THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
• Denver responded from an early 4-1 hole to take a 5-4 lead against No. 2 Albany in the 2018 NCAA Quarterfinals, but the Danes won an offensive slugfest 15-13 on the Hofstra campus to advance to Championship Weekend last May.
• The Pioneers will open the 2019 campaign at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday as they welcome I-25 rival Air Force to the Denver campus. Faceoff for the home and regular season opener is set for 1 p.m. MT, and can be seen live on Altitude 2 and heard on ESPN Denver 1600. Denver won the regular season opener in Colorado Springs a year ago 11-5 in heavy snow.
• Denver will pack its bags for its first road trip of the regular season next week when the Pioneers head to Duke. Faceoff is set for 9 a.m. MT. The Pioneers will return home the following weekend (Feb. 23-24) to take on NCAA newcomers Utah and Cleveland State in the 2019 Faceoff Classic.
THE TIERNEY FILE
• Head coach
Bill Tierney is in his 10th season with the Pioneers, holding a 122-36 record at DU and a 394-129 career record in his 35th season.
• Tierney became the first coach to win National Championships with two different programs in 2015, and has an NCAA-best seven men's lacrosse national titles to his name (six at Princeton).
• Tierney is also the first coach to win 100 of his first 140 games in charge at two different programs.
• Tierney became the third DI coach to record 350 wins in 2015 at Villanova, and is second in wins (394 - RIT/Princeton/Denver 1982-pres.) by a Division I head coach, behind John Danowski (399 - LIU Post/Hofstra/Duke - 1983-pres.).
DOUBLE-DIGIT GOALS
• The Pioneers have scored double-digit goals 125 times since the arrival of 10th year head coach
Bill Tierney.
• DU is 112-13 when scoring double-digit goals since the start of the 2010 season.
• Denver has scored double-digit goals 144 times since
Matt Brown joined the staff full time in 2008. Since 2008, Denver is 127-17.
TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY • Denver is 87-6 under head coach
Bill Tierney when its defense allows fewer than 10 goals in a game, including a loss in the 2017 National Semifinals.
• The loss when allowing nine goals to Maryland in the National Semis was Denver's first since the arrival of defensive coordinator
John Orsen. Denver is now 39-2 when holding its opponents under 10 goals under Orsen (vs. GTOWN - BE Final).
• The Pioneers held opponents to under 10 goals in six-straight games from March 21-April 18, 2015 for the first time since the Pioneers held opponents under 10 goals in nine-straight games from March 29-May 18, 2014.
• Denver kept its first shutout since 1971 (Commerce City) on 02/26/17 vs. Canisius.
• DU turned in the second-best defensive output under Tierney (both in 2017) on April 22, 2017, holding [20/20] Providence to two scores.
• Denver's four goals allowed against Notre Dame in the 2017 NCAA Quarters was the best defensive performance by Denver in its NCAA Tournament history.
• The Pioneers held Ohio State without a goal in a stretch of 26:10 to propel a 9-0 run in the Pioneers 2018 win. DU held Marquette without a goal in the opening 26:28 of the regular season contest in a 4-1 Denver first half.
• Denver caused 11 turnovers in its win over Ohio State on March 17, 2018, the most takeaways since recording 15 against Georgetown on March 29, 2014.
• Denver's offensive goal total vs. Georgetown in the regular season was its lowest since March 1, 2008, a 9-6 loss at UMBC, and its lowest goal total in a win since defeating [RV] Brown 6-4 on March 4, 2000 at the Mile High City. Denver's three goals vs. Georgetown in the BIG EAST Final was its lowest since the Pioneers lost 12-3 at No. 2 Virginia on April 28, 2003.
• 11 total goals (3/31/18 at GTOWN and 4/28/18 vs Marquette) is the lowest in a DU game since 04/07/09, a 10-1 win over Detroit.
• In two games against Marquette and in the BIG EAST Final against Georgetown, Denver had 37 shots saved (14/9/14) for an opponent goalie save percentage of .649.
A NEU FELDT TO THE DEFENSE
• The Pioneers return two goalies who started games a year ago, a close defense trio that started all 17 games together last year and starting short stick defensive midfielder and junior captain
Danny Logan to the 2019 roster, a defense that finished third in the country at 7.88 goals allowed per game last season.
• Added to a defense that figures to see more possessions against in 2019 with the addition of a shot clock and the graduation of faceoff specialist
Trevor Baptiste, is redshirt-senior Maryland transfer
Matt Neufeldt, who earned Honorable Mention All-America honors from the media in 2018 and from both the media and coaches in 2017.
• Neufeldt has had at least 56 ground balls and double digit caused turnovers in all three seasons he has played.
• Neufeldt played against Denver in a Terp uniform in both the 2015 National Championship (4GBs/3CTs) and the 2017 NCAA Semifinal (6GBs/0CTs).
HAT TRICK TRIOS
• Denver has had three players record hat tricks in the same game 19 times since the start of the 2014 season (18: at Villanova 17: vs. Notre Dame, Air Force, Georgetown, at Marquette, Air Force; 16: at North Carolina, St. John's, vs. Providence; 15: vs. Duke, Georgetown, Providence, at Villanova, vs.Georgetown).
