Photo by: Michael Furman
Despite it’s season coming to a sudden end last Saturday with a 9-7 loss to Stony Brook, the men’s lacrosse team still believes it’s “ultimate goal” is obtainable in the future.
“The goal here will remain the same– win a national championship,” said head coach Bill Tierney.
After battling back from a 1-3 record earlier in the season, the Pioneers won the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) regular season title, which allowed them to clinch an automatic berth to NCAA tournament where they were seeded No. 9, the highest in DU history.
“We have a lot to be proud of going undefeated in the ECAC conference will be something that is hard to repeat,” said Tierney. “We had a great season and have no regrets and much to be excited for.”
In the school’s first tournament appearance since 2008, DU struggled to find its rhythm against a physical Stony Brook squad.
The Pioneers were outshot by the Seawolves 29-26 and converted only two of their 12 fourth quarter shots into goals, which hurt them down the stretch.
“We missed some shots, made some uncharacteristic mistakes, and seemed to have some first time NCAA jitters,” said Tierney. “Still, we were able to keep it close and it was an overall good experience for the program and players.”
Next season the team will loses Dillon Roy, the ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, starting goalie Peter Lowell and starting midfielders John and Charley Dickenson.
However they will return a majority of the teams nucleus, including the scoring threat of Mark Matthews and Alex Demopoulos, who were both named to the All-ECAC First Team last week.
The duo notched a combined 74 goals and 109 points on the season, 34 percent of the scoring offense for the Pioneers. The scorers had a seamless transition when they played in their first NCAA tournament game last weekend. Matthews tallied 5 points (4 goals, 1 assist) and Demopoulos finished with 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists).
In addition, DU returns it’s third and fourth attack men, junior Todd Baxter and freshman Colin Scott, who had 22 and 25 points on the season, respectively.
In the offensive midfield, the loss of the Dickinson twins and Cameron Kerr will hurt.
However, the team will return junior Andrew Lay, sophomore Patrick Rogers, and freshman Cameron Flint all of who logged more than 17 points. Rogers and Flint tied for fourth on the team in scoring with 25 points each. Flint was named to the ECAC Second Team with Charley Dickenson.
In the defensive midfield and face off circle, the team will return almost everyone. Freshman midfielder Alejandro Brown highlights the group recording 51 groundballs, which was second on the team this season.
In the face-off circle, freshman Chase Carraro returns. After recovering from early season injury Carraro showed flashes of brilliance throughout the season but struggled in the first round matchup against Stony Brook faceoff specialist Adam Rand.
On defense, the Pioneers lose more than one starter. They will lose the fifth year Cornell transfer Nick Gradinger, Jordan Hendry and Payton Sanders who by the year had gelled together into a very efficient unit. Coupled with the loss of Roy, the defense will need to prove itself in 2011.
“We lose a lot on defense but people forget we have Brandon DeBlois returning from injury for us next year,” said Tierney. “We have Jeff Brown and Steve Simonetti who logged tons of time for us this year and also freshmen Kyle Hercher. In addition to that we have some great recruits who should play roles for us as well.”
With the addition of Bill Tierney’s first batch of recruits, the team will be very strong heading into next year and capable of chasing as Tierney puts it “the ultimate goal” of winning a national championship.
“We want to build a team here that will play with heart 60 minutes a game,” said Tierney. “[We want] a team that will love each other on and off the field, and will go up against any team in the country with no fear. We want every one of our players to be great citizens of the community and great students. That is what is expected and what we want to do here.”
The concrete of the Tierney era of Denver lacrosse has been laid. Now, it is time to let the concrete dry. Hopefully, that will mean achieving “the ultimate goal,” a national title.
