The turning point may have been Ethan Walker’s third-quarter man-down goal that gave the #5 Denver Pioneers (1-0) their first lead of the day but it was the balance of halftime adjustments by head coach Bill Tierney and offensive coordinator Matt Brown that helped the Pioneers turn a 3-1 halftime deficit against the Utah Utes (0-1) into a 9-8 season-opening victory at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. It wasn’t exactly the kind of game that Tierney and the Pioneers expected to play, especially in the first half, to open the season but an eight-goal second half thanks to six different Pioneer scorers and a strong defensive performance propelled the Pioneers. Continue reading Pioneers Ride Explosive Second Half, Ethan Walker Hat Trick to Season-Opening 9-8 Thriller Over Utah
Category Archives: Men’s Lacrosse
TD Ierlan, Nation’s Top Faceoff Specialist, Plans to Transfer to Denver
The most prolific faceoff specialist in NCAA lacrosse is eyeing a spring transfer to the University of Denver for the 2021 season, according to US Lacrosse Magazine. Ierlan picked up an additional season of eligibility due to COVID-19 and is said that he was ‘intrigued’ by the idea of joining fellow former Yalies Jackson Morrill and Lucas Cotler at Denver after entering the transfer portal. Ierlan, the best faceoff man in the history of college lacrosse, based on win percentage (see below, and yes, better than Trevor Baptiste), is intent on transferring from Yale if the Ivy League skips this season of play due to COVID-19. Should the Ivies decide to play this spring, Ierlan may withdraw his name from the portal and decide to stay at Yale. Continue reading TD Ierlan, Nation’s Top Faceoff Specialist, Plans to Transfer to Denver
Denver Men’s Lacrosse Releases 2021 Schedule, features BIG EAST ‘Round Robin’
#7 Denver Men’s Lacrosse opens its season in nine days against Utah. Yes, you read that right. Denver Men’s Lacrosse opens its season in nine days. Where has the time gone? Well, we’re in the middle of a global pandemic, for starters, and time is really nothing more than a social construct but I digress. What really matters here is Denver Men’s Lacrosse officially unveiled its full schedule today that features four non-conference games, two at home and two on the road, and a 10-game ’round-robin” style BIG EAST schedule.
DU’s full schedule is below: Continue reading Denver Men’s Lacrosse Releases 2021 Schedule, features BIG EAST ‘Round Robin’
Monday Morning Pioneer News Dump
- While DU may not be the Harvard of the west, Denver is quickly becoming the Yale of the Rockies. DU already added lacrosse transfers Jackson Morrill and Lucas Cotler from Yale and last week, DU Hockey head coach David Carle followed in Bill Tierney’s footsteps and added grad transfer goalie Corbin Kaczperski to the roster. Kaczperski will start classes at DU in the spring which makes him eligible to begin playing for the Pios in December when the NCHC Pod begins.
- Staying with hockey, the Pioneers were picked to finish 2nd in the NCHC behind only North Dakota by media members from around the conference and country. The full preseason poll is just below:
Denver lands Jackson Morrill, coveted graduate transfer from Yale
After much of the country had called it a night yesterday, Ty Xanders of Inside Lacrosse reported that one of the most coveted graduate transfers in the portal – All-American Yale attackman Jackson Morrill – had made his decision on where to play for his final year of eligibility. Xanders reported that Morrill had defied the predictions and decided to come west to play at Denver. In Morrill, the Pioneers add not only the 2nd-best transfer in the portal – 2020 Tewaaraton frontrunner Michael Sowers was #1 and he chose Duke – but they gain the 2nd-ranked scorer in Yale history (220 points on 113 goals). Continue reading Denver lands Jackson Morrill, coveted graduate transfer from Yale
NCAA Officially Grants Blanket Eligibility Waiver for Spring Athletes
Senior lacrosse star Ethan Walker has an extra year of eligibility. Junior women’s lacrosse star Quintin Hoch-Bullen now has two years of eligibility. Freshman women’s golf star Anna Zanusso – the same Anna Zanusso who carded an NCAA record 61 earlier this year – gets a full 4-year do-over. Yesterday, the NCAA Executive Council approved an extra year of eligibility for all spring NCAA Division I and II athletes. In the case of the University of Denver, this includes the men’s and women’s lacrosse, tennis, and golf.
