DENVER – The No. 5 seed University of Denver men's lacrosse program will take on No. 1 seed Notre Dame in the national semifinal on Saturday afternoon at 10 a.m. MT at Lincoln Financial Field. Saturday's game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and 104.3 The Fan HD3.
Saturday marks the return of the Great Western Lacrosse rivalry, the first meeting between Denver and Notre Dame since 2020, the final game before the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown the entire college athletics landscape. The two programs have met three previous times in the NCAA Tournament, the 2015 NCAA Semifinal, 2017 NCAA Quarterfinal and the 2018 NCAA First Round in South Bend.
SERIES HISTORY:
Denver is 11-14 all-time vs. Notre Dame. The Irish won the first six meetings in the Great Western Lacrosse League before the Pioneers broke through in 2005 (9-6) in South Bend. The Pioneers won three out of four before losing the next five in the series. Starting in 2014, Denver won the next six encounters including three overtime games and two NCAA Tournament wins. Since the Pioneers 16-4 win in the 2017 NCAA Quarterfinals, the two programs have split the last four meetings.
LAST MEETING - MAY 7, 2020: DENVER 14, NOTRE DAME 11
- Denver traveled to South Bend in March 2020, winning each of the first three quarters in a three-goal victory over the host Fighting Irish.
- The game was the final game before COVID-19 shut down all NCAA sports (Denver was scheduled to depart the day after the shutdown for Ohio State).
- Then-freshmen Jack DiBenedetto, Adam Hangland (1CT) and attackman JJ Sillstrop all started for the Pioneers in the win.
- JJ Sillstrop is the only offensive player on the team to have scored in the previous meeting, making it 12-5 Pioneers with 7:47 to go in the third quarter.
- AJ Mercurio and Alec Stathakis also played for the Pioneers. Mercurio picked up three ground balls at his LSM position, while Stathakis went 22-for-28 with 15 ground balls.
INSIDE THE SERIES - DENVER VS. NOTRE DAME
- The Division I history between the two teams began when the Pioneers became D-I members in 1999, both were members of the Great Western Lacrosse League.
- Notre Dame won the first six games of the series, with the last two being one and two-goal games.
- Denver's first win in the series came in 2005, a 9-6 win in South Bend.
- Following the completion of Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium in '05, Denver's first home win in the series came by a count of 8-5 in 2006.
- From 1999-2013, Notre Dame won 12 of the first 15 meetings against the Pioneers.
- A neutral site Denver win in the Pacific Coast Shootout (California) by a count of 10-7 in March 2014, began a run of six-straight Denver wins in the series.
- The winning streak included three overtime games, four one-goal games and two NCAA Tournament contests.
- From 2012-2016, the Pioneers and Fighting Irish played five overtime games in a six-game stretch of the series.
- Since the 2017 NCAA Quarterfinal that Denver won 16-4, the two teams are 2-2, three of those four have been played in South Bend, and a stretch that included the 2018 NCAA First Round (9-7 Denver win in South Bend).
- The two programs have not met since the final game before COVID in 2020.
DENVER AND NOTRE DAME IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT - 2015 SEMIFINAL
- The two programs met at the exact same stage and in the exact same location in the 2015 national semifinal.
- A back-and-forth game early, LSM Mike Riis scored in transition in the final second of the third quarter to give Denver the first two-goal lead in the contest since the Pioneers led 2-0 four minutes in.
- The Riis goal was part of a 5-1 run that put Denver up 9-5 with 5:29 to play. Sergio Perkovic scored five-straight Fighting Irish goals, and Nick Ossello tied it up with nine seconds left to send the game into OT.
- Wes Berg won the game less than two minutes into the extra session to complete his hat trick and send Denver to Memorial Day for the first time with an 11-10 overtime win.
DENVER AND NOTRE DAME IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT - 2017 QUARTERFINAL
- After Notre Dame's Mikey Wynne opened the scoring a little over three minutes in, Denver scored 16 of the next 17 goals to break the game open and send Denver to its last Championship Weekend before 2024.
- Ethan Walker had 6 points (3-3) to lead the way, Austin French added four and Tyler Pace had a hat trick.
- Trevor Baptiste went 21-for-22 on faceoffs with 13 ground balls and a goal.
DENVER AND NOTRE DAME IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT - 2019 FIRST ROUND
- Denver scored five of the first seven goals midway through the second quarter before Notre Dame reeled off five of the next six to give the Irish a 7-6 lead with 11:38 to go in regulation.
- The Pioneers held ND scoreless the rest of the way and got goals from Ethan Walker (11:23), Austin French (10:12) and Colton Jackson (4:04) to defeat the seventh-seeded Irish on their home field by a count of 9-7.
DENVER IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
- Denver is in the middle of its 13th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the program's first since the 2021 campaign.
- Six current Denver starters played in Denver's last appearance in 2021: Jake Edinger (1CT), JJ Sillstrop, AJ Mercurio (2CT/2GB), Jack DiBenedetto, Alec Stathakis (6- 11, 3GB) and Adam Hangland (2GB).
- The Pioneers are 15-11 overall in the NCAA Tournament.
- Denver is 6-2 in the national quarterfinals with wins against Hopkins (2011), North Carolina (2013), Drexel (2014), Ohio State (2015), Notre Dame (2017) and Syracuse (2024).
- The Pios will make their sixth appearance in Championship Weekend, going 1-4 in the previous five appearances. Denver's lone win in the semifinal round came in 2015 against Notre Dame (W, 11-10 OT) before the Pios went on to win the national championship.
