With a lack of crimson and gold on the field, it may have been hard to initially figure out which was the home team at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium this past Saturday.

The usual home white-out uniforms were nowhere to be found.

But the record sell-out crowd of 2,702 cleared any and all confusion quickly, as they cheered the Pioneers on to their eighth straight win while the team sported 1980’s throwback uniforms.

Provided by Warrior, the uniforms were later auctioned off on DenverPioneers.com, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Boys and Girls Club of Denver.

“The colors were a little off for me, but that’s what they were supposed to be,” said head coach Bill Tierney. “Early in the week we were struggling a little bit with our emotion after a tough game last week, and when our guys saw those uniforms they got pumped, and I contribute a lot of the win to those uniforms.”

That’s not to say added fan support didn’t help as well.

“I’m so excited about the whole Denver lacrosse thing, starting with our players, our administration, and our school and how much support we get,” said Tierney. “Other coaches don’t like traveling here, but they like coming here because they feel like this is what college lacrosse should be about.”

The No. 3 Pioneers have so far posted a perfect record of 6-0 at home this season, where they average 14.3 goals per game. Saturday’s game was no exception to the status quo. Hat tricks from sophomores Erik Adamson, Jack Bobzien and freshman Tyler Pace gave way to a 16-9 win over visiting St. John’s University.

The previous week saw the Pios score well under their season average in goals per game, as they squeaked out a 9-8 overtime win over conference rival Villanova University.

“It was a great team win,” said junior Jeremy Noble, who was named Big East Player of the Week after tallying two goals and three assists. “We bounced back from a tough week last week and we brought it together in practice, and when we have a good week of practice we’re usually pretty successful on weekends.”

Defense limited Tewaaraton nominee and St. John’s attackman Kieran McArdle to an assist in the first half, as the Red Storm only managed three goals through 30 minutes of play. Junior goaltender Ryan LaPlante made 10 saves in the half. On the other hand, the Pioneers used a 5-1 second quarter spurt that ended with junior Wesley Berg scoring stick-side with 8.2 seconds remaining. Denver took a 7-3 lead into the half.

“When you win a game like this against a really good opponent, you gotta feel good about it,” said Tierney. “We’re still on a journey though. It was kind of a tale of two different games, first half I thought we played great defense, second half I thought we had great offense.”

St. John’s got two quick goals at the start of the fourth quarter to pull within three scores, 11-8. Denver breathed a sigh of relief after Adamson put back a rebound on the crease with 7:24 left in the game.

DU travels to take on Providence College this weekend before returning home to face Marquette University in the final home game of the season, and will be donning a noticeably different set of attire.

“I think our guys were very proud to play in those uniforms,” said Tierney. “I think the worst part about it is taking them off and never being able to wear them again.”