As for gymnastics basketball and skiing – all three classified winter sports – will not receive special eligibility treatment under the new ruling. Continue reading NCAA Officially Grants Blanket Eligibility Waiver for Spring Athletes
And now, some good news: spring athletes to be granted extra year of eligibility, per reports
The last two days have felt like a decade. Every five minutes, the news cycle delivered a new body blow and the bad news flowed flowing like the dang Colorado River. On Wednesday afternoon, the NCAA delivered the news that fans would not be permitted to attend any winter sports championships including March Madness and the NCAA Hockey Tournament. This news, of course, was followed up by the NBA suspending its season Wednesday night after Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive for the coronavirus, better known to some as COVID-19. And that was just Wednesday. Continue reading And now, some good news: spring athletes to be granted extra year of eligibility, per reports
Denver Uses Relentless Defense in 10-6 Win Over Cleveland State
Photo: Courtesy Jason Evans
Denver (3-1) used a smothering defense and forced turnovers (24) to down the Cleveland State Vikings 10-6 at the 2020 Faceoff Classic at Peter Barton Stadium. Denver had a narrow 5-4 halftime lead but broke open the game with timely goals and sustained defensive pressure to pull away to a 10-6 final score. Continue reading Denver Uses Relentless Defense in 10-6 Win Over Cleveland State
Pioneer Men’s Lacrosse Destroys Winless St. Bonaventure, 16-3 in Face-Off Classic
What a difference a week makes at Barton Stadium.
Last Saturday, the Pioneers went toe-to-toe with a storied Duke program, losing 15-13.
This Saturday, before another sellout crowd of 2,000+ at Barton Stadium, Denver faced the St. Bonaventure Bonnies from New York State, representing the polar opposite side of the D-I college lacrosse spectrum — a second-year program that has yet to win a single D-I lacrosse game. The #13th-ranked Pioneers made sure it stayed that way, cruising to a 16-3 beat-down of the Bonnies behind the balanced scoring of 13 players at DU’s Barton Stadium on Feb. 22 in the annual Face-Off Classic.
The Pios, wearing black uniforms, jumped out to 5-1 lead in the first period, extended it to 10-1 at halftime, and throttled back a bit in the second half with a big lead, dominating the face-off X, winning 20 out of 23 face-offs — Alec Stathakis’ won 14 of 16, while John Boos won 6 of 7 for Denver. The Bonnies tried four different players at X to stop Stathakis and Boos, but could only win 3 of 23 faceoffs on the day. DU also won the ground ball battle, 39-19.
Freshman attackman J.J. Sillstrop led the way for the Pioneers with a 3-goal hat trick (the second such feat for the Californian in his three college games so far), Drew Erickson added two goals for DU and the Pioneers got single-goal scoring from 10 other players. The Pioneers were able to play much of the roster in the rout, with three different DU goalies getting playing time in the contest. DU played mostly reserve players in the entire fourth quarter en-route to the win.
And it certainly could have been a lot worse for the Bonnies, were it not for the heroics of SBU goalie Brett Dobson, who had an outstanding 18 saves in the contest on 34 DU shots on goal. SBU could only manage two shots on goal in the first half against DU’s best players, and finished with just eight total shots on the afternoon. Matthew DeGirolamo had two of SBU’s three markers to pace the Bonnies.
Denver moved to 2-1 on the young season. The Bonnies, who went 0-13 last year as a brand new lacrosse program, and were 0-2 coming into Denver’s Face Off Classic, fell to 0-3 this year and remain looking for the program’s first victory.
The Pios will next face the Cleveland State Vikings tomorrow (Sunday) at 4:30 PM MT in the finale of the Face-Off Classic.
Pioneers’ rally falls short as Denver falls to Duke 15-13 in home opener
DENVER – It’s not usually a good thing when your opponent outscores you 7-2 in the opening quarter of a lacrosse game. It puts you in a tough spot, forcing you to abandon your gameplan early in the game just to weather the storm that you’re in. This is exactly what happened to the #8 Denver Pioneers (1-1) against the #11 Duke Blue Devils (2-1) at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium in the Pios’ 2020 home opener. The 7-2 deficit at the end of the opening quarter was too much for the Pioneers to overcome as they eventually fell 15-13. Continue reading Pioneers’ rally falls short as Denver falls to Duke 15-13 in home opener