The Pioneers looked like they were on their way to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history last season before Stanford happened. The Cardinal defeated DU 12-11 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship game for their third straight MPSF title and second consecutive victory over Denver in the Championship game.

This season the Pioneers are ready to take the next in program history and it is starting with a program best No. 16 ranking to start the season in the Lacrosse Magazine poll.

Denver is returning 19 letterwinners from last year’s team that finished with a 16-3 record and will be put to test on Friday at No. 6 Duke and then again on Sunday at No. 4 North Carolina.

DU will also play three other currently ranked teams this season, including No. 11 Georgetown, No. 19 Rutgers and No. 9 Johns Hopkins.

The Pioneers recently were selected to win the MPSF in the 2008 preseason coaches’ poll with 24 points, four points better than Stanford.

This season, Denver returns MPSF freshman of the Year Ali Flury who started all 19 games in 2007 and was second on the team behind graduated senior Kristie Leggio with 72 points on 59 goals and 13 assists. Also returning is All-MPSF member, junior Steph Coyne who recorded 32 goals and 30 assists last season for 60 points, while fellow junior Karen Morton had 46 goals and 17 assists for 63 points.

DU has added 11 freshmen to the roster this season with just three coming from the state of Colorado.

There are some big challenges standing in the way of the Pioneers this season that will not only help the squad be more prepared for MPSF play, but also for the bright future ahead for the program.