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Tierney and Roy awarded with ECAC honors
In his first season as the head coach of the DU men’s lacrosse team, Bill Tierney has been awarded Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. In the DU’s first season in the ECAC, Tierney guided the team to a regular season conference title and an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
Senior captain Dillon Roy, a Denver native, was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, while four other players were awarded by the ECAC.
Roy was recognized before the 2010 season, tabbed as the Preseason ECAC Defensive Player of the Year. The expectations were high and were met by the senior. Roy grabbed five ground balls per game this season, while recording a season total of 80 ground balls.
Under Tierney’s tutelage Roy transformed into a star known for his shut down stick skills as well as his versatility. Roy was assigned face-off duties at several points this season and won 61 of his 112 face off opportunities.
In addition to Roy, sophomores Alex Demopoulos and Mark Matthews nabbed All-ECAC First Team honors. Senior Charley Dickenson and freshman Cameron Flint were recognized as well and named to the All-ECAC Second Team.
After coaching Princeton to six national championships in 22 seasons, Tierney had a slow start in Denver. The team dropped to 1-3 after four games, but got better as the season went along, finishing the year with a 7-0 conference record.
The team caught fire however, winning nine consecutive games going into the NCAA tournament. They finished the regular season ranked inside the top 10 of every major national poll.
Hockey signs three for next season
The Pioneers added to their already deep recruiting class last week, when the team announced that forwards Beau Bennett and Nick Shore and goaltender Sam Brittain had signed National Letters of Intent to play hockey for Denver.
The trio joins Jason Zucker and David Makowski who had previously signed letters of intent to play at DU.
Bennett finished with 120 points on 41 goals and 79 assists this past season and was named the Rookie of the Year for the Interior Conference of the British Columbia Hockey League.
Brittain posted a 23-19-8 record for the Canmore Eagles of the Alberta Junior Hockey League this past season. He helped lead the Eagles to the semifinals of the AJHL South division playoffs.
Shore, the younger brother of freshman forward Drew Shore, teamed with Zucker in the winter to lead Team USA to a gold medal at the 2010 IIHF World Men’s Under-18 Championship.
Shore finished third on the team, scoring 45 total points.
