Denver women’s lacrosse (3-3) traveled to Evanston, Illinois to face the #1 Northwestern Wildcats. Before Friday’s game, Denver had two narrow losses to then, #10 Michigan and #9 Maryland.  The defending national champion Wildcats are loaded with the 2023 Tewaaraton Award winner in Izzy Scane and a host of other dangerous players but DU gave them all they could handle for most of the game. Northwestern scored four of the game’s last six goals in the fourth quarter to pull away, 14-10. However, Denver held the lead in the third quarter and tied Northwestern in the fourth quarter. Ultimately, the Wildcats pulled away in the final eleven minutes to take the game. Continue reading Denver Women’s Lacrosse Falls Late to #1 Northwestern →

Denver women’s lacrosse (2-1) returned to Peter Barton Stadium and faced The Ohio State Buckeyes on a sun-drenched Friday afternoon. DU raced out to a 4-1 first-quarter, an 8-1 edge at halftime and coasted to a 14-5 win against the OSU Buckeyes. Continue reading DU Women’s Lax Blasts Ohio State, 15-5 →

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. Continue reading DU Women’s Lacrosse is In it to Win it All →

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? We finally got our answer: the unstoppable force wins. In the first NCAA Semifinal matchup of the day between the #5 Denver Pioneers and #1 Northwestern Wildcats, it was Northwestern’s top-ranked scoring offense that dominated Denver’s top-ranked scoring defense. After an encouraging opening quarter, Northwestern found its offensive rhythm and controlled the final 45 minutes of the game en route to the 15-7 Wildcats victory at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. Not only was it their first loss of the season in their first-ever trip to the national semifinals, but it was also the first time Denver gave up more than nine goals in a game all season. Continue reading Pioneers’ Dream Run to Championship Weekend Ends In National Semis in Loss to Northwestern →

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? In about 24 hours’ time, we’re going to find out when 5th-seeded Denver’s top-ranked defense (5.82 GAA) meets #1-seeded Northwestern’s top-ranked offense (17.00 GPG) at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina in the first national semifinal. Stopping Northwestern’s deadly attack duo of Izzy Scane and Erin Coykendall – both of whom are Tewaaraton Award finalists – is Denver’s next big test in a season chock full of them. Continue reading Championship Weekend Preview: Denver vs. Northwestern →

For the first time in program history, the Denver Pioneers are going to Championship Weekend.

Let that sink in for a moment and smile.

Yet again, it was the #5 Denver’s (22-0) defense that won the day. The country’s #1 ranked scoring defense showed up to Dorrance Field in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and dominated the #4 North Carolina Tar Heels’ (16-5) offense. The Pioneers started slow, allowing four goals in the first half while only scoring twice, but they found the extra gear they needed in the second half, outscoring the defending national champions 3-0 over the final 30 minutes and held the uber-talented Tar Heels’ offense scoreless over the final 35-plus minutes of the game to clinch the 5-4 Elite Eight victory and advance to Championship Weekend for the first time ever. Continue reading Denver Completes Second-Half Comeback Against North Carolina to Advance to Championship Weekend →

“Oh, we’re excited. We’ve been looking forward to this one. We were watching [North Carolina’s] game this morning, hoping Richmond wouldn’t pull it off so that we could play UNC. We want to win a national championship and we want it to look as good as it possibly can. We want to go through UNC.”

That’s what star DU midfielder and all-around speedster Trinity McPherson had to say after her 5th-seeded Denver Pioneers beat the UAlbany Great Danes 8-6 in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament on Mother’s Day at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. The low-scoring, defensive victory earned the Pios their second-ever trip to the NCAA Quarterfinal round (their other appearance came in 2019 when they lost to Maryland, the #1 overall seed and eventual national champion). Continue reading NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Quarterfinals Preview: Denver at North Carolina →