RECENT NCAA TOURNAMENT SUCCESS
• Denver is one of five programs to qualify for the NCAA Tournament every year since 2010 (Duke, Maryland, Notre Dame, Syracuse). DU won its first NCAA Championship in 2015.
• The Pioneers have reached Championship Weekend in five of the last eight years.
• Denver has reached the NCAA Quarterfinals seven times in the last eight seasons.
• The Pioneers are one of four programs to reach the NCAA Quarterfinals seven times in the last eight seasons (Maryland, Duke and Notre Dame).
• Denver's five Championships Weekend appearances in the last seven years are behind only Maryland (6) in that span.
A GAME OF RUNS
• Denver has had 18 10-1 runs or better in games under head coach
Bill Tierney, including in Denver's consecutive wins against Villanova and St. John's in 2018.
DENVER ATHLETICS SUCCESS • Denver Athletics has claimed the I-AAA Directors' Cup in 10 of the last 11 seasons, for the top finish in the Directors' Cup standings amongst schools without football.
• The Pioneers have claimed 33 National Championships in their history (Skiing 24, Hockey 8, Men's Lacrosse 1).
• Men's lacrosse's Championship Weekend berth in 2017 is one of the athletic department's 21 DI National Semifinal appearances, including eight since 2011.
• Denver's 35th place overall Directors' Cup finish in 2016-17 is the department's best in its history. DU's men's programs finished fifth in the Capital One Cup for the second time in three years in 2016-17.
• The Pioneers are one of five athletic program across the country to win at least one National Championship in each of the last five years (Skiing 2013-14, 2015-16, 2017- 18 | Men's Lacrosse 2014-15 | Hockey 2016-17). Stanford, Florida, Penn State and Oklahoma are the other four programs on the list.
BONUS LACROSSE
• Denver is 10-6 in overtime under head coach
Bill Tierney, winning the last six and nine of its last 10.
•
Colin Rutan scored the game-winner for the Pioneers in their only overtime game of the 2018 season, an 11-10 victory over Towson on March 24.
• Denver did not play an overtime game in 2017, and prior to the Towson win had played its last four overtime games against ACC schools, including three against Notre Dame (All Wins).
SIXTH SEASON IN THE BIG EAST
• Denver wrapped-up its fifth-consecutive outright BIG EAST regular season title with a 7-4 win over Marquette on April 28, 2018. The Crimson and Gold are now 26-0 all time in BIG EAST regular season play.
• The Pioneers had their 21-game winning streak against conference foes snapped on May 7, 2016 in the BIG EAST Final against Marquette.
DEFENDING THE LACROSSE CAPITAL OF THE WEST
• The Pioneers are 94-17 since Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium was built in 2005.
• Denver is 63-8 under head coach
Bill Tierney at Peter Barton.
• DU had its 22-game home winning streak snapped on May 7, 2016 against Marquette in the BIG EAST Championship, which at the time was the longest active in the country and finished as the 10th longest home winning streak in NCAA history.
• The Pioneers have recorded 47 sellouts in the history of Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium, including five in 2014, 2015 and 2018, eight in 2016 and 10 in 2017.
• DU has sold out its last 28 home games.
• Denver is 38-6 under Tierney in sellouts at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
• Denver has had 10 different players score goals in 11 of Denver's wins since the start of the 2015 season, including three-straight games from Feb. 20-28, 2016. (chart to left). Denver had nine different players score in its 15-6 win over Ohio St and in its 14-11 win over Marquette in 2016, in the 2016 BIG EAST Semifinals vs. Providence, in its win over Villanova on April 9, 2017, at St. John's on April 15, 2017, at Villanova on April 6, 2018 and vs. St. John's on April 16, 2018.
• Since OC and associate head coach
Matt Brown was named a full time assistant in 2008, the Pioneers have had 10 or more players score goals in a game 17 times.
• The Pioneers have had five different players score at least two goals 14 times since the start of the 2014 season, including in Denver's 12-7 win over Ohio State and its 13-6 win at Providence in 2018. (2018: 2 | 2017: 5 | 2016: 1 | 2015: 4 | 2014: 2).
SUMMER BOX LACROSSE EXPERIENCE
• Denver had 12 players play in the Inaugural season of the Colorado Collegiate Box Lacrosse League in the Summer of 2017 in Denver, Colo.
• The CCBLL is now one of two leagues that is a part of the newly founded National Collegiate Box Series, with expansion leagues set to take off this summer in Ohio (Columbus/Cleveland).
•
Colton McCaffrey and
Thomas Tenney lifted the Morrow Cup as the Pioneers' two members of the 2017 Champion Big Horns. The DU duo combined for 46 goals in the league's first season.
• In 2018, 18 players played summer box lacrosse:
Alec Barnes,
Colin Rutan and
Charlie Winsor played for the Big Horns,
David Funes and
Zach Hutchko played for the Gold Miners,
Jeremy Bosher,
Jackson Harvey and
Jon Ober played for the Stoneflies,
Schuyler Blair,
Austin French,
Danny Logan and
Nate Williams played for the Blizzard,
Aaron Boyd and
Quinn McKone played for the RedHawks and
Trevor Baptiste,
Connor Donahue and
Nate Marano played for the Champion Fighting Bison.
•
Jack Hannah was the Pioneers lone representitive in the Inagural year of the Ohio Collegiate Box Lacrosse League.
