CU adds Division I women’s lacrosse team
The University of Colorado at Boulder announced Feb. 1 that they will be adding a NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse program that will begin playing in spring of 2014.
CU will join the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, which is home to DU. The MPSF also includes Stanford, California Sate, Oregon, UC Davis, Saint Mary’s, San Diego State and Fresno State.
CU will become the second Colorado school to host a D1 women’s lacrosse program, following Denver, who has sponsored the sport since 1999.
CU athletic director Mike Bohn said the club lacrosse team on campus demonstrated student interest in the program and also cited the fact that women’s lacrosse is the fastest growing sport among women in Colorado right now. The club team, although ranked No. 1 for the 2011 Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse Asscociation National Championship tournament, finished eighth after finishing second in 2009 and third in 2010.
DU can expect to begin playing against CU in the spring on 2014, bringing a new rivalry within DU women’s lacrosse.
LaLeggia named Rookie of the Month for January
Freshman defenseman Joey LaLeggia was named the Hockey Commissioners’ Association Division I Rookie of the Month for January.
LaLeggia helped Denver to a 5-1 record in the month of January by contributing 12 scoring points, earning a +4 plus/minus rating, recording 11 hits and 11 blocked shots.
Named the WCHA Defensive Player of the Week on Jan. 17, he tallied at least one point in all six games with two goals and 10 assists, had five consecutive multiple-point games from Jan. 7-28 and finished the month as the Pioneers’ top point and assist man. He had a career-high three assists in a 3-2 league win over Bemidji State on Jan. 14.
Stafford, Hallam voted Academic All-District
Men’s basketball senior guard Brian Stafford and junior guard Chase Hallam were voted to the Capital One Academic All-Distric 7 Team on Feb. 2.
Stafford is a finance major with a 3.7 cumulative grade-point average, and last season he was selected to the NABC Honors Court and DI-AAA ADA Scholar-Athlete Team. He also earned a spot on the SBC Commissioner’s List his first three seasons at DU and is 4th on DU’s all time scoring list with 1,473 career points.
Stafford’s thee-point percentage (.478) puts him at 6th in DU history and 9th in the SBC, and he is 6th in the SBC for scoring (14 points per game), 3rd in free throw percentage (.851), leads the division in three-pointers made (2.3 per game) and is 2nd in minutes played (33.2 per game).
Stafford ranks 1st among SBC guards and 8th overall with his .498 field goal percentage. He is also 9th in DU history with 295 free throws made and is in a tie for 5th after last week’s games with 117 career games.
Hallam is an accounting major with a 3.9 cumulative GPA and earned his second Academic All-District of his career.
Hallam also landed on the SBC Commissioner’s list his first two seasons. Hallam is tied with Nate Rohnert for 7th in all-time steals for DU with 124 in his career and also leads DU and is 6th in the conference with 1.6 steals per game. He is 12th in the SBC in three-point field goal percentage (.391).
“This is a nice honor for [Stafford] and [Hallam],” said head coach Joe Scott. “All of our players know that it’s important to work hard in the classroom, as well as on the court.”
Salazar honored by WCHA
Senior forward Luke Salazar was named Red Baron WCHA Offensive player of the week for the week of Jan. 31.
This is the first time Salazar has earned this honor, which he was awarded after helping DU to a two-game sweep at Alaska Anchorage, where the Pioneers topped the Seawolves 4-2 on Jan. 27 and 6-3 on Jan. 28.
Salazar had a three-point game both evenings, tying his career-high performance, and helped increase Denver’s win streak to five games.
Salazar assisted the game-winning goal on Jan. 27 and tallied a goal and one other assist that night, and on Jan. 28 he had a career-best three assists.
Salazar’s award of offensive player of the week is now paired with his 18 points on six goals and 12 assists in his 25 games this season.
