LetsGoDU friend CD Dunks reminds us that there is no need to use the term ‘mid-major’. And the same goes for ‘secondary sport’ – i.e. any sport that is not called football or Power-Five conference basketball. The big question is: Has Peg Bradley-Doppes simply built one of the finest athletic department in the land? Continue reading Crimson & Gold touch propels Denver to national powerhouse status
Photo: Inside Lacrosse
Men’s college lacrosse needs to move into the modern age if it wants to gain even more universal appeal. To this writer, that means adding a shot clock.
How many times this season did we see Denver or its opponents take the air out of the ball to protect a lead at the end of tight games? Then, watch smart coaches on both sides call time-outs when the 30-second shot clock was about to be called and get a fresh start to stall even more.
B-O-R-I-N-G. Continue reading Listen up men, women’s lax has it right with a 90-second shot clock
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?
Continue reading DU Men Earn Home Game while Women Get Shutout
The #2 University of Denver Men’s Lacrosse and #16 University of Denver Women’s Lacrosse teams face Marquette and Georgetown respectively in the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals today. The men will be at Chapey Field in Providence, the one in Rhode Island and the women will play at Villanova Stadium in Philadelphia.
Both teams have taken similar trajectories over their last five games. The Denver men are 5-0 while the DU women are 4-1 with their only loss a narrow defeat to Georgetown (9-7) on the road. Continue reading Pioneers finish strong, ready for BIG EAST Tournament runs
The Changing the Game organization has it right. Their slogan? “Return youth sports to children, and put the ‘play’ back in ‘play ball.’” One of the big issues facing young athletes is ‘early recruiting’ – in every NCAA sport.
Lacrosse has been one of the primary culprits. Over the last decade, the college recruiting process has been trending earlier and earlier on an annual basis with 13 and 14-year-old players getting coaching visits and offers. A recently approved proposal applies exclusively to the sport of lacrosse and not other NCAA sports. Continue reading NCAA nixes early lacrosse recruiting to the benefit of all
Photo: DU added more All-Americans this week following last week’s NCAA hockey national championship. DU athletics keeps turning the numbers at the Magness entry like an odometer.
What an incredible week it has been for Denver sports.
The DU women’s gymnastics team finished 9th at the NCAA’s and garnered two All-Americans – star freshman Maddie Karr was named first team all-around and second team for vault and bars. Senior Julia Ross was named second team for the bars. To top it off, senior Leah Lomonte was named the 2017 Big 12 Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The future looks great with most of the team returning next season. Continue reading Rare Unassisted Double-Double Caps Week
Take in a University of Denver athletic event and you are likely to see some of the finest collegiate athletes in the country.
Exaggeration, you say? Hardly.
Denver fans love to boast about having the best teams in the land – but only one program can “win it all” in any given sport in any given year. An equally tough accomplishment is coaching and playing at a consistently high level. Continue reading Denver spoiled by individual riches
At this very moment on Feb. 20, 2017, for the first time in history, our two flagship sports, ice hockey and men’s lacrosse, are both ranked #1 in the country in all the major polls of those two sports.
For our small private school in the Rockies with 5,500 undergrads and a budget 1/10th the size of some of the large D-I football powers, with our opponents spread out all over the country and requiring jet planes to get to 85% of DU away games, this is an astonishing, epic achievement.
Additionally, our men’s soccer team finished #3 in the country this fall. And our women’s gymnastics team is currently ranked #8 in the country, the highest the program has ever been ranked. And DU women’s lacrosse is undefeated this year and ranked #14/15 in the country. And our nationally ranked swim teams (#20 men’s and #26 women’s) just swept the podium in EVERY EVENT at the Summit League Championships last week.
I say all this because we need to take a moment to realize just how frickin’ good our athletics program is right now. No program in the country gets better performance for the buck than DU does. And now is the time to tell your friends from bigger schools that the Pioneers are on top of the country in two sports. Let’s hope both can end their seasons with a National Championship.
For those of us oldsters who remember the days when DU played hockey in a decrepit old WWII surplus naval drill hall and DU lacrosse played mostly clubs and small colleges on muddy fields in front of 50 people, we can only say how proud we are to see just how far DU has come as a national sports power.
Go Pios!
DU women’s lacrosse (3-0) returns to Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium for their 2017 home opener this Saturday against Louisville (3-0) at 3:00 pm, following the men’s lacrosse game against Duke. US Lacrosse Magazine has the Pioneers checking in at #16 nationally.
Why not stay for the second game Saturday and see two excellent women’s teams face off? Continue reading DU Womens’ Lacrosse opens new era in style
Lacrosse’s roots run deep in the cultural tradition of the Native American Iroquois people. The Iroquois inhabited what is now New York, Pennsylvania, as well as other parts of the Northeastern US and the lower parts of Ontario and Quebec, Canada. Eventually, the sport was modified and played by the Plains Indians as well. Lacrosse is seen by many Native Americans as a gift by their Creator and a way to generate a spiritual connection with their Spirit. Continue reading Native American lacrosse tribute would meet with universal support
