Denver women’s Head lacrosse coach Liza Kelly and her team are all-in for a serious run at a national championship this spring. The team is returning four All-Americans along with experience across the board with the addition of some exceptional graduate transfers. The roster upgrades started soon after DU’s otherwise-perfect 22-0 last season ended on May 26,  when DU finally fell to #1 Northwestern in Cary, North Carolina in the NCAA semifinals, the high water mark for DU’s history in the women’s game. Since that time, it has been clear that the program is doing everything in its power to return to Cary this spring to bring about a different result – a national title.

Every move has been made with that singular goal in mind, including an improved schedule that will pit the Pioneers against several ranked opponents, with every team on the schedule a major college sports brand name. The schedule should prepare Denver for what DU men’s soccer coach Jamie Franks calls ‘knockout’ play. Knockout play is when a team is hardened by tough non-conference opponents and conference matches lead a well-prepared team to a one-and-done NCAA tournament.

Here is what the #4-ranked DU women’s lacrosse team has been building since the conclusion of last season:

• First-team consensus all-American Senior Sam Thacker was named National Defensive Player of the Year, leading the Hot Pink defense, but had yet to announce a graduate return to DU for her Covid extra year

• Speedy defender and consensus second-team all-American Trinity McPherson then announced her return to DU as a grad student

• USA Lacrosse Second-team all-American Julia Gilbert (DU’s Star attacker and leading scorer last year) elected to return to Denver for her fifth-year

• IWLCA Third team all-American Abby Jenkins (DU’s draw control specialist) elected to return to Denver for her fifth-year

• NCAA D-III All-American (3x) and national champion (3x) attacker Jane Earley from Middlebury (Vt.) College joins DU for her fifth year as a grad transfer

• Midfielder Payton Vaughn joins DU as a grad transfer for her fifth season after playing last season as the senior captain at Yale

• All-Ivy League attacker Olivia Penoyer joins DU as a grad transfer for her fifth season after leading Yale with 40 assists

• National Defender of the Year Sam Thacker saw the quality roster being assembled and announced her return to DU as a grad student

 

• In September, DU Athletics sent DU back east to fall exhibition contests in Maryland against Towson, George Mason, Georgetown, and Johns Hopkins

• Kelly signed 10 new players  to the team in one of the strongest and deepest recruiting classes in DU history, including three first-years who are ranked in the top 100 recruits nationally 

• Coach Kelly releases the most challenging and exciting schedule ever for Denver women’s lacrosse, including a game at 2023 National Champion Northwestern, at last year’s #13 ranked Michigan and hosting Denver visits from powerhouse #11 Maryland, as well as hosting fellow 2023 ranked Big East foes #22 UConn and #23 Marquette, as well as rivals Stanford and Colorado

Let the countdown begin….

🎟️https://t.co/smf7uKRKoV
✍️https://t.co/Pcc55V7yOF#GoPios pic.twitter.com/FrPuJWrasT

— Denver Women’s Lacrosse (@DU_WLAX) November 27, 2023

In a recent interview, Kelly told Niko Blankenship, DU’s Director of Communications and Digital Media, “You have to get somewhere on the ladder (final four) before you can think about taking the step to the next ladder…We talked about getting to the final four (last year), now we’re talking about we want to win (the national championship) and I think we have the confidence and experience when we put ourselves there (again).”

The roster is experienced with six fifth-years, six seniors, and eight juniors with a large cast of returning faces. Goalkeeper Emilia Bohi is back in the cage and other experienced major contributors are back from last season including Sloan Kipp, Lauren Black, Reagan Wilson, Mollie Estepp, Ryan Dineen, Bryn McCaughley, Anna Palmisano, Abby Jenkins, Addy Caulk, Sarah Pokorny, Caroline Colimore and Megan Klingenberg.

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LetsGoDU is planning on extensive coverage of DU Women’s lacrosse this spring for what could be a historic season. We’ll cover DU men’s lacrosse fall outlook under Matt Brown next week.