Hockey

DU Goaltending: Filip Larsson Out, Magnus Chrona In

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Tampa Bay Lightning Draft Pick Magnus Chrona is expected to join DU Hockey next season. Photo: Emily Rinesse

The University of Denver will deliver perhaps the slick tick-tack-toe goaltending move of the 2019 off-season. Out is Filip Larsson, the outstanding Swedish freshman goaltender for DU, who has signed a three-year entry level NHL contract on Monday, April 15th with the Detroit Red Wings, the team that drafted him in the sixth round  of the 2016 NHL Draft.  At DU, Larsson, 20, teamed with Devin Cooley to form one of the best goaltender tandems in College Hockey, leading Denver to the 2019 NCAA Frozen Four.

Without missing a beat, sources close to the DU program told LetsGoDU that the program anticipated Larsson’s early NHL signing and has lined up a replacement in the pipeline in 2018 5th-round Tampa Bay Lightning draftee, Magnus Chrona. He played in Northern Sweden for Skellefteå AIK J20 in the Swedish SuperElite Junior League. Outside one of the best names in hockey, the Pioneers landed the outstanding 6’4″, 209-lb Chrona, who also attended Tampa Bay’s Development Camp last year.  While  Chrona hasn’t yet officially signed with DU, it appears the Pioneers won’t miss a beat with the transition to next season. Continue reading DU Goaltending: Filip Larsson Out, Magnus Chrona In →

Women's Tennis

Women’s tennis crushes Western Illinois 7-0; Wednesday match canceled

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In a small-town rec center that apparently once played host to an exhibition match between Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver in the 1970s, DU women’s tennis (14-5, 4-0) put on a show of their own, crushing the Western Illinois Leathernecks 7-0 in Galesburg, IL.

The win keeps the #43 Crimson and Gold perfect in Summit League play and ends a two-match losing streak after two close losses last weekend against Arizona and Arizona State.

Looking to try different things ahead of rapidly-approaching  postseason play, the Pioneers tried some different lineups in doubles. The normal #1 dubs team of Bianca Mok and Camille Verden-Anderson was split up. The super-senior Mok played with freshman Toni Nelson, while Verden-Anderson teamed up with fellow sophomore Anna Riedmiller.

“[The] girls took care of business,” associate head coach David Loewenthal said after the victory.

He wasn’t kidding. In the singles, Sophmores Camille Verden-Anderson and Hada Chang both served their opponents “bagel breakfasts,” winning 6-0, 6-0 in the #5 and #6 matches respectively.

The DU coaches also announced that due to a scheduling issue, the Pios match with Wyoming Wednesday has been canceled.  That leaves just one regular season match, on Friday against South Dakota (rescheduled from March 16th, when weather prevented USD from making it to Colorado).

The team has a ceremony planned Friday to honor senior co-captains Mok and Arisha Ladhani, as well as Hannah Templeton (who has already completed her degree and is taking graduate courses).

“[The team] is excited and inspired about the upcoming senior week for both Arisha and Bianca, as well as Hannah,” Loewenthal said.

From: IMDB
From: Australian Government

As for the November 1976 battle in tiny Galesburg between the “Rocket” and the “Ice-Borg,” Borg took down the much older Laver 6-4, 4-6 and 6-3. According to a local newspaper, each of the tennis stars were paid $7,500 for their appearance.

Hockey, Men's Sports

Pioneers drop overtime Frozen Four thriller to UMass-Amherst

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Photo credit: Getty Images

BUFFALO, N.Y. – In a game that will go down in the annals of college hockey history as an all-timer, the Denver Pioneers lost 4-3 in overtime to the UMass-Amherst Minutemen in the Frozen Four semifinal. For a team that was out to “Prove Them Wrong” all season long, this game was right in the Pioneers’ wheelhouse rallying with two goals in the final ten minutes of the third period to send the game to overtime before the Minutemen scored with 4:42 left in overtime to win it. When the rest of the college hockey world was convinced that a 3-1 deficit as a result of a three-minute nightmare in the first period was too much for the Pioneers to overcome, the boys in crimson did what they’ve done all year and “Prove Them Wrong” yet again. They just couldn’t finish the job in the extra frame. Continue reading Pioneers drop overtime Frozen Four thriller to UMass-Amherst →

Uncategorized

Playing in third Frozen Four in four years, Pioneers on brink of becoming greatest of all time

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BUFFALO, N.Y. – “Prove Them Wrong.” That has been the mantra of the 2018-19 Denver Pioneers. It’s on the shirts worn by players and staff and it’s on the faces of each and every one of the Pioneers players. “Prove Them Wrong” has galvanized a team that didn’t exactly have a surplus of believers outside of the offices and locker rooms at the Ritchie Center at the beginning of the season. Whether it was a tweet here, an article there, or a passing comment on campus, before the puck even dropped, it was a foregone conclusion that the Pioneers would have a down year. How foolish! Continue reading Playing in third Frozen Four in four years, Pioneers on brink of becoming greatest of all time →

Gymnastics

DU Gymnastics Advances to the Elite 8

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Photo: Denver Twitter

#5 Denver Gymnastics swept the NCAA Corvallis Regional to advance to the Elite 8 in Ft. Worth, Texas. The Pioneers stunned #4 Oregon along with #12 Boise State and #15 Oregon State to win the regional championship, a first for the DU program. This season also marks the 16th straight NCAA gymnastics tournament appearance for the Pioneers.

Continue reading DU Gymnastics Advances to the Elite 8 →

Men's Lacrosse, Men's Sports

Denver drops nail-biter to Villanova in first-ever BIG EAST regular season loss

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Photo courtesy Denver Athletics

DENVER – For the first time since joining the BIG EAST six years ago, the #10 Denver Pioneers have lost a regular season, conference game. It took a career day from the Villanova Wildcats’ freshman goalie Will Vitton who stopped 19 of Denver’s 30 shots on goal and a sloppy game from the Pioneers to break DU’s 27-game regular season BIG EAST winning streak. Villanova also snapped a 10-game losing streak against the Pios dating back to 2001. Continue reading Denver drops nail-biter to Villanova in first-ever BIG EAST regular season loss →

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