Photo by: Rachael Roark

The Pioneer men’s lacrosse team ended its fall preseason on Saturday with a 20-15 win over the Pro Players, a team forged by players from Major League Lacrosse (MLL).

The game marked the end of five weeks of fall ball, where the Pioneers held practice four times a week and competed in two different scrimmages, one against the MLL pros and another against a trio of college club teams.

“The NCAA allows you 17 contests that can mean scrimmages, games or whatever,” said head coach Bill Tierney. “Last season we had 16 regular season games so we were only allowed to play one game in the fall.”

The schedule will look different for the Pioneers this season. They only have 13 regular season games, according to the schedule released on Monday afternoon.

“It gives us a little more leeway,” said Tierney. “[This year’s schedule] allows us to have a couple of scrimmages in the spring before our regular season.”

On Feb. 5 the team will compete in a preseason scrimmage in Chapel Hill, N.C., against the University of North Carolina and Georgetown.

According to Tierney, the team will be more prepared this season because of the opportunity the 2011 preseason presents.

The Pioneers are looking to improve last year’s season, where they clinched the No. 9 seed in the NCAA championship tournament after winning the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference’s (ECAC) regular season title.

Tierney said he still needs to fill positions on the team that were created by graduating players, including senior captain and ECAC defensive player of the year Dillon Roy, who signed with the MLL’s Colorado Outlaws.

On Saturday, Roy played in the scrimmage against his former team, but was unable to shut down DU’s potent offense.

“We’ve changed from being a very good defensive team to a very good offensive team overnight almost,” said Tierney. “We’ve got to figure out who is going to play for us [on defense].”

Despite defensive gaps, the team has all of its attackmen back, including a group of talented freshmen and transfer players.

The offense, which scored more than 11 goals a game last year, is highlighted by two juniors, Alex Demopoulous and Mark Matthews.

Both players notched more than 48 points last year and were named to the first team All-ECAC. On Saturday, they combined for seven goals and five assists.