There wasn’t much for the #4 Denver Pioneers (24-9-3, 15-7-2 NCHC, 45 pts) to play for this weekend beyond pride, the Pairwise, and who they’d host in the NCHC Quarterfinals next weekend. With the Gold Pan wrapped up in November and North Dakota clinching the Penrose Cup and the #1 seed in the conference tournament, it was hard to pinpoint any kind of motivation for the Pioneers. And on Friday, in game one vs. #10 Colorado College (20-11-3, 14-8-2 NCHC, 41 pts) – the first top-ten matchup between the archrivals in more than a decade – the Pioneers played like it en route to a 4-3 loss. Fast-forward to game two, at Magness Arena, the Pioneers flipped the script, found all the motivation they needed, and returned the favor to the Tigers with a 4-3 victory of their own on Senior Night. Continue reading Denver Tops Colorado College in Regular Season Finale, Hosts #7 UMD In NCHC Quarters →

After a long offseason wait, new Denver head coach Matt Brown, who succeeded Bill Tierney, the greatest coach in men’s lacrosse history, finally made his debut against #5 Johns Hopkins (0-1, 0-0 Big Ten) at Homewood Field in Baltimore. And his first game most certainly did not disappoint as his #14 Denver Pioneers (1-0, 0-0 BIG EAST) overcame its own sloppiness to erase an 11-7 deficit in the 4th quarter to earn a 13-12 overtime victory. Attack JJ Sillstrop recorded a sock trick – scoring six goals – including a buzzer-beater at the end of regulation to force overtime and the game-winner. Continue reading #14 Denver Erases 4-Goal Deficit to Stun #5 Johns Hopkins in Overtime →

In our final look back at the summer of realignment turmoil, we want to recognize the Biggest Losers as athletic programs sought high ground and greater revenue but failed.

#1. Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff. His hesitant actions turned his Power Five conference into the Pac-4 as conference membership tumbled  – Ouch! Continue reading Ten Biggest Losers in Conference Realignment →

The University of Denver men’s lacrosse team opened up its season in style against the University of Utah with a 12-4 victory. The game was the season-opener for both sides and DU used balanced scoring from seven different players, faceoff wins (13/20) and solid goalkeeping to earn the victory. Continue reading Denver Lacrosse Opens Season with Impressive Win Against Utah, 12-4 →

The Denver Hockey program made history last season with four Pioneers picked in the first three rounds of the 2021 NHL Draft. This year, they very nearly matched that feat for the second straight year as four incoming Pioneers – F Rieger Lorenz (R2, #56 overall), F Miko Matikka (R3, #67), F Aidan Thompson (R3, #90), and D Garrett Brown (R4, #99) – were selected in the first 99 picks. The shocker of the draft, however, was that rising sophomore forward Jack Devine, a key piece of the Pioneers’ third line last season, fell to the seventh round at #221 after being projected to get selected in the second or third round. But when all was said and done, the 2022 draft was just a bit better than last year’s draft with one more Pioneer getting selected this time around. Continue reading Five Current & Future Pioneers Selected in 2022 NHL Draft →

The Denver Pioneers Hockey program announced today its full schedule for the 2022-2023 season. In addition to hosting the annual Ice Breaker Tournament in October, the non-conference headline-grabbing matchup is the very next weekend’s trip back to Massachusetts to take on UMass-Amherst. This matchup of the last two national champions will be the Pioneers’ first trip back to the Bay State since winning the national title in Boston in April.

The full schedule is below: Continue reading Denver Hockey Releases 2022-2023 Schedule →