On Sunday, May 4, the Pioneers received their opponent for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Selection Show was broadcasted live, making the Pioneers selected opponent a surprise. Denver will be facing the Jacksonville Dolphins on May 9 in Gainesville, Florida. The winner of this game will then move on to the No. 4 Florida Gators.
“Jacksonville is a good opponent,” said senior Meredith Harris. “I’m looking forward to facing them. It’s going to be another battle next weekend. We’ve talked a lot as a squad about playing our best lacrosse in May, and it looks like that is happening for us. We’re looking forward to playing another week.”
This will be the second consecutive year that the Pioneers will face the Dolphins in the first round of games. Last year, Denver won 14-7, but fell to Florida in the second round, 16-5.
“We need to take it one game at a time. We need to focus on Jacksonville. Jacksonville is a great team and they have had an awesome season. Our focus is going to be completely on them,” said Kelly.
Championship weekend (semi-finals and championship game) will be held at the Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland on May 23 and 25.
Last weekend, the University of Denver’s women’s lacrosse team hosted the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Conference Championships (MPSF) and walked away victorious.
Earning the conference title, the Pioneers earned an automatic selection to the 2014 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Tournament. This will be Denver’s second consecutive NCAA appearance.
Defeating No. 18 Stanford University 14-11 in the championship game, the No. 20 Pioneers extended their winning streak to 16 games. This is the sixth time in school history that Denver has advanced the conference championship’s final game.
With the win against Stanford, DU broke their record for longest winning streak with 16 victories.
“We played well. We played really good lacrosse against Stanford. Going on to Florida is just another opportunity for us to continue to improve as a team,” said Head Coach Liza Kelly.
The MPSF All-Tournament Team was revealed after Denver’s win and consists of four Pioneers: Harris, Hannah Hook, Annabelle Gilbride and Jenn Etzel.
Denver redshirt junior goalie, Hook, received the MPSF Tournament MVP honor after recording nine saves against Stanford. Hook is also a nominee for the 2014 Tewaarton Award.
In the semi-final game, the Pioneers faced the University of Oregon Ducks and came away with an 18-9 win.
Seniors Etzel and Harris led Denver with a combined 15 points against Oregon. Harris had a hat trick, along with sophomore Christa Resse and junior Kiki Boone. Senior Sonorah Vineyard recorded a team-high of seven total draw controls on the day.
USC, CU Boulder and San Diego State were also in attendance, but all fell short to winning the title.
