game, but beating BC at BC would be the biggest upset in Pio history and a major upset in NCAA history. I don’t think DU W lax has ever beaten a top-5 team anywhere, let alone a #3-ranked team playing on its own home turf.
For Denver, the Pios would need an incredible effort in every phase of the game, and probably for BC to play poorly, too. Unlike other other NCAA sports where upsets happen with regularity, they rarely happen in Wlax, where the top 5 programs are head-and-shoulders better than the others they play. Remember, this year DU was losing to then top-ranked BC 9-5 (at Barton) in the third quarter when the game was called for cold. Had the game gone all four quarters, DU probably would have lost by 7-8 goals, and had the game been played in normal temps, I think BC would won by double digits.
Looking at past Pio NCAA performances vs top 5-level programs in the NCAA tourney, the losing margins are not competitive…
2021 vs Northwestern, 19-4 L – 15 goal margin
2019 vs Maryland, 17-8, L – 9 goal margin
2018 vs Maryland, 15-4 L – 11 goal margin
2014 vs Florida, 19-9 L – 10 goal margin
2013 vs Florida, 16-5 L – 11 goal margin
Hopefully, some day, there will be progress, but I just don’t see it. DU has not been playing great lax recently, losing to unranked Colorado at home (which cost DU a home game in the NCAAs), and almost losing to unranked Georgetown, where the Pios fell behind and needed a 5 goal comeback to force a 2OT win in the BET final.
Please prove me wrong…