LAST TIME OUT:
Denver used a 5-0 run in the middle quarters and a stout defensive performance to hold Syracuse to single-digits for the first time this season en-route to a 10-8 win in the national quarterfinals against No. 4 Syracuse on Sunday.
FULL RECAP
16-STRAIGHT WEEKS IN THE TOP-10
Earlier in the 2024 season, Denver rejoined the top-5 for the first time since 2021, the top-4 for the first time since 2018 and sat at the top spot nationally for the first time since 2017. After starting the campaign outside the top-10, Denver has spent the last 16 weeks inside the top-10.
MAN-UP/MAN-DOWN
- Denver entered the week first in the country in man-down defense, stopping teams at a 84.4% clip (27-32).
- The Pioneers five goals allowed on the penalty kill are also the least in the country, three less than the next closest (UMass - 8).
- Denver's defense's 30 man-down situations were tied for fifth-least in the country heading into the NCAA Tournament.
- The Pios are 10th in man-up offense, converting at 46.5-percent (20-for-43). Denver went 5-for-6 on the man-up vs. Cornell on Feb. 24, its best output on the man-up since scoring five against North Carolina on March 1, 2020.
- The 20 man-up goals are tied for 11th nationally.
DENVER'S FIRST EVER WIN OVER 'CUSE GETS PIOS BACK TO CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND
- Ty Hussey's first of two goals with 30 seconds left in the first half began a 5-0 Pioneers run that broke a 3-3 deadlock wide open, a quarterfinal they went on to win 10-8.
- The run included goals from Hussey (:30/2nd, 12:48/3rd), Cody Malawsky (13:43/3rd, 10:20/3rd) and JJ Sillstrop (5:51/3rd).
- Denver's defense held Syracuse 19:09 between goals in the later stages of the second and third quarters. The Orange also had a drought of 13:31 (mid 1st-early 2nd).
- In addition to the defensive lockdown, Alec Stathakis went 9-for-13 in the second half and Malcolm Kleban made 10 saves (five in each half).
- Syracuse was held to single digits for the first time all season and was held under 12 goals for just the third time in 2024.
- The Pioneers improved to 6-2 in the quarterfinal round with the win.
- Denver is 1-4 in its previous five national semifinal appearances (W, 2015 vs. Notre Dame).
SILLSTROP GETTING HIS GROOVE BACK
- Graduate student attackman JJ Sillstrop had 18 goals in the Pios first six games this season, netting multiple goals in every game and his first career sock trick in the overtime opener at then-No. 6 Johns Hopkins.
- Sillstrop scored just three goals in Denver's next seven games and added eight assists for 11 points in the spell.
- In the postseason, Sillstrop has recorded hat tricks in both the BIG EAST Semifinal at Villanova and in the NCAA Tournament First Round game against Michigan (6-of-14 shooting) before netting a pair in Denver's quarterfinal win over No. 4 Syracuse (8 goals in last 3).
DEFENSE TO OFFENSE
- Denver's defensive players have provided a spark to the Denver offense at times in 2024, combining for 16 goals (8.4%) and 9 assists (25 total points).
- SSDM Casey Wilson had two goals and an assist in the NCAA Tournament opener against Michigan.
- AJ Mercurio (6-3-9)
- Casey Wilson (4-2-6)
- Jade Edinger (3-3-6)
- Jack DiBenedetto (1-1-2)
- Ryan Giles (1-0-1)
- Adam Hangland (1-0-1)
DENVER'S SPECIAL TEAMS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
- In Denver's 27 previous NCAA Tournament games, the Pioneers are 37-for-92 in man-up situations (40.2%), while Denver's penalty kill has allowed its opponent's man-up to go 34-for-80 (42.5%).
- Denver has faced off at a 57.2% clip (390-for-682).
- Denver's clearing game in the NCAA's is only 365-for-436 (83.7%). The Pioneers opponents are clearing at 91.2% (385-for-422).
- Since 2016 (last 9 games), Denver's man-up is 8-for-20 (40.0%) while its opponents are 8-for-23 (34.8%).
- Denver has faced off at 66.5% in the last nine and cleared at 90.5%.
2024 CAPTAINS
ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY
- The 2024 Denver Pioneers have players from 20 different states.
- Since turning Division I ahead of the 1999 season, the Pioneers have had players from 35 different states.
- The 35 states are: Alabama (1), Arizona (3), California (27), Colorado (100), Connecticut (32), Delaware (1), Florida (5), Georgia (6), Idaho (2), Illinois (10), Indiana (2), Iowa (1), Kansas (1), Kentucky (2), Maine (2), Maryland (24), Massachusetts (10), Michigan (8), Minnesota (9), Missouri (6), Nevada (3), New Hampshire (1), New Jersey (26), New York (21), North Carolina (3), Ohio (22), Oregon (4), Penn (11), Rhode Island (3), Tennessee (3), Texas (10), Utah (1), Vermont (1), Virginia (4), Washington (10).
- Last season's roster added three states to that list this season in Iowa (Provenza), Kansas (Eldred) and Utah (Caldwell).
- The Pios have had 20+ from seven states: Colorado (100), Connecticut (32), California(27), New Jersey(26), Maryland(24), Ohio (22), New York (21).
- Denver's DI student-athletes also cover three provinces of Canada: Alberta (2), B.C. (15) and Ontario (16).
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