Last week, the Denver men’s lacrosse team finished out their 2021 season with a painstaking 13-14 loss to Loyola in the first round of the NCAA playoffs.
The Crimson and Gold went into last week’s game with a 12-4 record to Loyola’s 9-5 but could not hold out against the Greyhounds’ first half dominance. After a 9-4 deficit at halftime, Denver came out fighting to play but fell short in the final five seconds of the game. Loyola goaltender Sam Shafer made a game-winning save to keep their one-point lead.
Denver had two players named First-Team All-Americans by Inside Lacrosse magazine and three earning Honorable Mentions. Based on a vote of lacrosse media, senior midfielder Jack Hannah (Milford, Ohio) and short-stick defensive midfielder Danny Logan (Upper Arlington, Ohio) were named Denver’s two First-Team All-Americans.
Hannah had an impressive season with a total of 37 goals and 10 assists. Scoring in 16 of Denver’s 17 games, Hannah recorded 8 hat tricks to make his dominant offensive presence well-known.
Logan earned recognition for leading Denver’s defensive midfield with a notable 16 caused turnovers and 45 ground balls. In his final season, he recorded 4 goals and 5 assists.
Graduate students attackman Jackson Morrill (Baltimore, Md.), faceoff specialist TD Ierlan (Victory, N.Y.) and defenseman Colin Squires (West Linn, Ore.) were the three Denver players to earn Honorable Mentions per the media vote.
Morill notably led the team in scoring for this season with 33 goals, and he set a single-season school record with 37 assists. Ierlan was notably 86-118 during faceoffs and picked up 57 ground balls in his 86 wins. As he closes out his college career, Ierlan is one of the best statistical faceoff specialists in NCAA history.
Squires was the final Denver player to be voted to All-American honors. As a defensive leader, Squires picked up 34 ground balls and caused 10 turnovers. He often took the defensive assignment against opponents’ best attackmen.
Hannah and Logan earned First-Team All-American honors from USA Lacrosse Magazine’s vote. In this vote, Morrill was named to the third team. Squires and junior midfielder Alex Simmons (Smithville, Ontario) were given honorable mention honors.
Although it ended before most expected, Denver had an impressive season during unprecedented times.
