May 23, 2005
DENVER - The 2005 Great Western Lacrosse League Co-Champions made great strides but endured a disappointing ending to what was a great season. The class of 2005 helped record the Pioneers third consecutive winning season since Denver turned Division I in 1999 with an overall record of 9-5-0, 4-1 GWLL.
With an extremely competitive schedule, Denver started off 2005 with Scott Davidson (Guilford, Conn.) being named to the Preseason All-America Second Team and Matt Brown (Burnaby, B.C.) earning Preseason All-America honorable mention honors, while the team was ranked 17th and 24th in U.S. Lacrosse Magazine and Inside Lacrosse's media polls, respectively
Denver lost its season opener at North Carolina, 18-12, for only the second time since Jamie Munro took the reigns as head coach of Denver. After the Virginia game was postponed, the team returned home for a four-game homestand and to host the Pioneer Face-off Classic in its new state-of-the-art facility, Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Led by Brown's five goals, Denver blew away Lafayette in the first game of the tournament, 20-3. Freshman standout Brett Koll (Fort Collins, Colo.) added his first career hat trick while nine other Pioneers each contributed a tally in the win. Riding the momentum of its first win the Pioneers fell to Towson in a thriller, 10-8. Brown, Davidson, Christian Anderson (Madison, Conn.) and Bart Sullivan (Dublin, Ohio) each earned all-tournament team honors for their play throughout the weekend.
The Pioneers would stay at home in their new stadium the next two weekends by hosting Penn and No. 20 Villanova. Davidson came up big for the Pioneers with the game-winning goal to upend Penn, and win its second straight and defeated its first ranked opponent in a 9-4 rout of No. 20 Villanova.
Next, the team headed East for its first of three trips to Connecticut to take on Sacred Heart. SHU jumped out to an early 3-1 lead, but the Pioneers rallied to score four consecutive goals in the last four minutes of the first period to spark their goal scoring binge. Denver ended up scoring 12 more goals by the end of the game including a career-high seven goals from Brown to destroy Sacred Heart 19-7.
Things were looking good for the Pioneers as they rode a three-game winning streak when the Harvard Crimson came into town. After a back-and-fourth game, the Pioneers overcame a two goal deficit by scoring three consecutive goals, including two goals in the last minute of the game. Andrew McCuiston's (Birmingham, Mich.) scored the game-tying goal and Brandon Barcus' (Dublin, Ohio) game winner 11 seconds later. The Pioneers sent the Crimson back East with a 9-8 loss and Denver increased its winning streak to four games.
The Pioneers moved into the month of April with some of their toughest competition to date on the horizon, all on the road, including No. 11 Notre Dame, No. 18 Yale and third ranked Virginia. First Denver hit the road for South Bend, Ind., to battle Notre Dame looking for its first league win. After the first period with neither team tallying a goal, Zordani put Denver on the board early in the second period. The Pioneers and the Fighting Irish traded goals until Denver went ahead with a three goal lead early in the fourth period while playing exceptional defense and never looked back. Denver went home a 9-6 victor and defeated Notre Dame for the first time since turning Division I.
It was a special day for the Pioneers, in addition to recording their first victory over the Fighting Irish, Brown tallied his fourth hat trick of the season and scored his 100th career goal, becoming just the fourth Pioneer to accomplish the feat. Brown earned his first-ever GWLL Player of the Week nod for his performance and the Pioneers jumped into the STX/USILA Coaches' Poll for the first time at No. 15.
Back on the road, the Pioneers dominated much of the game before Yale pulled out a 10-9 overtime victory. The loss ended the Pioneers' five-game win streak and gave them their first loss in over a month heading into a long awaited contest with Virginia.
Denver was ready to upset Cavaliers for the second consecutive year and led by one goal, 4-3, at halftime. It was Virginia's three unanswered goals in the third period which proved to be the clincher sending Denver home winless.
Returning home, the Pioneers hosted three GWLL foes, Ohio State, Butler and Air Force to close out their home season. The Pioneers easily handled Ohio State 13-8, in front of the largest crowd (1,755) since the opening of the Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Zordani had a breakout game, tallying a season-high five points on his first hat trick of the season and two assists. Brown also tallied his fifth hat trick of the season en route to helping Munro clinch his 50th career win. Zordani kept the momentum going and helped Denver dominate Butler, 17-7, with a four point performance on one goal and three assists. The sophomore attackman earned his first GWLL Player of the Week honors for his nine-point performance on the weekend.
The next weekend, Air Force made the short drive up the interstate to try to ruin Denver's celebration of its new stadium and senior day. With just one league win under their belt, the Falcons frustrated the Pioneers and sent the last home league contest into overtime. Without fear, Brett Koll (Fort Collins, Colo.) and the Pioneers capitalized just 36 seconds into overtime. With the win, the Pioneers clinched at least a share of the GWLL title and bettered their national ranking in the Coaches' Poll to No. 12.
Needing a win for their first appearance in the NCAA tournament, the Pioneers battled GWLL foe and No. 17 Fairfield with the winner earning an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. The young Fairfield team was trouble for the visiting Pioneers as the Stags capitalized on four of seven man-up situations and upset Denver 9-8 to move on to the NCAA Tournament. Denver finished the season 9-5, 4-1 sharing the GWLL crown with Fairfield.
Four Pioneers earned All-GWLL honors with seniors Anderson, Brown and Davidson named to the first team, while fellow senior Greer Hanlon (Libertyville, Ill.) earned second team honors. Denver also finished the season with its highest ever finish in the Coaches' Poll at No. 18.
MVP - Scott Davidson
Offensive MVP - Matt Brown
Defensive MVP - Bart Sullivan
Freshman MVP - Rory Shepard
Most Improved Player - Brad Patterson
Underclassman Spirit Award - Brett Koll
2006 Captains: Andrew McCuiston, Billy McKinney and Bart Sullivan
